Smokescreens and Beer Goggles: How Alcohol Industry CSM Protects the Industry

Corporate social marketing (CSM) is one of several initiatives companies can undertake to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility (CSR). While there are many motivations for CSR and CSM, all are linked to profit in some way, including promoting the reputation of the organization. While CSM...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jones, S., Wyatt, A., Daube, Mike
Format: Journal Article
Published: Taylor & Francis 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30059
_version_ 1848752978864898048
author Jones, S.
Wyatt, A.
Daube, Mike
author_facet Jones, S.
Wyatt, A.
Daube, Mike
author_sort Jones, S.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Corporate social marketing (CSM) is one of several initiatives companies can undertake to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility (CSR). While there are many motivations for CSR and CSM, all are linked to profit in some way, including promoting the reputation of the organization. While CSM is often seen as evidence of organizations making a contribution to their community, there are some industries whose CSM campaigns have drawn considerable controversy and criticism. This article discusses the role of the alcohol industry in developing and disseminating “responsible drinking” CSM activities. It discusses some of the problems identified with alcohol industry CSM campaigns—including evidence that industry education campaigns communicate ambiguous messages; improve public perceptions of the industry but do not discourage harmful or underage drinking; and divert attention from more effective approaches, such as controls on price and availability. The paper also addresses the issue of other CSM/CRM activities undertaken by the alcohol industry, such as encouraging consumers to purchase a brand by donating a proportion of the profits to health and social causes (including those that are exacerbated by alcohol consumption). It discusses the value of these activities for the industry and their potential negative impact on the health of the community. In summary, the evidence suggests that industry CSM and CRM activities protect the industry (from restrictive policies and declining sales) but may in fact be detrimental to the community.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T08:17:13Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-30059
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T08:17:13Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Taylor & Francis
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-300592017-09-13T15:29:12Z Smokescreens and Beer Goggles: How Alcohol Industry CSM Protects the Industry Jones, S. Wyatt, A. Daube, Mike Corporate social marketing (CSM) is one of several initiatives companies can undertake to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility (CSR). While there are many motivations for CSR and CSM, all are linked to profit in some way, including promoting the reputation of the organization. While CSM is often seen as evidence of organizations making a contribution to their community, there are some industries whose CSM campaigns have drawn considerable controversy and criticism. This article discusses the role of the alcohol industry in developing and disseminating “responsible drinking” CSM activities. It discusses some of the problems identified with alcohol industry CSM campaigns—including evidence that industry education campaigns communicate ambiguous messages; improve public perceptions of the industry but do not discourage harmful or underage drinking; and divert attention from more effective approaches, such as controls on price and availability. The paper also addresses the issue of other CSM/CRM activities undertaken by the alcohol industry, such as encouraging consumers to purchase a brand by donating a proportion of the profits to health and social causes (including those that are exacerbated by alcohol consumption). It discusses the value of these activities for the industry and their potential negative impact on the health of the community. In summary, the evidence suggests that industry CSM and CRM activities protect the industry (from restrictive policies and declining sales) but may in fact be detrimental to the community. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30059 10.1177/1524500415621558 Taylor & Francis restricted
spellingShingle Jones, S.
Wyatt, A.
Daube, Mike
Smokescreens and Beer Goggles: How Alcohol Industry CSM Protects the Industry
title Smokescreens and Beer Goggles: How Alcohol Industry CSM Protects the Industry
title_full Smokescreens and Beer Goggles: How Alcohol Industry CSM Protects the Industry
title_fullStr Smokescreens and Beer Goggles: How Alcohol Industry CSM Protects the Industry
title_full_unstemmed Smokescreens and Beer Goggles: How Alcohol Industry CSM Protects the Industry
title_short Smokescreens and Beer Goggles: How Alcohol Industry CSM Protects the Industry
title_sort smokescreens and beer goggles: how alcohol industry csm protects the industry
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30059