Hello fellow marketeers. For this week’s block post, we’ll look into Corporate Social Responsibility. What does it mean? And how are retail brands such as Best Buy making a case to be more socially and ethically responsible.

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?  

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable—to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing corporate social responsibility, also called corporate citizenship, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental. (Fernando, 2021)

Many businesses realize that profits alone are not the only measurement of a successful business. Their purpose, how they interact with their customers, their employees, their supply chains, their environment, and even their trash speaks to what a business truly values. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) takes these things into account.

Best Buy has made Corporate social responsibility a priority. Best Buy starting to work on these changes in 2009 when they introduced a recycling program to allow customers to recycle items that were traditionally tossed in the garbage. The result, since 2009, it has recycled 2 billion pounds of consumer electronics at its more than 1,000 stores and kept tons more out of landfills by offering repairs and trade-ins earning them the 32 spot on Fortune’s Change the World list. (Fortune, 2019)

Aside from just recycling, Best Buy has been named to CDP’s prestigious Climate A List for the fourth consecutive year, demonstrating our continued leadership in addressing climate change. (Hilker,2020)

To get on the CDP’s list, Best Buy has done the following:

·       We set a science-based goal to reduce carbon emissions in our operations by 75% by 2030 (over a 2009 baseline).

·       We recently signed onto The Climate Pledge, joining other leading companies committed to being carbon neutral by 2040.

·       We made significant investments in solar energy, including the Little Bear Solar Project in Fresno County, California, and the Best Buy Solar Field in Marin, South Carolina. (Hilker,2020)

Aside from earning a way to CDP’s list, Best Buy has a portion of their website dedicated to their commitment and operations regarding sustainability to include a blog with some of the new ways they are making change. One of my favorites is “How To Recycle (Or Trade In) Your Old Tech.” You can check it out, pass it along to your friends. https://corporate.bestbuy.com/how-to-recycle-or-trade-in-your-old-tech/

Some companies you can tell are going green just to cash in on the going green movement, but I think that Best Buy is ahead of the curve when it comes to large chain retailers, as they have put an emphasis on corporate social responsibility before it was a catchy buzz word. To find out more, visit https://corporate.bestbuy.com/category/sustainability

Citations :

Fernando, J. (2021, February 02). Corporate social RESPONSIBILITY (CSR). Retrieved February 15, 2021, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corp-social-responsibility.asp

HILKER, S. (2020, December 08). Best buy named to Cdp's 2020 climate a list. Retrieved February 15, 2021, from https://corporate.bestbuy.com/best-buy-named-to-cdps-2020-climate-a-list/

Fortune.com staff, (2019). Best buy. Retrieved February 15, 2021, from https://fortune.com/change-the-world/2019/best-buy/