Shuili Du explains how doing good positively impacts the bottom line

Thursday, July 13, 2017
Associate professor of marketing Shuili Du studies corporate social responsibility.

Associate professor of marketing Shuili Du studies corporate social responsibility.

Companies with sustainability and corporate social responsibility as part of their DNA enjoy reputational and competitive advantages in their marketplace. This forms the crux of Shuili Du鈥檚 influential research findings that have appeared in top-tier scholarly journals such as Management Science and top-tier trade publications such as Harvard Business Review.

鈥淚 found that people think of themselves not only as 鈥榗onsumers鈥 or 鈥榠nvestors鈥 but also as parents, members of a community and other identities with a wide range of needs.鈥

Du pioneered a multi-stakeholder approach to evaluating corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a competitive strategy.听

鈥淚 look at the real world of business to see how consumers, employees and investors react to CSR,鈥 Du says. 鈥淚 found that people think of themselves not only as 鈥榗onsumers鈥 or 鈥榠nvestors鈥 but also as parents, members of a community and other identities with a wide range of needs.鈥

Du鈥檚 reputation places her in high demand as a consultant for firms seeking to implement or evaluate CSR initiatives. In recent years, for example, she helped Proctor & Gamble evaluate its Crest Healthy Smiles program, a partnership between P&G and the Boys and Girls Club to promote oral hygiene among disadvantaged families.听

鈥淲e conducted a field experiment to examine behaviors of consumers who participated in Healthy Smiles and found increased brand purchase and loyalty,鈥 Du says,

Her work with the German financial services giant Allianz uncovered a powerful link between employee satisfaction and a company鈥檚 CSR engagement.听

Researcher of the Year

Associate professor of marketing won Paul College鈥檚 2016 Outstanding Research Award.

She has 13 journal publications with 2,161 citations. Her research has appeared in premier journals including the Journal of Consumer Research, Management Science, Harvard Business Review, International Journal of Research in Marketing and International Journal of Management Review.

鈥淲e discovered that employees look for three things in their careers,鈥 Du says. 鈥淪alary, professional advancement and societal impact. 鈥楢m I making a positive difference?鈥 is an important question employees ask themselves.鈥澨

In addition to fieldwork, Du and her Paul College colleagues also have examined data from 453 firms worldwide to discover a strong relationship between sustainability orientation, open innovation and new product development success.听

鈥淔irms that seek inputs from various stakeholders such as suppliers, customers and the larger community exponentially expand their knowledge base and become more innovative,鈥 Du says.

Photographer: 
Perry Smith | Freelance Photographer