Is Social Responsibility a Question of Marketing? An Exploratory Study on Non-Profit-Seeking Behaviour in Academia

While lecturers who gave their testimonials to us admit that workloads in academia are extremely high they still accept to direct study cycles without receiving extra pay or any apparent benefits, besides added status and prestige. Similarly, students surveyed (n=69) also want to do socially responsible activity when they become executives, even though this may go against their evaluation (as profit maximizers) by shareholders. Is society and academia in particular becoming more altruistic? One might say that social responsibility is no longer an option, that informed consumers are looking to buy from socially responsible enterprises. One might also assume that in academia, which is a very hierarchical environment, that individuals initiating careers in academia are not in a position to decline invitations to coordinate study cycles. We do also, however, with our study, see evidence of something beyond the above more authoritarian reasons for wanting to do good in society. Individuals may genuinely want to contribute as more basic needs are increasingly fulfilled and individuals seek a higher and more worthwhile purpose in life. When asked whether social responsibility is a question of marketing, a number of students were divided on this issue. Just under one third answered neutrally, and over half answered neutral or disagreeing. The sample of students is interested in social responsibility - with over three quarters revealing a strong connection with social responsibility activity. Firms should not only seek profit, our students stated in majority, though seeking a profit is not seen by the majority to be a sign of being wicked. Previous studies on human motivation have emphasized how, in more advanced societies, needs follow a hierarchy and at the highest level one will find worthwhile accomplishment. What is novel is that this worthwhile accomplishment is not linked to material success but to wanting to do good in society. Further in-depth research is necessary into such change in society, towards a softer stance than that advocated by Milton Friedman in the 1970s, in his landmark paper defending that profit is the social responsibility of firms and that executives know nothing about solving the poverty problem or unemployment or inflation and so should stay away from seeking to solve these problems (rather, leave that to civil servants). We have found that change is upon us and that millennials want to play an active role in solving society's woes, so more research in this area is necessary to quantify the change and its effects.