Abstract

In recent years, consumer interest in purpose-driven companies has gained momentum around the world. A purpose-driven company is a for-profit entity that has committed to creating social and environmental benefit, in addition to its traditional for-profit motive (Hollensbe et al., 2014). Among purpose-driven companies, Benefit Corporations (B-Corps) have grown rapidly since 2007 (http://www.bcorporation.net/). These companies aim to make a profit and devote a significant part of their profits for social purposes. Scant research in the business literature has addressed consumer perceptions of B-Corps. Only a few studies have addressed topics such as revenue growth and employee productivity of B-Corps (Chen & Kelly, 2015). Thus, there is minimal research on understanding the perceptions and attitudes of consumers towards B-Corps. Particularly, there is a need to investigate why do consumers patronage B-Corps? What factors lead consumers to prefer B-Corp to other companies? This study employs a qualitative research methodology and collects data in the form of in-depth interviews with Chilean consumers of B-Corps. Understanding potential factors that may influence behaviours of consumers for supporting B-Corps can help companies, governments and policy makers identify and implement strategies to encourage consumer support for B-Corps.