6 out of 10 Citizens Say "Companies' Level of Fulfilling Social Responsibility Has Increased"

FKI Survey on Public Perception of Free Market Economy and Corporate Roles
Free Market Economy Keywords: 'Market? Strengthening Consumer Authority'
Essence of Corporations Responded as 'Investment and Employment Expansion'

The majority of our citizens believe that the level of corporate social responsibility, such as enhancing consumer value and environmental friendliness, has improved compared to the past, and that strengthening corporate social responsibility positively impacts the quality of life and happiness of the people.

According to a survey conducted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) through the polling agency Monoresearch, targeting 1,000 general citizens on the topic of 'Public Perception of Free Market Economy and the Role of Corporations,' one in three citizens (29.6%) identified 'strengthening market and consumer authority' as the core keyword of the free market economy. This was followed by ▲economic freedom and creativity of individuals and corporations (24.7%), ▲efficient resource allocation through market functions (24.6%), and ▲promotion of economic development through competition among companies (16.9%).

A significant portion of citizens (74.6%) evaluated that Korea’s free market economy has developed since the foreign exchange crisis. The proportion who responded that it has regressed was about 11.4%. An FKI official explained, "With the development of the free market economy in our country, the autonomy of the private sector has greatly increased," and added, "As a result, citizens seem to recognize the strengthening of market and consumer authority as the core keyword of the free market economy."

When asked about the essential role of corporations, citizens most frequently cited investment and job expansion (40.4%) and creation of economic value such as profit (30.3%). This was followed by ▲improving the quality of life through strengthening social responsibility (15.4%), ▲alleviating social inequality (7.9%), and ▲leading social change through creativity and innovation (6.0%).

More than half of the citizens perceived that the level of corporate social responsibility implementation has increased compared to the past. Regarding the evaluation of corporate social responsibility implementation since the foreign exchange crisis, 58.2% answered that it has strengthened, which was higher than those who said it remained similar (27.0%) or weakened (12.8%).

The social responsibility (CSR) areas where companies were evaluated as doing well were led by enhancing consumer value (28.3%), followed by ▲community participation (16.7%), ▲improvement of governance (16.2%), and ▲environmental friendliness (15.7%). Citizens showed a strong tendency to prioritize purchasing products from companies with a high level of social responsibility implementation. The response rate for purchasing products from companies actively fulfilling social responsibility was 87.3% (30.6% strongly agree + 56.7% somewhat agree), whereas those who said it was unrelated to their purchase (9.9%) or were unsure (2.8%) showed relatively low response rates.

The FKI pointed out that as the free market economy spreads and develops, consumer authority is expanding, so companies will inevitably have to strengthen social responsibility implementation, which consumers value, to ensure sustainable growth. The vast majority of our citizens (87.5%) viewed that strengthening corporate social responsibility, such as enhancing consumer value and environmental friendliness, positively affects the quality of life and happiness of individuals. Regarding the impact of strengthening corporate social responsibility on citizens’ lives, positive evaluations were high with ▲very positive impact (29.6%) and ▲somewhat positive impact (57.9%), compared to ▲no relation (10.2%), ▲somewhat negative impact (1.6%), and ▲very negative impact (0.7%).

Areas where corporate social responsibility should be strengthened in the future to contribute to improving citizens’ quality of life and happiness included ▲job security and provision of quality jobs (20.8%), ▲pollution prevention and climate change response (18.4%), ▲compliance with laws and ethical management (14.3%), and ▲consumer protection and dispute resolution (11.1%).

Choo Kwang-ho, Head of the Economic and Industrial Headquarters at the FKI, said, "The spread of the free market economy ultimately strengthens the authority of the market and consumers," adding, "For survival and growth, companies must be more faithful to the demands of the market and consumers, and efforts by companies to achieve this will further expand."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.