Women and young consumers are much more likely to make purchasing decisions based on a company's track record on issues such as the environment and treating overseas workers fairly, a conference in Dublin heard yesterday.

Prof Kellie McElhaney from the University of California, Berkeley, said women in the United States were much more likely than men to investigate a company's environmental record before buying and to screen their investments in companies for a variety of criteria related to corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Prof McElhaney said research had found that 89 per cent of "millenials", defined as those aged between eight and 24, will switch brand if it is linked to a cause that they support and 79 per cent say they want to work for a company that cares about society.

Anne Roosevelt, senior executive at aircraft manufacturer Boeing responsible for CSR, said the company invested $73.8 million (€49.9 million) annually in the communities where its business is based.

Boeing is the world's largest manufacturer of consumer and military aircraft and had 2006 revenues of $61.5 billion.

Ms Roosevelt said Boeing had been committed to making its jet aircraft more fuel efficient "for years". The Boeing 787 and Boeing 747-8 are respectively 20 per cent and 15 per cent more fuel efficient than their predecessors according to Boeing.

Boeing's products were as fuel efficient as the average train and more efficient than the average passenger car, Ms Roosevelt claimed. Getting employees engaged was the most important element in successful CSR for a company such as Boeing.

"Nobody is going to buy an airplane because we are generous or thoughtful in our company practices, but our employees are going to demand it," she said.