Assessing the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Brand Success: A Case Study of LUSH Cosmetics

This research study examines the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on brand success, focusing on LUSH Cosmetics. It explores how CSR helps companies improve their brand image and attract customers. The study also analyzes the challenges faced by companies in implementing CSR and recommends ways to effectively integrate CSR practices.

Table of Contents:
Introduction…………………………………………………………………3
Theoretical Background…………………………………………………...3
Methodology…………………………………………………………………9
References………………………………………………………………….12
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Assessing the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on
Brand Success: A Case Study of LUSH Cosmetics
Introduction
Nowadays in the era of innovation, organizations and businesses are focusing on
different policies which in turn assist to attract a range of customers and improve the
brand image. In the same way, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) helps
organizations to integrate social and environmental issues in their business practices
and interaction with their stakeholders (Crane et al., 2014). Also, CSR's main aim is
to contribute to societal goals and keep engage the business towards ethical
oriented practices. Thus, the current study will help to shed a light on CSR and how
it affect a company to improve the brand success in both positive and negative
manner at the international level. For that, effective research methodologies have
been selected that assist to attain the defined aim of the research.
The chosen company for this study is Lush Cosmetics whose headquarter is in the
UK and produces and sell fresh handmade natural cosmetics for more than 20
years. Well known all over the world LUSH company offers products made with fresh
ingredients such as soaps, shampoo bars, bath bombs, massage bars etc. The
company was founded in 1995 and CSR plays a big role in the success of a
company from the last two decade (LUSH, 2020). Such that packaging material used
by Lusk Cosmetics are 100% recyclable and uses natural ingredient that produce
sustainable way. So the present study will evaluate its impact upon brand success
Hence, the current proposal develops objectives that help the researcher to meet the
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defined aim and with the help of primary and secondary data sources, this paper will
meet the defined aim. Also, the study will determine the importance of CSR for every
company because it assists to maintain the brand image of a firm and empower the
employees to leverage the corporate resources which leads to improving the
productivity level as well.
Theoretical Background
Aim: The aim of this report is to understand how CSR creates positive impact upon
company and to identify the impact of CSR on brand success concentrate on the
ethical cosmetic company LUSH.
Objectives:
 To develop an understanding about corporate social responsibility.
 To examine the impact of CSR upon the LUSH Cosmetics brand
 To analyze the challenges faced by the company while improving the brand
image at a global level.
 To recommend the best ways through which CSR can be implemented within
a quoted firm.
Research Questions:
 What is the impact of using CSR upon brand success?
Theme 1: Concept of CSR
According to (Advantage, 2020), CSR is the management concept where
companies integrate all the social and environmental concerns in their business
operations. It is the primary strategy that is implemented by every company to be
more responsible and that is why they set ethical standards of ethical behavior for
their peers and competition. In the same way, the cosmetic industry, CSR also plays
an important role in the success and consider the strongest assets (Tumblr,
2020). As most of the customers are concerned with their welfare rights that are
affected by the production of cosmetics and concern what and how the products are
made. (Abbas, 2020), argued that with the growth of socially conscious consumers
who are having an interest in vegan-friendly products is one of the major success
factors that make companies such as LUSH Cosmetics and the Body Shop leaders
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in the cosmetic market. Also, companies are focus on sustainability as make sure
that cosmetics did not cause any negative impact on the customer and the
environment.
Source: Carroll International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility (2016)
As per the view of (Jermsittiparsert et.al., 2019), Carroll’s Four-part pyramid is one of
the leading models of CSR, its major focus is to embrace the complete spectrum of
expectation which society has. The first factor is Economic which is used to generate
profit for the company, and this is possible when the company complies with all the
set standards. Next is Legal which stated that the company must adhere to all the
laws and compliance set by the society so that it does not cause any negative impact
upon the business. The third stage of the pyramid is Ethical which is closely related
to the second layer. It set the standard which must be complied by the company to
run the business ethically. Last is Philanthropic which involves serving society by
contributing to social, educational, cultural, and recreational purposes (Carroll,
2016).
(Fortunati et el., 2020) argued that animal testing is considered one of the biggest
issues from the past decade in the cosmetic industry, as a result, many countries
also have banned the import of goods that have been tested on animals. Many
brands are certified as cruelty-free to not only meet customer expectations, but they
must adhere to the legal requirement as well. The European Union Commission
officially banned the sales and marketing of animal-tested cosmetic products in the
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EU from 2013, so companies like Lush and The Body Shop get benefitted from the
same and establish their brand as an ultimate animal-friendly cosmetic range
through their CSR marketing. (Pönkänen and Wedendal, 2018) also argued that
customers are looking to use environmentally sustainable lifestyles and that is why
top companies like Lush and The Body Shop now flourishing with cruelty-free
cosmetics in their range.
Moreover, it is also stated by (Mombeuil and Zhang, 2020) that the pull factor also
plays an important role in the cosmetic industry where consumers have a demand
for a new product, and they are ready to pay more on the eco-friendly cosmetics.
Thus, push and pull theory is also applied within the innovation stage of a business
case and in the case of the cosmetic industry, the decision is to create eco-friendly
products. Lush Cosmetic applies CSR as a marketing tool in which it establishes the
brand image for the company to make assure that it creates awareness regarding
the environment as well (LUSH, 2020).
Theme 2: Impact of CSR upon the brand success of the company
Park (2019) reflected that customer has influential CSR expectation on companies
and this also influence due to increasing importance of CSR. Even the brand is
based upon the emotional values which are more protected from the competitive
erosion. Similarly, CSR has a direct impact on the brand image of a company and
enhances the company’s competitive advantage. Another important benefit of using
CSR is that it increases sales and increase customer loyalty and saves the
operational cost that leads a business towards a successful direction (Park, 2019).
Overall, it helps the firm to allows employees so that they contribute their best to
meet the defined task.
Moreover, (Yusliza et.al., 2019) also share their views that if a company knows that
it is involved in a good cause for the benefit of a society and it also helps to make the
world a better place then it assist to sustain a brand image at international level.
Besides, CSR ensures the Bottom Line which means it is that strategy that helps the
manager to build a brand reputation and maintain sales by gaining goodwill from the
customer. (Kumar et.al., 2018) also argued that CSR creates a landing place in the
mind of the target customers. Likewise, it does not only create brand awareness
among the consumers but also leads to a positive brand image in the mind of
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potential consumers. Thus, it is stated that CSR has a positive impact on the brand
success of a company.
For example, Lush Cosmetic uses CSR as a marketing tool and consumers are
aware that they use recyclable packaging, carbon-neutral footprint, cruelty-free
accreditation. Also, the company online platform currently seeks petition support
when it first opens the website, on the other hand, faces conflict issues from
developing countries i.e. Turkey, Uganda, etc. (Osakwe and Yusuf, 2020) stated
that top cosmetic companies like Lush make sure that its marketing style must be
ethical free because customer behavior can be altered through an emotional
response to marketing strategies which is implemented in direct advertising, in the
past decade company protest from animal testing, oil tar sands, and shark finning
and ensure that it supports ethical campaigns (Tumblr, 2020).
Theme 3: Challenges faced by the company while sustaining the brand image
(Ramasamy et.al., 2020) share their views and stated that changing customer
behavior is considered one of the top issues that affect the company to make
decisions accordingly. It is so because, in the cosmetic industry, customers want the
eco-friendly product and animal-free testing, thus, to meet the demand, companies
like Lush start investing in it. If this challenge does not meet, the company’s brand
image is affected, and customers will not prefer to use the service provided by the
brand. (Nguyen et.al., 2020) argued that a strategy for choosing a channel of
communication is also considered another challenge for the companies while
sustaining the brand image. Such that in this modern era of digital technology, the
company prefers to use social media and online advertising but a single wrong
comment by customers creates a negative impact on business and this in turn harms
the success path of an organization (Sheehy, 2015). Such, opting best marketing
style for delivering the true message to their customer is essential to sustain the
brand image.
(Wang et el., 2020) also reflected that in the competitive era, every company wants
to focus on the innovative and new strategy that assists to attract a range of
customers. Such that customer always prefers something new and attractive, which
is possible when a company offers an innovative product. For example, in Lush
Cosmetic, the company should focus upon the herbal products that are preferred by
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all types of customers specially to skin conscious people and this in turn leads to
attracting the range of customers. So, this shows that to stay ahead in the
competition, there is a need to offer a new product that attracts the customer and
helps to sustain the brand image of a company.
Justification and contextualization
The significance of conducting the research is such that for many cosmetic
companies, their CSR is a major factor as it differentiates them from their rivals and
appeals to their target segment. The increasing awareness of the consumers for
environmentally friendly and welfare products has risen the CSR initiatives of some
companies to grow faster and compete among others. Thus, the present study will
help to examine the importance of CSR for sustaining the brand image. On the other
side, the researcher finds out the ethical implication did Cosmetic industry face while
implementing the CSR policies. By researching this topic, the study will enhance the
knowledge and examine the role of CSR to sustain the brand image at the
international level (Colucci et el., 2020). Moreover, the present study will also help
other cosmetic companies to understand the importance of CSR and implement the
same within their strategy by adhering to all ethical standards so that it does not
create any negative impact upon their business performance.
For the academic significance, Nowadays the strong attention for a deep
understanding of CSR concepts has increased in developing nations.
Notwithstanding the significant consideration and investment surrounding CSR, a
further explanation behind cautiously defining the terms originate from the problems
tended to by CSR. The issues are critical, they extend from corporate probability and
financial security to the association of work and safety, and at last the environment
(Sheehy, 2015). Also, the paper will use a study case of a company Lush that
applies CSR strategy to hold the brand image at the market, and if yes, then also
identify any ethical implications face by the company that negatively affects the
goodwill. The research study will find the answer then it will assist to recommend the
ways through which this issue is minimized.
The research proposal is made timely a priority list of all the tasks and tries to
accomplish the set task in a defined manner so that the project did not delay the
defined tenure. As the chosen topic related to CSR which helps to analyse the role
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and its importance of sustaining the brand image of a company. Also, the present
research helps to determine the customer’s views and how they influence the CSR
when a company uses it as a marketing tool (Dahlin et.al., 2020). The chosen
company also has a brand image and it operates in a different country, because of
having strong Corporate Social Responsibility. Thus, CSR project mainly includes a
variety of factors as, sustainable recycled packaging, free-range meat product,
community water project and in the same way, with the help of the current proposal
the study will assist to meet the defined aim and determine the challenge which
company face during sustaining the brand image.
Methodology
The research study will try to attain the defined aim with the help of research
methods and for that effective methods are applied that assist to make the research
valid and answer the research question in a precise manner as well.
Research methodology: it is the process and technique used to determine
and identify the information related to specific topic (Mohajan 2018)). For the present
paper, the research method will be a qualitative study. It is so because the strategy
will help to conduct in-depth analysis and generate valid outcomes (Clark et al.,
2020). Also, with the help of qualitative study, researcher gain an understanding of
underlying reasons regards to CSR, opinion, and motivation which provide insights
into the problem and meet the valid conclusion. In the same way, to determine the
importance of CSR to build a brand image, the scholar will use this methodology to
get appropriate answers.
Research Paradigm: It is the notion about a way through which information is
about phenomenon is gathered and used to present best outcomes. In the present
study, the scholar will choose the Interpretivism paradigm rather than positivism.
Interpretivism is all about to integrate the results from assumption and applied to
reality (Edson, Henning, Sankaran, 2016). It is so because it falls under the category of
qualitative study and it also interprets the results in a better manner and shares the
notions of others to get the proper answer to research questions (Park et al., 2020).
Hence, with the help of the present paradigm, the scholar can research in a more
precise manner and meet the results as well.
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Research Approach: It is the plan or procedure used for research and thus it
is a steps from broad assumptions to detail method that help to answer research
question. As per the chosen topic, an inductive research approach will be applied, it
is start with observation and theories proposed towards end of a research with an
aim to get better results (Schruijer, 2020). This method will be chosen because it
involves prediction and analyses of the behavior of selected respondents to analyze
the best results. In the same way, the investigator also selects respondents to
examine their views to conclude the result i.e. the impact of CSR on brand success
concentrate on the ethical cosmetic company.
Sampling: It is the method of selecting some people from a population and
for the present study scholar will use a simple random sampling method in which 20
customers are selected randomly who visit LUSH Cosmetic for purchasing products.
This method will be chosen over others because it is easy to use and provide
accurate representation of larger population as compared to others (Etikan and Bala
2017). Through this method, the paper will generate the results without any error and
it also includes the use of inferential statistics and get the best results.
Target population: It is the total group of individuals from sample which
might be drawn for investigation purpose (Thomas, Li and Pencina, 2020). In the
present study, the research will target population which will be the customers who
visit the stores. As there is a range of people who purchase the product from Lush
Cosmetic and that is why, by using the simple random sampling method, research
selected 20 customers to determine their views to get the best results.
Data Collection: It is the process of gathering and collecting the information
that enables researcher to answer the research question (Paradis and et.al., (2016). It
is of two types such as primary data collection method in which scholar collect data
for the first time by using interview, survey etc. Another s secondary data collection
in which scholar collect data from already conducted research for different purpose.
In the present study, both primary and secondary data sources will be used which
will help to meet the defined aim. Such that under the primary data, the case study
will use a questionnaire under the survey method in which investigators determine
the views of different selected respondents (Brittain et.al., 2020). On the other side,
through secondary research, the researcher will use relevant books, articles, and
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journals which are used in the literature review section that helps to analyze the
importance of using CSR within the company to sustain the brand image.
The evidence used for the current study will apply secondary sources i.e.
books, journal articles, online websites of the cosmetic brand and industry and
newspaper articles, etc. which are published in the last 5 years. This evidence
supports the body and made the research real which in turn helps others to use the
content in their studies.
Data Analysis: It is a process of systematically applying statistic techniques
that is used to describe and illustrate the data in better manner. It is the method that
helps to transform the data to decide (Park, Konge and Artino Jr, 2020). Further in
the current study will be using the thematic data analysis section in which graphs,
tables, and used that help to present the information in a better manner and interpret
the results as well. Hence, with the help of the data analysis section, the scholar will
discover useful information and inform the conclusion to plan.
Ethical consideration and Accessibility: To conduct the study in a better
manner, this research should be conduct ethically. Such that confidentiality should
be maintained so that all the personal information should not be used by the third-
party (Husband, 2020). Moreover, there must be a proper flow of communication so
that it will provide proper results. Also, the investigator should take prior consent
from the respondents and respect them as well.
Further, the research paper will face accessibility such that many sites are
access denied and this, in turn, takes a lot of time to decide. Thus, the researcher
must investigate another site that consumed enough time to solve the issue.
Research Limitation: Limitations are the influences which a researcher
cannot control. Or else, it is a shortcoming that affect the research in negative
manner (Belotto, 2018).. In the study, the research will face some limitation such that
time consideration, as the topic is quite wide and there are lots of information
available and that is why, it takes a lot of time to make the decision, but the
researcher does not have enough time only in secondary data. Furthermore, another
limitation of short sample size data such that the researcher does not select high
data that assist to determine their views related to the topic. Hence, somehow, short
sample size data may affect the results oppositely.
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Additionally, alternatives such that if the qualitative study did not help to meet the
defined aim, then the use of a mixed strategy in which both qualitative and
quantitative studies will be performed. Also, for the study 30 respondents will be
selected so that it will be helpful to generate the best results. Moreover, this
alternative strategy will assist to make the research effectively and conduct the same
in a precise way as well.
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