Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing IntelligenceCompanies are increasingly understanding the positive impacts in the consumer’s mindsets related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives, actions that can be correlated to more ethical and sustainable ways to conduct business. Some practical benefits of these disciplines are on the enhancement of employer branding perceptions, turning it into a relevant and strategical business component that is requiring more attention for this context in the last years. The expected results want to provide more insights able to show how a high level of employee engagement and advertising these related recognitions are perceived or not by the consumers, and if they can directly associate with a better quality of products. Every year, over six thousand companies in sixty countries, representing more than ten million employees, invest time and resources to use methodologies like as provided by Great Place to Work®, to identify their employee experience and improve the key drivers of engagement. Based on this context this paper seeks to investigate if there are any positive impacts of being certified as a great workplace on a brand’s reputation, by identifying consumers’ preferences and purchasing intentions in an experimental test comparing different product packages. The study used an experimental design with two conditions: a product’s package with versus without the Great Place to Work® label. We formulated questions that measured on a scale from 1 to 9, the degree of importance or agreement given to the proposed questions or statements. We recruited 240 people living in the United States of America. 135 were male (56,25%) and 105 female (43,75%), 14 of these individuals had 18 – 24 years (5,83%), 103 individuals 25 – 34 years (42,92%), 74 individuals 35 – 44 years (30,83%), 26 individuals 45 – 54 years (10,83%), and 23 individuals had 55 – 75 years (9,58%). As a result, the exploratory analysis underscores a significant correlation between the overall perception of the product and the quality of a specific group. Despite that, we found no statistically significant correlation between the presence of a Great Place to Work® certified company label on the chocolate package and the overall value of the product. The presence of this specific label also was not statistically associated with the price people were willing to pay or the possible taste of the chocolate. In conclusion, our study shows that the perception of quality only impacted individuals above 35 years old who ate chocolate often. Indeed, the use of credible labels allows firms to signal quality, and in so doing to create the potential for a premium positioning based on this signal
