Something about brand purpose that I feel is often overlooked in favour of speculation about whether survye respondents are to be taken seriously when they say they favour brands that support various causes, act ethically, etc.:

Avenues for action

Let's say I am a consumer who cares deeply about equitable access to clean water, or to poverty alleviation, or women's rights in the work place. Sure, I can choose brands that align with these goals (Nestle, Fairtrade-marked brands, ethical producers), but I have other options:

Instead of paying an extra £30 for my t-shirt from EthiCorp, I can buy an £10 t-shirt that meets my requirements, and donate £20 to a relevant charity. And there are massive campaigning organisations for almost *any* cause. I can more easily and trust their goals and aims.

Even if a brand purpose cause is very dear to my heart as a consumer, and if you ask me whether I care about it I will tick that box, it isn't clear what benefit I derive from *bundling* my charitable/cause-related spending with product purchases.

It's a lot easier to boycott brands I dislike/distrust and *then* make donations, sign petitions, tweet at politicians, do activism, etc, and it makes it more clear what I am doing.

Most brands are not very strong competitors for cause-related spending.