Over 80% of Northern Ireland consumers make decisions on products and services based on an organisation’s standards of social responsibility, a survey has found.

The latest Corporate Image and Corporate Responsibility Survey for Northern Ireland explored consumer attitudes towards companies and includes questions on behaviours likely to encourage or discourage customers buying products or using services.

Three quarters of those surveyed by Ipsos MORI in partnership with Business in the Community (BITC) could not name a company which they thought was particularly socially, environmentally or ethically responsible.

Gillian McKee, BITC’s marketing and communications director in Northern Ireland said companies in Northern Ireland should heed the survey’s finding that 83% of consumers’ spending could be influenced by organisations’ social responsibility.

Ms McKee said: “In Northern Ireland, we have sophisticated consumers who make daily purchasing decisions that affect local businesses. What local companies should learn from this survey is that behaving responsibly can be a vital factor in putting a business ahead of its competitors, but it's not enough to just do it — you need to tell people about it too.

“Information like this becomes even more important when economic conditions are difficult, as responsible behaviour really does pull organisations away from the pack.

“Just over a quarter (26%) of those polled said they had actively refused to buy from particular organisations for a variety of reasons, including unethical treatment of people or animals or on environmental grounds.

“No company can afford to lose more than a quarter of its potential customer base, so we must be mindful of these factors when delivering services.

“It is fascinating to note that respondents ranked the honesty and openness of a company (74%) above the quality of their products (61%) when asked what factors are important when making judgements on an organisation.”

The survey of almost 1,000 respondents was independently conducted by Ipsos MORI in May.