Leading U.S. retailers -- particularly Target and Best Buy -- are doing a better job of controlling sales of violent video games to children, a study finds.
But all retailers still need to improve disclosure of their related sales policies and the results of those policies, according to a new report from members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a coalition of 275 faith-based institutional investors with combined assets over $110 billion.
ICCR members are in talks with some of the largest video game retailers in the country, asking them to adopt and enforce video game sales policies to ensure that Mature ("M")-rated video games for audiences ages 17 and older, containing graphic violence, strong sexual content and racist themes, are not sold to minors.
Behavioral science shows that playing violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior in children and youth.
In addition to Target and Best Buy, the retailer chart in the ICCR report covers Circuit City, KMart, Sears, Toys "R" Us, GameStop and Wal-Mart.
"While we appreciate the productive dialogues that we've had with retailers and applaud the steps these companies have taken, retailers need to make even more progress in certain areas, said Julie Tanner, corporate advocacy coordinator at Christian Brothers Investment Services.
"The most important omission by retailers is the lack of information on the implementation of and results of their policies.
This information allows socially responsible investors like CBIS to evaluate the reputational risks facing individual retailers, and enables us to track company progress over time," she said.
Cathy Rowan, corporate responsibility consultant for Trinity Health said companies need to improve their internal reporting procedures.
"Reporting is a key component of our analysis because current annual reports do not always note all of the risks to company operations.
Comprehensive reporting can build credibility with shareholders when companies detail how they are addressing risks associated with the sale of violent video games to minors, supply results from such things as their internal 'mystery shopper' programs, acknowledge controversies, and discuss their challenges," she said.
Adherence to policy. ICCR understands that retailer members of the ESRB Retail Council will participate in a 'mystery shopping' verification program, coordinated by the ESRB, which will publicly disclose the mystery shop results on an aggregated and anonymous basis.
This is an important action. However, shareholders that own stock in each of these companies deserve to see individual results, excluding confidential information. ICCR believes that companies have the capacity to develop such a report without providing proprietary information.
Long and short term goals for compliance. ICCR recommends that companies set aggressive goals and objectives and track results to ensure progress is being made, with the end goal of 100 percent store compliance. Benchmarks or indicators.
ICCR suggests that companies create indicators to demonstrate implementation of their policies on violent video games and evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. A balanced assessment. The public needs to understand the challenges relating to policy implementation, and what are the areas for improvement.
There is no need to only present a rosy picture of policy implementation. ICCR recognizes the challenges in this area and believes that providing a balanced picture builds credibility.
To view the ICCR report, Retailers and Violent Video Games: Progress Made but Disclosure Needed, and chart comparing the current practices of several major video game retailers, as reported by the retailers during discussions with ICCR members, go to: (pdf file).
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