**4. Social and economic development**

The project assigns importance to the diffusion of ethical behaviors among companies, but what characterizes it is the widening of this vision through the dimension of social interventions, called social commitment, which has the aim of promoting the real participation of companies in supporting national and local welfare system according to a modern logic of public-private integration [4]. In particular, the role of the government is to identify areas of intervention, that, at a national and local level, require specific action and direct funding on priority projects [4]. Companies can join on a voluntary basis and contribute to the financing of welfare policies, while social intervention is managed directly by the associations and by voluntary work.

Government's objective is to develop the ethical supplementary funds. The standard proposed by the ministry envisages a system articulated on two levels [5]: the first level, called CSR level, easy to access and articulated on the basis of already known schemes (e.g., the International Organization for Standardization approach), has the main purpose of promoting the culture of social responsibility; the second level (social commitment level) requires the company to cofinance social projects in order to benefit from tax bonuses and facilitates access to the financial market through ethical funds. For companies wishing to participate in the reward system, an easily usable, simple and innovative tool was developed: the social statement. This is a selfassessment device for social responsibility activities and a support in the drafting of a report whose objective is to guarantee transparency of performance in the field of social responsibility. Lastly, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies established within the framework of the commitments undertaken in the context of the Third European Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility, the Italian multi-stakeholder forum for corporate social responsibility [6]. The initiative was to encourage the dissemination of CSR among Italian companies and organizations by increasing the level of awareness of the importance of relations between CSR and sustainable development; facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices; promote transparency and convergence of CSR practices and tools, with particular attention to the needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises, and, lastly, to promote the sharing of partner-

ship experiences between institutions, companies and organizations and civil society.

With socioeconomic progress, there has been an increase in household incomes followed by demand increase and differentiation that have stimulated the transition from a craft production to an industrial production, stimulating in turn a profound innovation of products and processes [7]. Environmental protection, seen as a capital belonging to all humanity, has made it possible to develop consumers' sensitivity toward their assets, particularly toward food products: sensitivity especially forced by scandals that have interested the agri-food sector,

Nowadays, the subjective component of the demand attributable to the preference of the consumer is subordinated to cultural and natural factors, level of education, age, and social context that takes a leading role in the market [8]. The consumer, with his/her preference and his/ her taste, is able to modulate the demand and, consequently, the market itself, structured on

**3. Consumer social responsibility**

particularly in recent years.

102 Social Responsibility

In this context, the sociodemographic changes connected to economic development, product and process innovations [12] have pushed consumers toward an increasing sensitivity in terms of the safety of food. This sensitivity has been sharpened by food scandals and health emergencies that have hit the agricultural and agri-food sector on a global scale in the years between the old and the new millennium [13].

However, not only the food risks are important, but also the tendencies and sensitivities spread toward issues closely related to food and its processing (that includes the treatment of raw materials, the phases of preparation and the packaging of the product), from ecosystem pollution to biodiversity loss, from the conditions of animal breeding to genetic manipulation and from the new forms of labor exploitation to the increase in social inequalities [14]. It follows that the subjective component of the demand attributable to personal consumer's taste, considered enduring in the past, now is highly influenced by factors of a cultural and sociodemographic nature (education, age, social context), taking a leading role in the market. This component allows a better interpretation of the demand (not just the food one) and its transformation, since the traditional explanatory variables (price, relative prices and income) are no longer sufficient [15].

For at least three decades, markets have been structured according to the different variables that consumer can converge each time: affordability in terms of price, opportunity of purchase, ease of use, durability, packaging, quality, ecology, ethics, respect for workers' rights, pleasure, health, diet and gluttony. In Italy, a scenario is evolving in which the citizen-consumer is driven to look for food products to satisfy a multiplicity of needs [16]. These needs range from food safety, in terms of hygienic and nutritional characteristics, to environmental sustainability, in terms of prevalent use of local and renewable resources, of the use of natural products and processes and of the respect of living conditions of farmed animals, up to a whole series of ethical components, from workplace safety to workers' protection, from social cohesion of the community to the enhancement of rural production areas and local food and wine traditions.

**5.1. Consumer survey: objective and methodology**

of responsible consumption.

Hp1: Attitude is positively related to Behavior;

**5.2. Features and results of the survey**

skewed toward the better educated one.

**5.3. Social responsibility and consumer**

wives and 28% are students.

Hp2: Knowledge is positively related to Behavior.

The research has set itself the objective of investigating in detail the role of social responsibility of the company in relation to the impact that it can have on consumption of agri-food products. We take into consideration the knowledge and opinion that buyers have about the product. The analysis is also aimed at highlighting the importance that consumers give to corporate social responsibility when purchasing agri-food and the receptivity of consumers toward the

Corporate and Consumer Social Responsibility in the Italian Food Market System

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75309

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The degree of knowledge of particular categories of food products other than conventional (organic, fair-trade, genetically modified, etc.) was also measured and, lastly, the readiness of consumers to buy products of ethically oriented companies was measured, even when involving a higher payment. The research was carried out through the administration of a survey aimed at investigating preferences, behavior and participation regarding the theme

In this context, in order to formalize the research, three factors that play an important role in determining consumer behaviors were identified: knowledge, attitude and behavior that could influence the consumers' behavior toward CSR. The important meaning of the variables also stems from their role in other studies [18] that have focused on knowledge, attitude and practices or perception or training needs. The formulated research hypotheses are as follows:

The analyzed sample is composed of 46% for men and 54% for women. The considered sample appears to be fairly well distributed also with respect to age. As a matter of fact, 29% of respondents are aged between 20 and 30 years; 28% of respondents are aged between 30 and 45 years; 26% of respondents are aged between 45 and 60 years and 17% are over the age of 60. With regard to social and age variables, the role attributed to the company can be influenced by level of education obtained and by professional status. Among the respondents, 3% have obtained an elementary school diploma; 11% have obtained a middle school diploma; 50% have obtained a high school diploma and 36% have obtained a complete university degree. Therefore, from this point of view, the criterion was balanced but the participant sample was

This situation is similar when the professional status of the sample is assessed. Namely, 16% are self-employed; 21% are employees; 11% are retirees; 6% are unemployed; 19% are house-

The results of the survey highlight the different degrees of confidence that consumers show toward the companies that control the production, the management and the distribution of agri-food products. The analysis showed that the majority of respondents, 97%, do not have

sustainability strategies implemented above all by the main companies of the sector.

The evolution of Italians' eating habits and consumption in the last 40 years has enucleated the characteristics and the main economic indicators subdividing them into five stages, each corresponding to just as many periods (source: Istat data—the Italian National Institute of Statistics) [17]. From the post II World War period until the 1970s, it is possible to observe: progressive satisfaction of basic needs; consumption grows by about 300% in real terms during 15 years. Then, income increases; consumption and savings grow; food consumption at home dominates; almost 50% of the households have two income earners; food expenditure is one-third of the total expenditure. During the 1980s, income increases; the new acquisition consumption starts; food consumption experimentation shows new trends, signs of excesses as income rises further. Later, as financial incomes take off, consumption continues to grow, including food consumption, but at a slower pace; the organized large-scale distribution develops (supermarkets, ipermarkets, etc.); about 50% of marketing takes place through the organized large-scale distribution. In the end, since 2000, the race to high levels of consumption stops; attention to quality, safety, eco-social impact grow; eating out counts like eating at home; the organized large-scale distribution is the main sales channel; there is a reduction in the per-capita spending. The latter can be related to the global economic crisis.
