Background: The background takes up that consumers' consumption behavior has changed and that there has been strong pressure from the ambient that companies must take their social responsibility. Seen to the increased competition in the food industry social responsibility can be a way for the food chains to create added value to its customers. However, companies must decide on how to work with social responsibility for it to be strategically relevant.
Problem definition: What is the importance of social responsibility for the food industry's long-term survival?
Objective: The aim of this thesis is to analyze and evaluate if the food chains’ social responsibility is consistent with their customers' perception. The essay also aims to see if there are any differences between firms that are positioning themselves with low-cost concept in its business in relation to companies that do not.
Method: The essay has been used up by both a qualitative and a quantitative approach to the study. The qualitative approach is based on interviews with one person in the management and a store manager in every food store chain. The quantitative approach is based on a survey with 25 random selected customers from each food store chain.
Selection: The four food chains that are included in the investigation are COOP Sverige, ICA Sverige AB, Lidl Sverige and Willys.
Theories: The essay uses the following theories; Porter's three generic strategies, involvement theory and service marketing triangle where the interactive and internal marketing is in focus.
Empiric: The empiric consists of primary data gained from the interviews and the survey along with secondary data for complementary.
Results: It is possible to find a correlation between social responsibility within the company and its customers of the firms that don’t have low-cost concept in their business, and have a focus strategy with high involvement customers.
Conclusion: Corporate social responsibility is an added value, which together with the differentiation strategy or focuses strategy, has significance and plays an important role in long-term survival.