Presentation from Paul Flatters, Trajectory at the CIM Good Marketing Conference, ARU Chelmsford on 30 November 2012

1. Good companies in the age of austerity
Prepared for CIM Social
Marketing Group
Nov 2011

2. Agenda
• Objectives
• Methodology
• Influences on purchasing decisions
• What makes a good company
• The relationship between the consumer and
the company
• Conclusions

3. Objectives
• Original research into the varying influence aspects of a
company's performance has on product purchasing.
• Identification of what values define a 'good' company and how
this changes for different genders and life stages.
• Exploring how influential 'being good' is across different sectors
including financial services, technology, food and drink and
fashion.
• Understanding of consumer perspectives on how the behaviour
of a company they purchase from reflects on them
• Assessment of the appetite for more information about a
company's behaviour and sources of information that they
would trust to tell them

4. Methodology
• 4 x 90 minute focus groups to explore the issues and help
define the parameters for the questionnaire
• 2005 interviews with UK nationally representative sample
• Fieldwork conducted in June 2011

5. Headlines: Influences on
purchasing decisions
• How good a company is and how it behaves towards its customers
and communities has far more influence on consumers than its
ethical values or its donations to charities.
– Nine out of ten say ‘how good a company is’ is influential when
considering purchasing a product or service
• (91% combined ‘quite influential’, ‘very influential’ or ‘extremely
influential’)
– Nine out of ten say ‘how it behaves towards its customers and
communities’ is influential when considering purchasing a product or
service
• (90% combined ‘quite influential’, ‘very influential’ or ‘extremely
influential’)
– ‘A company’s ethics – environmental, sourcing, sustainable,
employment policies’ and ‘the company donates a percentage of
profits to charity and a good cause’ are less likely to be influential
when considering purchasing a product or service
• (60% and 53% respectfully - combined ‘quite influential’, ‘very
influential’ or ‘extremely influential’)

6. Being a ‘good’ company has more
influence on purchasing decisions than
ethics or CRM
In general, how influential is each of the following when considering purchasing a
product or service?
Not at all
Not very
How good the company is 7 36 37 18
Quite
Very
91% Extremely
How a company behaves towards
7 30 35 25
its customers and communities
↑ Women (93%)
91%
A company's ethics -
environmental, sourcing, 21 37 21 12 ↑ Women (77%)
sustainable, employment policies
70%
The company donates a
percentage of profits to charity or 31 33 14 6 ↑ DE (66%)
a good cause ↑ 18-24 (70%)
53%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

7. Quality, price and service are
still most influential
In general, how influential is each of the following when considering purchasing a
product or service?
The quality of the product or
1 12 36 50
service
Not at all
Not very
The price of the product or service 1 13 32 52 Quite
Very
95% of those over 45 are influenced vs. Extremely
79% of 18-24 yr olds
Aftersales service from a
7 28 37 26
company
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

8. Headlines: What makes a
good company
• People associate values such as honesty (56%) and reliability
(53%) with a ‘good’ company more than ethical issues such
as sustainability (12%)
• Being ‘good’ is most influential for financial services
organisations

9. Defining a ‘good’ company
Honesty, reliability, responsibility and fairness are amongst the most
important factors in what makes a company ‘good’
Which word do you MOST associate with a 'good' company?
30%
27%
25%
20%
17%
15%
12%
10% 10%
10%
7%
5% 4%
0%
Product/service Honest Customer Reliable Fair pricing Responsible Fair
quality service policy
Base: 1949
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

10. Values are key to a ‘good’
company
People associate values such as honesty and reliability with a ‘good’
70% company more than ethical issues such as sustainability
Which of the following words and phrases would you associate with a good company?
↑ over-55s (68%)
60%
Customer Service
Honest
↑ over-55s (60%) Reliable
50% Product/service quality
Fair pricing policy
40%
Product related
Responsible
↑ over-55s (43%) Values
Ethics related
30%
Fair
20% ↑ over-55s (19%) Environmentally friendly
Caring Safe
Accessible People centred Contributes to local
Innovative Sustainable communities
10%
Passionate Popular
0%
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

11. Values are key to a ‘good’
company
People associate values such as honesty and reliability with a ‘good’
70% company more than ethical issues such as sustainability
Which of the following words and phrases would you associate with a good company?
60%
Customer Service
Honest
Reliable
50% Product/service quality
Fair pricing policy
↓ 18-34 (34%)
40%
Product related
Responsible
Values
Ethics related
30%
↑18-35 yr olds (15% popular, 13% Fair
passionate)
20% Environmentally friendly
Caring Safe
Accessible People centred Contributes to local
Innovative Sustainable communities
10%
Passionate Popular
↓ 8% of 18-34 yr olds
0%
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

12. Values are key to a ‘good’
company
People associate values such as honesty and reliability with a ‘good’
70% company more than ethical issues such as sustainability
Which of the following words and phrases would you associate with a good company?
60%
Customer Service
Honest
Reliable
50% Product/service quality
Fair pricing policy
40%
Product related
↑ women (21% safe, 19% caring) Responsible
Values
Ethics related
30%
Fair
20% Environmentally friendly
Caring Safe
Accessible People centred Contributes to local
Innovative Sustainable communities
10% ↑ men say innovative (19%)
Passionate Popular ↑ women (23%
environmentally friendly,
16% contributes to the
0% community)
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

13. Values are key to a ‘good’
company
People associate values such as honesty and reliability with a ‘good’
70% company more than ethical issues such as sustainability
Which of the following words and phrases would you associate with a good company?
↓ families (52%)
60%
Customer Service
Honest
↓ families (45%) Reliable
50% Product/service quality
↓ families (40%)
Fair pricing policy
40%
Product related
Responsible
↓ families (33%) Values
Ethics related
30%
Fair
↑ families (22%)
20% Environmentally friendly
Caring Safe
Accessible People centred Contributes to local
Innovative Sustainable communities
10%
Passionate Popular
↑ families (11%)
0%
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

14. Being ‘good’ most influential
for financial services…
How much does a company being ‘good’ influence your buying decisions when
purchasing products or services in the following categories?
Financial services 7 12 31 32 19
Technology 7 13 35 31 14
Not at all
Utilities 7 14 36 29 13 Not very
Quite
Very
Travel and vacations 9 14 36 28 14
Extremely
Food and drink 7 15 36 29 13
Base: 2005 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

15. …but less influential for
petroleum and fashion
How much does a company being ‘good’ influence your buying decisions when
purchasing products or services in the following categories?
Automotive 10 14 35 28 12
Further education 12 18 33 25 13
Not at all
Entertainment & Leisure 10 23 38 22 7 Not very
Quite
Very
Petroleum 14 24 35 19 8
Extremely
Fashion 14 26 35 18 7
Base: 2005 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

16. Headlines: Relationship between
consumer and company
• Nearly half believe that the ‘good’ values and behaviour of a
company they buy from reflect well on them (48%). Fewer
agree that the ‘bad’ values and behaviour of a company they
buy from reflect poorly on them (40%).
• Most people feel that companies have a role to play in the well-
being of communities and wider society (64%).

17. ‘Good’ values reflect on
buyer more than the ‘bad’
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
↑ Young people (56%
of 18-34 yr olds)
↑ Families (53%)
The ‘good’ values and
behaviour of a company I 4% 5% 42% 33% 15%
buy from reflects well on me
Disagree strongly
Disagree slightly
Neither agree nor
disagree
Agree slightly
The ‘bad’ values and
behaviour of a company I Agree strongly
7% 9% 44% 26% 14%
buy from reflects poorly on
me
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

18. Companies have a role to play in
the well-being of communities and
wider society
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
Disagree strongly
Disagree slightly
Companies should
adopt a role in the Neither agree nor
well-being of 31% 42% 22% disagree
Agree slightly
communities and
wider society Agree strongly
↓ 18-24 yr olds (52%)
Base: 2005 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

19. Headlines: Sources of Trust
• Three fifths would trust ‘word of mouth’ to tell them about a
company’s good behaviour (61%), whereas only one in ten
would trust the company’s CSR reports (12%), 8% would trust
the company’s advertisements and 6% would trust packaging.
• Such lack of trust poses a significant challenge for companies
wishing to respond to the majority of people who want to
know more about a company’s good behaviour.
– Three quarters (74%) would be interested in knowing more
about the good behaviour of companies that they
consider purchasing products or services from

20. Word of mouth highly
trusted…
What sources would you trust to tell you about a company's good behaviour?
70% ↑ Women (65%)
61%
60% ↑ Over-65s (45%)
↓ Families (32%) ↑ Men (37%)
↑ Older people (44% over 45)
50% ↓ Families (27%)
↓ Families (20%)
40% 37% 35% 34%
30%
30% 27% 25%
20%
10%
0%
Word of mouth Employees Review forums Third party Comparison Newspapers Charities and
endorsement websites not-for-profit
from an expert in organisations it
the field has been
Base: 2005 involved with
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

21. …whilst company sources
are not
aside from their employees
What sources would you trust to tell you about a company's good behaviour?
70%
60%
50%
40% ↓ Families (9%)
30%
20% 12%
8% 8% 7% 6% 6% 8%
10% 3% 3%
0%
-10%
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

22. Companies are little trusted…
…but peer-to-peer and third party sources of information are
What sources would you trust to tell you about a company's
70%
good behaviour?
Word of mouth Employees are the most
60% trustworthy means for a
company to
communicate its good
behaviour to consumers
50%
↑ AB social grade(42%)
40%
Peer-to-peer
Endorsement from an Employees
Review forums Third party
expert in the field
Company
30% Comparison websites
Newspapers
Charities and NGOs it has
been involved with ↑ AB social grade(17%)
20%
The company’s CSR
report
10% The company’s
Facebook Government advertisements
Investors
Celebrities relevant in the Packaging
Twitter
field
0%

23. Most people want to know
more
…with almost 1 in 5 ‘very interested’ in knowing more about a
company’s good behaviour
How interested would you be in knowing more about the good behaviour of
companies that you consider purchasing products or service from?
100%
90% 19%
↑ Women
80% (77%)
70%
Very interested
60% Quite interested
50% 55% Not very interested
Not at all interested
40%
30%
20%
21%
10%
5%
0%
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory

24. Thank you
Please contact:
Paul Flatters, CEO
paul@trajectorypartnership.com
www.trajectorypartnership.com
T:+44 (0)20 7902 1171