• The Wall Street Journal, Monday, May 12, 2008 9:48 AM

Companies spend billions of dollars doing good works--everything from boosting diversity in their ranks to developing eco-friendly technology--and then trumpeting those efforts to the public. But does it pay off? To find out, researchers at the University of Western Ontario's Ivey School of Business conducted a series of experiments.

They showed consumers the same products--coffee and T-shirts--but told one group the items had been made using high ethical standards and another group that low standards had been used. A control group got no information.

The study concludes that efforts to move toward ethical production--and promote that behavior--appear to be a wise investment. In other words, if you act in a socially responsible manner, and advertise that fact, you may be able to charge slightly more for your products. It appears to be even more important to stay away from goods that are unethically produced. Consumers may still purchase your products, but only at a substantial discount.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »