Corporate and Consumer Social Responsibility in the Italian Food Market System

Nowadays, the modern consumer is paying more and more attention to the consequences of purchasing decisions in terms of social, ethical and environmental aspects. In the Italian food system also, the purchase of products requires consumers' decisions that are increasingly dependent on factors linked not only to quality/price relationship but also to issues of production, the environment, human and animal rights. The aim of the chapter is to offer a view of the relationship between Italian consumers and their social responsibility; to show the role of corporate social responsibility on food production (where the basic instrument of CSR, social audit, is only still a voluntary business choice) and to underline knowledge and importance of it to consumers and their willingness to purchase the products of ethically oriented companies. This chapter is based on empirical research: 933 city-based families filled in a survey. The most important points emerging from this study were that consumers' lack knowledge about responsible corporate initiatives or do not trust them, but also that quality and affordability are important.