This paper has as objective to investigate the reasons of the companies to adopt the concept of Social Responsibility, as well as the respective alignment between this concept and the purpose of the actions for them undertaken.
The concepts of Social Responsibility, Ethical Enterprise and Enterprise Social Responsibility had been used to analyze as the Social Responsibility is used in the strategy of marketing of the companies, combined with the tool Marketing for Social Causes, in order to understand the reason of the companies to practice action of this nature.
Another argued aspect was the increasing evolution of variable that before was not part of the strategical development of the company, together with the biggest concern of the company - the profit -, for the attainment of an increase of recognition of the society, beyond a on interest to the question of the improvement of its institutional image. An increasing persistence for the association of these social actions in practical is perceived that go beyond the obligations imposed for the official legislation.
In this context, through secondary research, it was analyzed the behavior and the perception of the consumers, who each more time have access to the diverse sources of information and as they process this knowledge and suffer influences in the process from consumption of the products and services.
To illustrate the constructed problem, an important sector of the Brazilian economy was chosen: the automobile industry. This segment configured excellent base for the premises development for the study for its economic importance.
For practical complementation of the work, a qualitative research through interviews with executives of the four biggest automobile companies sector was carried through. In these interviews interests had been investigated that mobilize the automakers to practice the Enterprise Social Responsibility.