The provision of CSR attributes will depend as well on certain characteristics of the market, such as the degree to which firms can differentiate their products and the industry life cycle. Thus, one is likely to find CSR attributes in industries with highly
differentiated products, such as food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and automobiles.
In the embryonic and growth stages of the industry life cycle, we expect that there is little product differentiation, as firms focus on perfecting the production process and satisfying rapidly growing demand.
As growth slows, and especially as the industry matures, there is likely to be
a great deal of differentiation. ..