Here’’s a staggering statistic: an Edelman report published last month reported that 65% of US consumers think businesses must integrate social good causes into their corporate strategies. Meanwhile, people have seemingly abandoned the “going green” push, as retailers have seen a big drop in purchases of environmentally sustainable products. Odd as it may be that social good could actually boot out environmental good in the heart of consumers, it seems to be happening.

One of the upsides of the 2008 recession appears to be an increase in consumer savvy. According to a 2009 survey, many British consumers changed their behavior – turning their backs on environmentally friendly products like organic foods in exchange for lower prices. But this change wasn’t completely across the board. While they may have been downgrading from pricier produce at the grocery store, they were still willing to pay more for locally produced foods. The conclusion of this finding was that consumers still had a commitment to socially conscious products, but were now honing their habits to incorporate quality at the best price.

This trend looks to have translated across the Atlantic too, where a Green Gauge Global report found that many U.S. consumers had also become more discriminating, considering green products to be too expensive and less effective. Going green for the sake of the trend is no longer cutting it for the savvy consumer.

But consumers do appear to be responding in droves to socially responsible campaigns like the Pepsi Refresh project, the Dove campaign for Real Beauty, and Product Red. Campaigns like these have found huge success by evolving their corporate message to one that speaks to social responsibility as a whole – and not just the environmental angle – to meet the new consumer demand. One of our core principals at Big Spaceship is that brands should be willing to give real value and interact generously even in digital and social spaces – giving more to their consumers than what they’re asking for in return.

Is social good just the newest flavor of the month? Or – in the wake of extensive industry oversights and scandal – is the 2011 consumer one that demands greater responsibility from the brands they engage with?