Consumer reporting: A conceptual framework for the organizational level

The consumer is one of many stakeholders in an organization, and a reporting format for consumers must be fully developed to allow integration with other reports. An attempt is made to develop a conceptual framework for consumer reporting at the organizational level. Social accounting and reporting literature is reviewed. The relationships between organizations and consumers in general are examined, as is research on consumer satisfaction and its indicators. Consumer satisfaction is regarded as the core element of consumer reporting, and it is concluded that perceptual indicators of it should form the core of consumer reporting in establishing the consumer profile of an organization. Within the proposed framework, consumers evaluate past, present, and future practices of an organization, but additional information could be provided as well, and it should all be geared toward accounting for organizational strategy and consumer policy. Practical examples show that consumer reporting can be practiced and illustrate items about which information can be provided.