The study of comparing consumers’ “perceived quality” and “willingness to buy” on products between B corporation and social enterprise

• Main Authors: Shu-Yun Liang, 梁淑韵
• Other Authors: Cou-Chen Wu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/xcnmmd

碩士 === 國立臺灣科技大學 === 企業管理系 === 106 === In recent years, the concept of the “B corporation” has entered Taiwan, and many companies here have obtained this certification. The goal of this category of enterprises is that enterprises should also pursue social benefits while pursuing profit. It requires that the business model of the enterprise must be beneficial to society. The concept of the B corporation is similar to the social enterprise. Social enterprises are organizations established to solve social issues, and they support organizational operations through business models. Some consumers in the market who pay attention to the same issue will support the social enterprises pursuing their goal by purchasing. The business model of social enterprises has been in the Western countries for many years. The problem that they encounter in the market is that some consumers have doubts about the quality of the products or services provided by them. Scholars point out the possible reasons that some consumers think the focus of social enterprises is on social issues, so the quality of the products may not be as good as ordinary enterprises. Another reason is that some consumers may have the negative attitude on their employees who may come from volunteers or vulnerable groups. In addition, the distribution of surpluses of social enterprises is restricted by regulations, which may limit their competitiveness. If the social enterprise's surplus is not mainly used on social issues or surplus use is not properly balanced between commercial use and social issues, it would make consumers want to ask "Do social enterprises profit for social issues or profit from social issues?" This study is to explore whether the B corporations which organizational goals and operational strategies are different from social enterprises but also bring social welfare can be supported by consumers like social enterprises. Moreover, unlike social enterprises which mainly focus on social issues, B corporations pay equal attention to commercial interests and stakeholders. Can it make consumers have fewer doubts about the quality of products and services they provide than social enterprises?