Consumers tend to have priorities in their purchasing decisions and recent studies suggest that CSR initiatives are not one of them.

Nowadays, many people care more about the environment and society than they did in the past when only price and quality mattered in purchasing decisions. However, studies examining just how people respond to businesses' efforts become socially responsible i.e., corporate social responsibility reveal there is no strong relationship involving the two. In more recent research, researchers used surveys and experiments to ask people about various CSR initiatives by organizations and how they felt about them. They wished to understand if individuals thought these efforts had been genuine and if they would support the company because of them. For example, they asked people if they would be more inclined to purchase from an organization that donates some of its earnings to charity. Additionally they looked over just how people reacted to genuine incidents, like item recalls or things that affected a business's reputation. They discovered that even though lots of people think it is good to support socially accountable organizations, most still care more about such things as price and quality when they determine what to get. As well as when people have a confident view of organisations that do-good things, it does not always mean they are going to purchase from them. In fact, a lot of people are dubious of businesses' known reasons for doing good things and think they have been just trying to make themselves more marketable.

There is evidence that ignoring human rights may be actually disadvantageous for companies and countries. Big businesses have actually lost money and have had individuals stop buying from them or investing in them whenever there were accusations of human rights abuses, like when there was news about forced labour. In 2021, a few organizations got boycotted because individuals discovered they might have already been making use of forced labour in their supply chains. This demonstrates that people will act if they think a company does one thing wrong. This is the reason it is necessary for governments all over the world to be sure their legislation stick to the worldwide rules about individual legal rights and that businesses adhere ethical business practices. Some countries have previously made modifications to achieve this, like Bahrain human rights reforms and like Oman human rights reforms.

Even though doing things to be socially accountable may not seem like it has a big effect, it is still vital for companies to think about. When they do not, they could end up getting a non favourable reputation, that may lead to individuals boycotting them and them taking a loss. In order to avoid this, businesses have to look closely at where they obtain items from and exactly how they treat individuals. Some governments, like Ras Al Khaimah human rights reforms, have made big modifications to be more open about what they actually do to follow human rights rules and ethical sourcing practices. This not just prevents them from getting in trouble for having a non positive reputation but also helps them build trust with individuals and attract investments.