In a speech given by Sir Adrian Cadbury (senior executive with the Cadbury group for many years and former chairman of one of several UK Government Commissions on Corporate Governance) In October 2004 at the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development he said a number of vital things, including: "A UK consumer survey asks shoppers every month: 'How important is the social responsibility of a business to you when you are purchasing a product?' In 1998, 28% answered 'very important'; by 2000 that figure had risen to 46%
The figures are meaningless: the trend is significant" (Retrieved from bized.co.uk). Many managers have responded to heightened stakeholder interest in CSR in a very positive way, by devoting additional resources to promote CSR. A primary reason for positive responses is the recognition to the relevance of multiple stakeholders. Other managers have a less progressive view of stakeholder relevance. They avoid attempts to satisfy demand for CSR, because they believe that such efforts are inconsistent with profit maximization and the interests of shareholders, whom they perceive to be the most important stakeholder. Such differences in opinion among managers has stimulated an important debate regarding the relationship between CSR and financial performance.
In a review of 80 studies by Morgan And Walsh (2001), in which corporate socially responsible behavior was treated as causal predecessors of ï¬nancial performance. It was found that 53% of these studies documented a positive relationship, 24% found no signiï¬cant effect, 5% showed a negative effect, and 19% produced mixed results. Consumer perceptions of CSR have an impact on consumer attitudes and behaviors towards the entity. Ethical strategies of CSR determine brand loyalty in retail businesses, and therefore firms should carefully manage these strategies and communicate them properly in order to retain their customers.