Ethical consumerism, also known as ethical consumption, ethical purchasing, moral purchasing, ethical sourcing, or ethical shopping, is a type of consumer activism based on the concept of dollar voting, and is associated with sustainable and green consumerism.[1] People engage in ethical consumerism by purchasing products or services that they consider to be ethically produced, such as goods associated with small-scale manufacturers, local artisans, animal welfare, environmental protection, or fair labour practices. Conversely, ethical consumerism may involve avoiding or boycotting products associated with practices such as child labour, animal testing, environmental harm, or other contested activities.

Ethical consumerism has also been criticized for its practical limits. Critics argue that consumers may lack reliable information about companies and supply chains, that ethical consumption can be constrained by price and availability, and that individual purchasing choices may have limited ability to produce structural change.

History

Organized consumer activism developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries alongside industrialization, urban mass markets, and public concern over labour conditions, food safety, product quality, and truthful labelling. Early consumer organizations sought to influence both markets and legislation by encouraging consumers to consider the social conditions under which goods were produced. Examples included the Consumers’ League of New York, founded in 1891, the National Consumers League in the United States, founded in 1898, and consumer organizations in Britain during the First World War.[2]

These early movements linked consumer choice to questions of citizenship, labour reform, and public responsibility. Rather than treating consumption only as a private economic act, they framed purchasing as a way for middle-class consumers to exert pressure on employers, retailers, and legislators over wages, working conditions, and standards of production. The Irish Trade Union movement focused the International Labour Organization (ILO) policy of campaigning for decent work wherever there was an opportunity for job improvement or job creation.[3][4]

The term "ethical consumer", now used generically, was first popularised by the UK magazine Ethical Consumer, first published in 1989.[5] Ethical Consumer magazine's key innovation was to produce "ratings tables", inspired by the criteria-based approach of the then-emerging ethical investment movement. Ethical Consumer's ratings tables awarded companies negative marks, and later overall scores, across a range of ethical and environmental categories such as animal rights, human rights, and "pollution and toxics". The nonprofit Ethical Consumer Research Association continues to publish Ethical Consumer and its associated website, which provides free access to ethical rating tables.

Similar criteria-based ethical and environmental ratings have subsequently become common in consumer information, corporate social responsibility, sustainability reporting, and environmental, social, and governance ratings such as those provided by Innovest, Calvert Foundation, Domini, IRRC, TIAA–CREF, and KLD Analytics. Today, Bloomberg and Reuters provide "environmental, social, and governance" ratings directly to the financial data screens of hundreds of thousands of stock market traders.[6]

Basis

Global morality

An electric wire reel reused as a center table in a Rio de Janeiro decoration fair. When consumers choose and reuse environmentally friendly material like this, they are practicing ethical consumerism.

In Unequal Freedoms: The Global Market As An Ethical System (1998), John McMurtry argues that all purchasing decisions imply some moral choice, and that there is no purchasing that is not ultimately moral in nature. This mirrors older arguments, especially by the Anabaptists (e.g. Mennonites, Amish), that one must accept all personal moral and spiritual liability for all harms done at any distance in space or time to anyone by one's own choices. Some interpretations of the book of Genesis from the Judeo-Christian scriptures appear to direct followers towards practising good stewardship of the Earth, under an obligation to a God who is believed to have created the planet for people to share with other creatures. A similar argument presented[who?] from a secular humanist point of view is that it is simply better for human beings to acknowledge that the planet supports life only because of a delicate balance of many different factors.[citation needed]

Spending as morality

Some trust criteria, e.g. creditworthiness or implied warranty, are considered to be part of any purchasing or sourcing decision. However, these terms refer to broader systems of guidance that would, ideally, cause any purchasing decision to disqualify offered products or services based on non-price criteria that affect the moral rather than the functional liabilities of the entire production process.[clarification needed] Paul Hawken, a proponent of natural capitalism, refers to "comprehensive outcomes" of production services as opposed to the "culminative outcomes" of using the product of such services.[citation needed] Often, moral criteria are part of a shift away from commodity markets towards a service economy where all activities, from growing to harvesting to processing to delivery, are considered part of the value chain for which consumers are "responsible".

Andrew Wilson, Director of the UK's Ashridge Centre for Business and Society, argues that "Shopping is more important than voting", and that the disposition of money is the most basic role we play in any system of economics.[7] Some theorists[who?] believe that it is the clearest way that we express our actual moral choices: if we say we care about something but continue to buy in a way that has a high probability of risk of harm or destruction to that thing, we don't really care about it; we are practising a form of simple hypocrisy. Ethical consumerism is widely explained by psychologists using the theory of planned behavior, which attributes a consumer's choices to their perceived sense of control, social norms, and evaluation of the consequences.[8] However, recent research suggests that a consumer's ethical obligation, self-identity, and virtues may also influence their buying decisions.[9]

In an effort by churches to advocate moral and ethical consumerism, many have become involved in the Fair Trade movement:

Political consumerism

The term "political consumerism", first used in a study titled "The Gender Gap Reversed: Political Consumerism as a Women-Friendly Form of Civic and Political Engagement" by authors Dietlind Stolle and Michele Micheletti (2003), is closely related to ethical consumerism and refers to consumer choices, including boycotts and buycotts, used as forms of political or civic participation.[16] However, in "From Ethical Consumerism to Political Consumption", author Nick Clarke argues that political consumerism allows for marginalized groups, such as women, to participate in political advocacy in non-bureaucratic ways that draw attention to governmental weaknesses.[17]

Political consumerism has also been criticised on the basis that "it cannot work", or that it displays class bias.[18] The widespread development of political consumerism is hampered by substantial mundane consumption, which does not afford reflective choice, along with complexities of everyday life, which demand negotiations between conflicting moral and ethical considerations.[19]

Political boycotts and BDS

Ethical consumerism can include political boycotts in which consumers avoid companies, products, or institutions because of their perceived connection to human rights abuses, environmental harm, or state policies.[20] The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, founded in 2005, promotes boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel in relation to Palestinian rights.[21] Supporters describe the movement as a form of nonviolent human rights activism, while critics, such as the Anti-Defamation League,[22] argue that some BDS campaigns unfairly target Israel or contribute to antisemitism; BDS rejects that characterization. As a result, BDS is a contested example of boycott-based ethical consumerism.[23]

Standards and labels

Standards and labels used by ethical consumers include formal certification schemes, religious or dietary standards, and consumer-facing claims related to labour, animal welfare, environmental impact, and sourcing:

Along with disclosure of ingredients, some mandatory labelling of the origins of clothing or food is required in all developed nations. This practice has been extended in some developing nations so that, for example, every item carries the name, phone number and fax number of the factory where it was made so a buyer can inspect its conditions. This can also be used to show that the item was not made by child labour or "prison labor", the use of which to produce export goods is banned in most developed nations. Such labels have also been used for boycotts, as when the merchandise mark Made in Germany was introduced in 1887.

These labels serve as tokens of some reliable validation process, some instructional capital,[24] much as does a brand name or a nation's flag. They also signal some social capital, or trust, in some community of auditors that must follow those instructions to validate those labels.

A sign proclaiming carbon neutrality in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta.

Some companies in the United States, though currently not required to reduce their carbon footprint, are doing so voluntarily by changing their energy use practices, as well as by directly funding (through carbon offsets), businesses that are already sustainable—or that are developing or improving green technologies for the future.

In 2009, Atlanta's Virginia-Highland neighborhood became the first Carbon-Neutral Zone in the United States. Seventeen merchants in Virginia-Highland allowed their carbon footprint to be audited. Now, they are partnered with the Valley Wood Carbon Sequestration Project—thousands of acres of forest in rural Georgia—through the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX).[25][26] The businesses involved in the partnership display the Verus Carbon Neutral seal in each store front and posted a sign prominently declaring the area's Carbon Neutral status. (CCX ceased trading carbon credits at the end of 2010 due to inactivity in the U.S. carbon markets,[27] although carbon exchanges were intended[who?] to still be facilitated[who?].)[28][29]

Some theorists[who?] suggest the amount of social capital or trust invested in nation-states (or "flags") will continue to decrease, and that placed in corporations (or "brands") will increase. This can only be offset by retrenched national sovereignty to reinforce shared national standards in tax, trade, and tariff laws, and by placing the trust in civil society in such "moral labels".[clarification needed] These arguments have been a major focus of the anti-globalization movement, which includes many broader arguments against the amoral nature of markets. However, the economic school of Public Choice Theory pioneered by James M. Buchanan has offered counter-arguments based on an economic demonstration of this theory of "amoral markets", which lack ethics or morals, versus "moral governments", which are tied to ideas of justice.[30]

Research

Research on ethical consumerism has frequently examined the gap between consumers’ stated ethical concerns and their actual purchasing behaviour. This has been described as an intention–behaviour gap or attitude–behaviour gap. Studies have suggested that ethical intentions may fail to translate into purchases because of price, convenience, habit, limited availability, uncertainty over product information, competing priorities, and the amount of effort required to identify ethical alternatives. Michal J. Carrington, Benjamin A. Neville, and Gregory J. Whitwell, who co-authored “Lost in translation: Exploring the ethical consumer intention–behavior gap,” argued that the gap is shaped by factors including the prioritisation of ethical concerns, the formation of plans and habits, consumers’ willingness to sacrifice, and the everyday context in which shopping takes place. These limitations also affect boycott participation, since consumers may support a boycott in principle but fail to participate when substitutes are costly, inconvenient, unavailable, or difficult to identify.[31]

GfK NOP, the market research group, made a five-country study of consumer beliefs about the ethics of large companies. The countries surveyed were Germany, the United States, Britain, France, and Spain. More than half of respondents in Germany and the US believed there is a serious deterioration in standards of corporate practice. Almost half of those surveyed in Britain, France, and Spain held similar beliefs.[32]

About a third of respondents told researchers they would pay higher prices for ethical brands, though the perception of various companies' ethical or unethical status varied considerably from country to country.

The most ethically perceived brands were The Co-op (in the UK), Coca-Cola (in the US), Danone (in France), Adidas (in Germany), and Nestlé (in Spain). Coca-Cola, Danone, Adidas, and Nestlé did not appear anywhere in the UK's list of 15 most ethical companies. Nike appeared in the lists of the other four countries but not in the UK's list. Additionally, a study conducted in 2024 stated that ethic consumer behavior can vary between emerging and developing countries.[33]

In the UK, The Co-operative Bank has produced an Ethical Consumerism Report[34] (formerly the Ethical Purchasing Index) since 2001. The report measures the market size and growth of a basket of 'ethical' products and services, and valued UK ethical consumerism at GBP36.0 billion (~USD54.4 billion) in 2008, and GBP47.2 billion (USD72.5 billion) in 2012.

A number of organizations provide research-based evaluations of the behavior of companies around the world, assessing them along ethical dimensions such as human rights, the environment, animal welfare, and politics. Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982 that provides the Green American Seal of Approval and produces a "Responsible Shopper" guide to "alert consumers and investors to problems with companies that they may shop with or invest in."[35] The Ethical Consumer Research Association is a not-for-profit workers' co-operative founded in the UK in 1988 to "provide information on the companies behind the brand names and to promote the ethical use of consumer power."[36] They provide an online searchable database under the name Corporate Critic[37] or Ethiscore.[38] The Ethiscore is a weightable numerical rating designed as a quick guide to the ethical status of companies, or brands in a particular area, and is linked to a more detailed ethical assessment. "Alonovo" is an online shopping portal that provides similar weightable ethical ratings termed the "Corporate Social Behavior Index".[39]

Rating systems and digital tools

Ethical consumerism has also been supported by consumer guides, company rating systems, product databases, barcode scanners, and mobile applications. These tools are intended to reduce the information costs faced by consumers by summarizing claims about companies, parent-company ownership, labour practices, environmental impact, animal welfare, political controversies, or involvement in boycott campaigns. Earlier examples include printed and online guides such as Ethical Consumer,[40] Shop Ethical,[41] and The Good Shopping Guide, while later tools have included user-generated rating systems and mobile applications that allow consumers to search for brands or scan products in stores.

Some boycott applications have been developed around specific political campaigns. For example, the French newspaper ''Le Monde'' reported in 2024 on Boycott X, an application allowing users to scan products and identify alleged links between brands and companies considered connected to Israeli and its policy; the article also discussed questions raised by the app’s criteria, legal status, and accusations of antisemitism.[42]

The use of digital tools has expanded the scope of ethical consumer information, but it has also introduced difficulties of verification, coverage, and attribution. Product databases may be incomplete or out of date, and consumer-facing tools may differ in how they assign responsibility among brands, parent companies, investors, suppliers, retailers, and states.[43] These problems are particularly acute in complex global supply chains, where the ethical status of a product may depend not only on the visible brand but also on ownership structures, sourcing, subcontracting, licensing, or distribution arrangements.[44]

Conscientious consumption

Conscientious consumerism is when people make a habit of buying goods from ethical companies and avoid impulsive buying from unethical ones, in order to contribute positively in political, social, and environmental ways. Such a consumer rationalizes unnecessary and even unwanted consumption by saying that "it's for a good cause."[45] As a result, the consumer buys pink ribbons during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, green products to support the environment, candy and popcorn from school children, greeting cards and gift wrap from charities, and other such often-unwanted objects. The consumer avoids considering whether the price offered is fair, whether a small cash donation would be more effective with far less work, or even whether selling the item is consistent with the ostensible mission, such as when sports teams sell candy.

Some of these efforts are based on concept brands: the consumer is buying an association with women's health or environmental concerns as much as they are buying a tangible product.[45]

Conscientious consumption involves people who are "more focused on real needs than artificially created craves," such as not continually following trend cycles in consumer industries.[46]

Conscientious consumerism has become more popular in recent years, with consumers becoming more aware of the impact of their purchases on society and the environment. This trend has led to the growth of companies that prioritize corporate social responsibility and ethical practices in their operations to reinforce customer loyalty.[47] However, some companies have taken note of this shift towards conscientious consumerism and started deceptive marketing to convey a false impression that their product is environmentally friendly. This green marketing tactic is called greenwashing, which is prevalent in the cosmetic industry. Greenwashing has a negative impact on consumer trust in brands and cosmetic products that are marketed as green.[48]

Alternative giving

In response to an increasing demand for ethical consumerism surrounding gift-giving occasions, charities have promoted an alternative gift market, in which charitable contributions are made on behalf of the gift "recipient". The "recipient" receives a card explaining the selected gift, while the actual gift item (frequently agricultural supplies or domestic animals) is sent to a family in a poor community.[49]

Criticism

Scholars have discussed the practical limits of consumer boycotts, including collective-action problems, substitution costs, and the difficulty of targeting firms within complex supply chains.[50][51] Critics, such as Philippe Delacote, argue that ethical consumerism has limited ability to affect structural change. Berkey (2021)[52] has argued that ethical consumerism focuses on individual consumer behavior rather than systemic change and can create a false sense of efficacy and distract from more effective methods of creating change, such as collective action and policy reform. Timothy M. Devinney, Pat Auger and Giana M. Eckhardt say the actual effect of ethical consumerism is the preponderance of niche markets,[53] while McCombs researcher Julie Irwin argues that because it is difficult for consumers to obtain enough information about the outcomes of a given purchase, this prevents them from making informed ethical choices.[54]

One study suggests that "Buying Green" serves as a license for unethical behavior. In their 2009 paper, "Do Green Products Make Us Better People?",[55] Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong write:

In line with the halo associated with green consumerism, people act more altruistically after mere exposure to green than conventional products. However, people act less altruistically and are more likely to cheat and steal after purchasing green products as opposed to conventional products. Together, the studies show that consumption is more tightly connected to our social and ethical behaviors in directions and domains other than previously thought.

In a 2010 The Guardian article, British environmental writer and activist George Monbiot argued that green consumers who do not articulate their values are part of "a catastrophic mistake," on the grounds that such consumerism "strengthens extrinsic values" (those that "concern status and self-advancement"), thereby "making future campaigns less likely to succeed".[56]

James G Carrier, Associate at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, draws on Karl Marx's concept of commodity fetishism to argue that ethical consumption does not help consumers lead a more moral life, nor does it influence businesses as intended.[57] The goal of ethical consumption at a personal level is to lead a more moral life, and that capitalism causes commodities to be presented in such a way that they are perceived without regard for the labor that is represented by the product, the labor that was involved in allowing that commodity to exist.[clarification needed] The goal at a public level is for consumers to use their purchasing power to put pressure on companies to change the way they conduct business. Marx argued that under capitalism, the presentation of goods obscures the people and processes behind their production. Carrier begins by giving examples of products that have been presented in a way that misrepresents their context. He first points to the images of growers commonly found on fair trade coffee packaging. The image suggests self-reliance and ignores the dependence upon immigrant wage workers who harvest the coffee. Fairtrade coffee is viewed[who?] as a direct link to the grower without a middleman.

However, there are many parties involved such as the roasters, shippers, wholesalers, and retailers of the product. Carrier also discusses fictitious commodities, which are things that are not produced in the conventional sense, material or not, and can be appropriated for commercial gain.[clarification needed] The conceptual categories of ethicality need to be legible to consumers in order for a consumer to be able to participate in ethical consumption.[clarification needed] Sellers use imagery to satisfy that need, and the images they use become emblematic and representational of the values of ethical consumers, and in some ways, the presentation of these images fetishize the product, and the pervasiveness of such images begins to shape ethicality, as the absence of these images also signifies the absence of those same values. In short, it is difficult to buy ethical products because there are many aspects to commodities that consumers are unable to be fully aware of; fully informed decisions are almost impossible to make. Consumers see the images that sellers use as a means of virtue signaling, and purchase those products with the intent of ethical consumption because they believe that those images have been produced conscientiously to represent conceptual categories of "ethical."[57]

This difficulty is amplified when companies engage in practices such as greenwashing, where ethical claims are exaggerated or misleading. Greenwashing can intensify the challenge of informed ethical consumption by creating "green confusion", making it difficult for consumers to distinguish genuinely sustainable products from superficially ethical ones. A 2024 study identifies six key features of greenwashing: the company makes an environmental claim about a product or service, the claim is not supported by evidence, it is intended to mislead consumers, it gives the company an advantage, it is linked to a specific product or service, and it is communicated through marking or advertising.[58] This demonstrates how even well-intentioned consumers face challenges in making truly informed, ethical choices.

Carrier extends commodity fetishism to include nature reserves because they are advertised and because people are urged to visit the landscapes and animals for a fee. For example, parks in Jamaica show colorful fish and coral growth on pamphlets to attract tourists. These photos fetishize coastal waters by ignoring the other important ecological aspects of the water. In Montego Bay, Jamaica, environmentalists[who?] argue that tourism has damaged the park. Run-off feeds into the waterways and sea-grass beds integral to local nutrient cycles are removed.[57]

The strategic direction of the consumer's attention further mystifies and fetishizes the object of consumption.[clarification needed] Carrier points out that the moment of consumer choice is emphasized rather than the context that leads people to seek ethicality.[57] He believes that more attention should be paid to how the consumer acquired their moral leanings.

See also

References

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  51. ↑ Delacote, Philippe (2009-09-01). "On the Sources of Consumer Boycotts Ineffectiveness". The Journal of Environment & Development. 18 (3): 306–322. doi:10.1177/1070496509338849. ISSN 1070-4965.
  52. ↑ Berkey, Brian (2001). "Ethical Consumerism, Democratic Values, and Justice". Philosophy & Public Affairs. 49 (3): 237–274. doi:10.1111/papa.12191.
  53. ↑ Devinney, Timothy. "Value vs. Values: The Myth of the Ethical Consumer". Policy Innovations. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  54. ↑ Irwin, Julie (2015-01-12). "Ethical Consumerism Isn't Dead, It Just Needs Better Marketing". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  55. ↑ Do Green Products Make Us Better People? (Psychological Science, April, 2010) Nina Mazar, Chen-Bo Zhong
  56. ↑ Monbiot, George (12 October 2010). "It goes against our nature; but the left has to start asserting its own values". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  57. 1 2 3 4 Carrier, James G. (2010). "Protecting the Environment the Natural Way: Ethical Consumption and Commodity Fetishism". Antipode. 42 (3): 672–689. Bibcode:2010Antip..42..672C. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2010.00768.x.
  58. ↑ Spaniol, Matthew J.; Danilova-Jensen, Evita; Nielsen, Martin; Rosdahl, Carl Gyldenkærne; Schmidt, Clara Jasmin (2024-10-19). "Defining Greenwashing: A Concept Analysis". Sustainability. 16 (20): 9055. Bibcode:2024Sust...16.9055S. doi:10.3390/su16209055. ISSN 2071-1050.

Further reading

  • Speth, James Gustave (2008). The Bridge at the End of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability. Caravan Books.
  • Bartley, Tim and colleagues (2015). Looking Behind the Label: Global Industries and the Conscientious Consumer. Indiana University Press.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_consumerism