In the past, nongovernmental organizations, government, activists, community leaders, and shareholders have not only set the agenda for corporate social responsibility, but also provided the focal point for an overwhelming majority of other social responsibility studies. Our study, however, allowed the respondents to start from their own beliefs and volunteer, through open-ended questioning, what matters most to them.

The survey was designed on the premise that the public's definition of CSR cannot be assumed, and that they would not interpret the phrase "corporate social responsibility" in a uniform way across all demographic groups. Therefore, the survey interviews began by asking participants to define CSR in their own words. These unbiased responses provided a starting point for discovering the general public's range of opinions regarding corporate social responsibility.

Additionally, the survey was designed to examine the public's opinions about CSR by asking respondents to prioritize the importance or influence of various CSR-related issues under a variety of circumstances. Participants were also asked to provide their perspectives on CSR according to their political affiliation in order to identify whether American voters support government intervention to encourage socially responsible business.

The findings revealed that Americans view companies' commitments to socially responsible behavior primarily based on their community engagement, treatment of employees, and environmental protection. Overall, our findings show that Americans believe U.S. corporations don't fully meet their social responsibilities, and they are more willing to ask the government to intervene in order to encourage companies to align their CSR priorities with Americans' values. Finally, perhaps because of the fact that mainstream Americans now have access to high-speed Internet and user-generated content capabilities, they now share the same communications platform as established participants in the CSR arena — academics, activists, and shareholders.