A demographic examination of societal views regarding corporate social responsibility in the US forest products industry Rajat Panwar a, ⁎, Xiaoou Han b,1 , Eric Hansen c,2 a Department of Business, Northland College, 1411, Ellis Avenue, Ashland, WI-54806, USA b Forest Business Solutions Team, College of Forestry, 244 Richardson Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97330, USA c Forest Products Marketing, Forest Business Solutions Team, College of Forestry, 119 Richardson Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97330, USA abstract article info Article history: Received 20 January 2009 Received in revised form 28 July 2009 Accepted 3 September 2009 Keywords: Corporate social responsibility Issues management Demographics Forest products industry As corporate social responsibility (CSR) becomes an increasingly mainstream proposition for business organizations, it is becoming increasingly important to develop sector-specific knowledge as well as to explore different aspects of this concept. Adopting an issues management approach, we have discussed that understanding perceptions and expectations of various demographic segments about business performance along relevant social and environmental issues is a research gap in the broader field of CSR. This is particularly true for forest products industry in the US where there is very little research done in the field. For filling this gap, data was collected from the residents within the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Results indicate that varying degrees of differences exist in different demographic categories (gender, education level, place of residence, and age). These results have important implications for the US forest products sector, especially as companies formulate their socio-environmental strategy and communication. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction During the century following the Industrial Revolution, Adam Smith's (1776) classical economic view suggesting that wealth maximization ushers in the greatest common good, remained the guiding philosophy for many societies and for most businesses that operated within those societies. As a result, businesses largely focused on their financial gains with minimal consideration for any negative impact that they may have had on society. While economic activities were expanding unabated during this period, a general deterioration in the physical environment as well as sporadic instances of social harm accompanied this economic progress. It followed that a societal sentiment emerged relating socio-environmental deterioration to the free-reign nature of business operations. This led to an increased reliance on legal mechanisms in order to shield society and the physical environment from any potential harm that business organizations could inflict upon them. Around the mid-twentieth century, Bowen (1953) proposed the idea of social responsibility and emphasized that businessmen should pursue policies, decisions, and actions that align with broader societal objectives and values. This implies that while legal mechanisms still remain in place, business managers must assume voluntary respon- sibility for their actions. The notion of volunteerism entails businesses transcending mere legal requirements and taking proactive steps for the protection and enhancement of social and environmental well- being. This idea, commonly referred to as corporate social responsi- bility (CSR), has been gaining increased acceptance and has become a separate academic discipline and an important focus area for business practitioners. Marx (1986) maintains that major changes taking place in the traditional relationship between business and society are creating crucial problems that modern business managers face. While CSR has relevance across all industries, some industries have more impact on the environment and/or society than others (Carroll, 1979). For example, it may be argued that the banking sector has a lower environmental impact than, say, automobile manufacturing. On the other hand, the insurance sector may have more social implica- tions for particular societies (such as the US) than, say, tourism. Also, as Gordon (1991) suggests, societal expectations about social responsibility may vary from one industry to another. Thus, from a societal viewpoint, such contextual differences bring certain industry sectors to the center of the CSR debate. Understanding such differences entails a deeper understanding regarding perceptions as well as expectations that society has of particular industry sectors in terms of their environmental and social performances. In the US context, the forest sector holds an important place both from an economic as well as socio-environmental viewpoint. During Forest Policy and Economics 12 (2010) 121–128 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 715 682 1231. E-mail addresses: rpanwar@northland.edu (R. Panwar), xiaoou.han@oregonstate.edu (X. Han), eric.hansen2@oregonstate.edu (E. Hansen). 1 Tel.: +1 541 737 8498. 2 Tel.: +1 541 737 4240. 1389-9341/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2009.09.003 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Forest Policy and Economics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol