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What Drives Corporate Activism? (Surprise! It’s Money)
Why - and when - do corporations care about gay rights?
Susan McPherson, a corporate responsibility expert and founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, a communications consultancy firm focusing on the intersection between brands and social good, discusses why corporations such as Coca Cola and Google take on certain issues and not others.
McPherson spoke specifically about why these corporations threatened a boycott of the religious rights bill in Georgia, which influenced the state's governor to veto the bill that would allow businesses and clergy to refuse services to people based on their religious opposition to same-sex marriage.
"It is good for business," she said. "They are very typically cautious before jumping into social conflict. They do the research necessary to be able to make a case for what they're doing. Back in 2012 we started to see a lot of companies coming out publicly supporting marriage equality and it was a mix of three reasons: One it was the right thing to do; it supported recruitment and retention and it was a market opportunity."
McPherson went on to explain that issues such as abortion; which polls show there is less of a public consensus, if any; aren't as attractive to corporations as issues they're willing to take on.