Drivers and barriers of corporate digital responsibility according to marketing managers perspectives
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Date
2021
Department
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Mcode
Degree programme
Global Management
Language
en
Pages
35
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Abstract
Abstract Due to the accelerating digitalization companies have a lot of information about customers and they can refine the collected data. Marketing is one of the areas where data helps companies to better target and persuade the desired customers. This allows e.g. customers to receive ads that are more fitted to fit for them. However, customers are rarely aware of what data companies are collecting and how they refine and use it. This places customers in a vulnerable position because companies have the ability to influence customers without them knowing it. Compared to traditional marketing online marketing is much more present in everyday life and can be done also much more personalized. Therefore, the influence that companies have over is much more persistent. This has raised many questions should the customer have the right to know about their data and how is it used. Regulations have tried to help customers right but due to the dynamic nature of developing technology, it delays. Some organizations have raised an aim that companies should try to pursue corporate digital responsibility (CDR) themselves and some companies have included CDR in their responsibility statement. However, the amount of companies implementing CDR is low. This study explores why CDR implementation is low based on marketing managers' opinions. Due to the novelty of the topic, the earlier research regarding CDR is limited. Therefore, this study methodology is based on Gioia's (2012) qualitative methodology which is derived from grounded theory. Eight marketing managers were interviewed, and the data were analyzed by using first- and second-order coding. The main findings are that the managers tend to justify the low usage of CDR by outsourcing the responsibility to external factors like customers and media and even for the drivers dismiss the managers responsibility. The main barriers for low implementation were the complexity of communication, lack of demand, organizational politics, and companies' internal factors. Even when managers saw opportunities for CDR they dismiss the role of the agency but rely upon contextual factors. The findings are similar to what has been founded from managerial barriers and drivers for CSR. However, to draw generalizing conclusion from the similarities between CSR and CDR more research is needed. Furthermore, there are practical implications of the study. If policymakers would want to pressure companies to implement CSR they should penalize companies not using it possibly similar to GDPR. Secondly, an aggressive change could be to give customer their data. Further, for companies who are fairly using data, CDR provides the possibility to differentiate from competitors. The research adds existing knowledge of CDR and how managers perceive its possibilities.Description
Thesis advisor
Gloukhovtsev, AlexeiKeywords
corproate digital responsibility, fair data economy, CDR, digital responsibility