Ethical consumerism
Encyclopedia
Ethical consumerism is the intentional purchase of products and services that the customer considers to be made ethically. This may mean with minimal harm to or exploitation
of humans, animals and/or the natural environment
. Ethical consumerism is practiced through 'positive buying' in that ethical products are favoured, or 'moral boycott
', that is negative purchasing and company-based purchasing.
The term "ethical consumer", now used generically, was first popularised by the UK magazine the Ethical Consumer
, first published in 1989. 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 from 2005 overall scores) across a range of ethical and environmental categories such a 'animal rights', 'human rights' and 'pollution and toxics', empowering consumers to make ethically informed consumption choices and providing campaigners with reliable information on corporate behaviour. Such criteria-based ethical and environmental ratings have subsequently become a commonplace both in providing consumer information and in business-to-business corporate social responsibility
and sustainability
ratings such as those provided by Innovest, Calvert, Domini, IRRC, TIAA-CREF and KLD Analytics. Today, Bloomberg
and Reuters
even provide "environmental, social and governance" ratings direct to the financial data screens of hundreds of thousands of stock market traders.
The not-for-profit Ethical Consumer Research Association continues to publish Ethical Consumer magazine and its associated website, which provides free access to ethical ratings tables.
The rise in ethical consumerism and green brands
that identify themselves as ethical, has led to a rise in ethic-based decisions in the mass market, enabled by increased understanding and information about businesses practices. The term ethical consumerism may refer to the wider movement within marketing, which means that large corporations wish to be seen as working ethically and improving the ethical standards of their industry.
Alternative terms are ethical consumption, ethical purchasing, moral purchasing, ethical sourcing, ethical shopping or green consumerism.
argues that there is no purchasing decision that does not itself 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. Mennonite
s, Amish
, that one must accept all personal moral and spiritual liability of all harms done at any distance in space or time to anyone by one's own choices. It is often suggested that Judeo-Christian scriptures further direct followers towards practising good stewardship of the Earth, under an obligation to a God who is believed to have created the planet for us to share with other creatures... It should be noted, however, that a very similar argument can be presented from an entirely secular humanist
point of view, and there are many people who believe 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.
Accordingly, sustainability is required and purchasing for vanity or status is abhorred and shunned. This theory is echoed in some modern eco-villages who adopt very similar stances, effectively blocking all goods that do not satisfy their moral criteria at the village gate, and relying on internally produced food and tools as much as possible.
, 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 do not affect the functional, but rather moral, liabilities of the entire production process. 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. Often, moral criteria are part of a much broader shift away from commodity markets
towards a deeper service economy
where all activities, from growing to harvesting to processing to delivery, are considered part of the value chain
and 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 others that the disposition of money
is the most basic role we play in any system of economics
. Some theorists believe that it is the clearest way that we express our actual moral choices, i.e., if we say we care about something but continue to buy from parties that have a high probability of risk of harm or destruction of that thing, we don't really care about it, we are practicing a form of simple hypocrisy
.
One recent study suggests that "Buying Green" serves as a license for unethical behavior. In their 2009 paper, "Do Green Products Make Us Better People?", the authors state the following:
This may have implications for pollution licensing programs, for example. A polluter that buys a pollution license in effect has "bought green", which makes them more likely to engage in unethical behavior, leading to increased pollution. Without considering human psychology, such programs could aggravate the very problems they hope to solve. See Law of Unintended Consequences.
In a 2010 newspaper article, British environmental writer and activist George Monbiot
described green consumerism as "a catastrophic mistake" on the grounds that "it strengthens extrinsic values" (those that "concern status and self-advancement"), thereby "making future campaigns less likely to succeed".
blog. Ethical Consumerism can be seen as a movement in marketing
, which may or may not reflect actual changes in the practices of businesses. Particular areas of interest for large businesses are environmental impact and the treatment of workers at the bottom of the organisational hierarchy. This change reflects an increasing awareness of ethical issues and corporate identity
amongst mainstream consumers
.
A number of standards and labels have been introduced to induce positive buying, such as:
Along with disclosure of ingredients, some mandatory labelling
of origins of clothing or food is required in all developed nations. This practice has been extended in some developing nations, e.g., where every item carries the name, phone number and fax number of the factory where it was made so a buyer can inspect its conditions. And, more importantly, to prove that the item was not made by "prison labor", 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
, 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.
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 are developing or improving green technologies for the future.
In 2009, Atlanta's Virginia-Highland became the first Carbon-Neutral Zone in the United States. Seventeen merchants of Atlanta's 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. The businesses involved in the partnership display the Verus Carbon Neutral seal in each storefront and posted a sign prominently declaring the area's Carbon Neutral status.
Over time, some theorists 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". These arguments have been a major focus of the anti-globalization movement
, which includes many broader arguments against the amoral nature of markets as such. However, the economic school of Public Choice Theory
pioneered by James M. Buchanan
has offered counter-arguments based on economic demonstration to this theory of 'amoral markets' versus 'moral governments'.
ing products which a consumer believes to be associated with unethical behavior.
An individual can choose to boycott a product. Alternatively, the decision may be the application of criteria reflective of a morality
(or, in the terminology of ethics
, a theory of value
) to any purchasing decisions.
Such boycotts can cause great damage to reputations, not to mention loss of profits, and has, in part, led to the development of the concept of corporate social responsibility
.
Consumers are encouraged by animal welfare organisations to only shop at supermarkets which have strict animal welfare policies regarding the products they sell. Compassion in World Farming
produce a supermarket survey every 2 years assessing supermarket performance in the UK.
, the market research group, has made a five-country study of consumer beliefs about the ethics of large companies. The report was described in a Financial Times
article published on February 20, 2007 entitled "Ethical consumption makes mark on branding", and was followed up by an online debate/discussion hosted by FT.com (http://www.ft.com/ethicalbrands). The countries surveyed were Germany
, the USA, 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.
About a third of respondents told researchers they would pay higher prices for ethical brands though 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.
In the UK, the Co-operative Bank
has produced an Ethical Consumerism Report (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.
A number of organisations 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." 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" which provides an online seachable database under the name Corporate Critic or Ethiscore. 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".
As a result of organizations such as Adbusters and the Center for a New American Dream, the Conscious Consuming movement began in Boston in the summer of 2003 when a group of people gathered together and planned an alternative gift fair, "Gift It Up!" In the fall of 2004, another group of Bostonians formed a group named "Conscious Consuming" and began meeting to discuss a broad range of topics, from the environmental impact of consumption to the effect of media and advertising. The memberships quickly overlapped and in 2005, the groups merged into Conscious Consuming.
Conscious consuming has its roots in voluntary simplicity, in which people re-evaluate their work-life balance
in order to spend more of their time and money on the things that matter to them. As people work less, there is more time for connecting with family and friends, volunteerism, hobbies, and community service. A natural off-shoot of working less is spending less. Instead of spending time and money shopping, people engaging in voluntary simplicity buy less. They get goods using web sites like craigslist
, trade with friends, make do with what they have, or hit yard sales. When they do purchase something new, the decision to buy is made consciously. A would-be shopper asks, "Is this item made in line with my values? Am I supporting the local economy? Are the people who produce this item treated and compensated fairly? Is this item built to last?" As a result of these questions, conscious consumers find themselves supporting organic agriculture, fair-trade and sweat-shop free products, and local and independent businesses.
, green products to support the environment, candy and popcorn from school children, greeting cards and gift wrap from charities, and many other, 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 he is buying a tangible product.
is a kerbside packaging recycling
classification system used in the United Kingdom
which combines both environmental
and consumer
packaging surveys
. It encourages local people to buy products that are fully, and simple to kerbside recyclable.
Exploitation
This article discusses the term exploitation in the meaning of using something in an unjust or cruel manner.- As unjust benefit :In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for...
of humans, animals and/or the natural environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
. Ethical consumerism is practiced through 'positive buying' in that ethical products are favoured, or 'moral boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
', that is negative purchasing and company-based purchasing.
The term "ethical consumer", now used generically, was first popularised by the UK magazine the Ethical Consumer
Ethical Consumer
Ethical Consumer is a not-for-profit UK magazine and , founded in 1989, which publishes information on the social, ethical and environmental behaviour of companies and issues around trade justice and ethical consumerism. It defines its mission as to "promote universal human rights, environmental...
, first published in 1989. 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 from 2005 overall scores) across a range of ethical and environmental categories such a 'animal rights', 'human rights' and 'pollution and toxics', empowering consumers to make ethically informed consumption choices and providing campaigners with reliable information on corporate behaviour. Such criteria-based ethical and environmental ratings have subsequently become a commonplace both in providing consumer information and in business-to-business corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...
and sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
ratings such as those provided by Innovest, Calvert, Domini, IRRC, TIAA-CREF and KLD Analytics. Today, Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Bloomberg may refer to:* Michael Bloomberg , American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and Mayor of New York City...
and Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
even provide "environmental, social and governance" ratings direct to the financial data screens of hundreds of thousands of stock market traders.
The not-for-profit Ethical Consumer Research Association continues to publish Ethical Consumer magazine and its associated website, which provides free access to ethical ratings tables.
The rise in ethical consumerism and green brands
Green brands
Green brands are those brands that consumers associate with environmental conservation and sustainable business practices.Such brands appeal to consumers who are becoming more aware of the need to protect the environment. A green brand can add a unique selling point to a product and can boost...
that identify themselves as ethical, has led to a rise in ethic-based decisions in the mass market, enabled by increased understanding and information about businesses practices. The term ethical consumerism may refer to the wider movement within marketing, which means that large corporations wish to be seen as working ethically and improving the ethical standards of their industry.
Alternative terms are ethical consumption, ethical purchasing, moral purchasing, ethical sourcing, ethical shopping or green consumerism.
Global morality
In "The Global Markets As An Ethical System", John McMurtryJohn McMurtry
John McMurtry, PhD, FRSC, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Guelph, Canada. Most recently, he has focused his research on the value structure of economic theory and its consequences for global civil and environmental life...
argues that there is no purchasing decision that does not itself 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. Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
s, Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
, that one must accept all personal moral and spiritual liability of all harms done at any distance in space or time to anyone by one's own choices. It is often suggested that Judeo-Christian scriptures further direct followers towards practising good stewardship of the Earth, under an obligation to a God who is believed to have created the planet for us to share with other creatures... It should be noted, however, that a very similar argument can be presented from an entirely secular humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
point of view, and there are many people who believe that it is simply better for human beings to acknowledge that the planet supports life
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...
only because of a delicate balance of many different factors.
Accordingly, sustainability is required and purchasing for vanity or status is abhorred and shunned. This theory is echoed in some modern eco-villages who adopt very similar stances, effectively blocking all goods that do not satisfy their moral criteria at the village gate, and relying on internally produced food and tools as much as possible.
Spending as morality
Certain trust criteria, e.g. creditworthiness or implied warrantyImplied warranty
In common law jurisdictions, an implied warranty is a contract law term for certain assurances that are presumed to be made in the sale of products or real property, due to the circumstances of the sale. These assurances are characterized as warranties irrespective of whether the seller has...
, 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 do not affect the functional, but rather moral, liabilities of the entire production process. Paul Hawken
Paul Hawken
Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author.-Life:Paul Hawken had a Swedish grandmother and a Scottish grandfather with a farm. His father worked at UC Berkeley...
, a proponent of Natural Capitalism
Natural capitalism
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution is a 1999 book co-authored by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins. It has been translated into a dozen languages and was the subject of a Harvard Business Review summary....
, refers to "comprehensive outcomes" of production services as opposed to the "culminative outcomes" of using the product of such services. Often, moral criteria are part of a much broader shift away from commodity markets
Commodity markets
Commodity markets are markets where raw or primary products are exchanged. These raw commodities are traded on regulated commodities exchanges, in which they are bought and sold in standardized contracts....
towards a deeper service economy
Service economy
Service economy can refer to one or both of two recent economic developments. One is the increased importance of the service sector in industrialized economies. Services account for a higher percentage of US GDP than 20 years ago...
where all activities, from growing to harvesting to processing to delivery, are considered part of the value chain
Value chain
The value chain, is a concept from business management that was first described and popularized by Michael Porter in his 1985 best-seller, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance.-Firm Level:...
and 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 others that the disposition of money
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
is the most basic role we play in any system of economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. Some theorists believe that it is the clearest way that we express our actual moral choices, i.e., if we say we care about something but continue to buy from parties that have a high probability of risk of harm or destruction of that thing, we don't really care about it, we are practicing a form of simple hypocrisy
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie....
.
Criticism
Critics argue that the ability to affect structural change is limited in ethical consumerism. Some cite the preponderance of niche markets as the actual effect of ethical consumerism, while others argue that information is limited regarding the outcomes of a given purchase, preventing consumers from making informed ethical choices. Critics have also argued that the uneven distribution of wealth prevents consumerism, ethical or otherwise, from fulfilling its democratic potential.One recent study suggests that "Buying Green" serves as a license for unethical behavior. In their 2009 paper, "Do Green Products Make Us Better People?", the authors state the following:
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.
This may have implications for pollution licensing programs, for example. A polluter that buys a pollution license in effect has "bought green", which makes them more likely to engage in unethical behavior, leading to increased pollution. Without considering human psychology, such programs could aggravate the very problems they hope to solve. See Law of Unintended Consequences.
In a 2010 newspaper article, British environmental writer and activist George Monbiot
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
described green consumerism as "a catastrophic mistake" on the grounds that "it strengthens extrinsic values" (those that "concern status and self-advancement"), thereby "making future campaigns less likely to succeed".
Growing diverse use of the term
As large corporations have tried to position themselves as moral, principled or ethical organisations, the definition has become wider and means different things to different groups of people. For example, McDonald's started to sell salads, (a more healthy choice) and has a corporate social responsibilityCorporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...
blog. Ethical Consumerism can be seen as a movement in marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, which may or may not reflect actual changes in the practices of businesses. Particular areas of interest for large businesses are environmental impact and the treatment of workers at the bottom of the organisational hierarchy. This change reflects an increasing awareness of ethical issues and corporate identity
Corporate identity
In Corporate Communications, a corporate identity is the "persona" of a corporation which is designed to accord with and facilitate the attainment of business objectives...
amongst mainstream consumers
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
.
Positive buying
Positive buying means favoring ethical products, be they fair trade, cruelty free, organic, recycled, re-used, or produced locally. This option is arguably the most important since it directly supports progressive companies.Standards and labels
- Equal ExchangeEqual ExchangeEqual Exchange is a for-profit Fairtrade worker-owned, cooperative headquartered in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Equal Exchange distributes organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate bars produced by farmer cooperatives in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Founded in 1986, it is...
- Fairtrade
- Social Accountability 8000
- organic foodOrganic foodOrganic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
- Local foodLocal foodLocal food or the local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular...
- Organic Trade AssociationOrganic Trade AssociationThe Organic Trade Association is a membership-based business association that focuses on the organic business community in North America. OTA's mission is to promote ethical consumerism, promoting and protecting the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the...
- Green America Seal of Approval
- Shade-grown coffee
- kosher (religious standard)
- halalHalalHalal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
(religious standard) - No Pork No Lard (semi-religious standard)
- vegan
- free-range poultry
- grass fed beef
- union-made
- dolphin safeCetacean bycatchCetacean bycatch is the incidental capture of non-target cetacean species by fisheries. Species which are seriously affected by this include dolphins, porpoises, and whales. Bycatch can be caused by entanglement in fishing nets and lines, or direct capture by hooks or in trawl nets.Cetacean bycatch...
fish - recycled/recyclableRecyclingRecycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
- FSC-certifiedForest Stewardship CouncilThe Forest Stewardship Council is an international not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established in 1993 to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. Its main tools for achieving this are standard setting, independent certification and labeling of forest products...
sustainably sourced wood - MSC-certifiedMarine Stewardship CouncilThe Marine Stewardship Council is an independent non-profit organization with an ecolabel and fishery certification programme. Fisheries that are assessed and meet the standard can use the MSC blue ecolabel. The MSC mission is to 'reward sustainable fishing practices’...
sustainably sourced seafood - Product RedProduct RedProduct Red, styled as RED, is a brand licensed to partner companies such as Nike, American Express , Apple Inc., Starbucks, Converse, Bugaboo, Penguin Classics , Gap, Emporio Armani, Hallmark and Dell...
- Rainforest Alliance certifiedRainforest AllianceThe Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization with the published aims of working to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. It is based in New York City, and has offices throughout the...
- Made in USAMade in USAThe Made in USA mark is a country of origin label indicating the product is "all or virtually all" made in the U.S. The label is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission .-Legal requirements:...
- B corporation
Along with disclosure of ingredients, some mandatory labelling
Mandatory labelling
Mandatory labelling or labeling is the requirement of consumer products to state their ingredients or components....
of origins of clothing or food is required in all developed nations. This practice has been extended in some developing nations, e.g., where every item carries the name, phone number and fax number of the factory where it was made so a buyer can inspect its conditions. And, more importantly, to prove that the item was not made by "prison labor", 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
Made in Germany
Made in Germany is a merchandise mark indicating that a product has been manufactured in Germany.- History :The label was originally introduced in Britain by the Merchandise Marks Act 1887....
was introduced in 1887.
These labels serve as tokens of some reliable validation process, some instructional capital
Instructional capital
Instructional capital is a term used in educational administration after the 1960s, to reflect capital resulting from investment in producing learning materials....
, much as does a brand name or a nation's flag. They also signal some social capital
Social capital
Social capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
, or trust, in some community of auditors that must follow those instructions to validate those labels.
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 are developing or improving green technologies for the future.In 2009, Atlanta's Virginia-Highland became the first Carbon-Neutral Zone in the United States. Seventeen merchants of Atlanta's 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. The businesses involved in the partnership display the Verus Carbon Neutral seal in each storefront and posted a sign prominently declaring the area's Carbon Neutral status.
Over time, some theorists suggest, the amount of social capital
Social capital
Social capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
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
National sovereignty
National sovereignty is the doctrine that sovereignty belongs to and derives from the nation, an abstract entity normally linked to a physical territory and its past, present, and future citizens. It is an ideological concept or doctrine derived from liberal political theory...
to reinforce shared national standards in tax, trade, and tariff laws, and by placing the trust in civil society in such "moral labels". These arguments have been a major focus of the anti-globalization movement
Anti-globalization movement
The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalisation movement, is critical of the globalization of corporate capitalism. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist movement, anti-corporate globalization movement, or...
, which includes many broader arguments against the amoral nature of markets as such. However, the economic school of Public Choice Theory
Public choice theory
In economics, public choice theory is the use of modern economic tools to study problems that traditionally are in the province of political science...
pioneered by James M. Buchanan
James M. Buchanan
James McGill Buchanan, Jr. is an American economist known for his work on public choice theory, for which he received the 1986 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Buchanan's work initiated research on how politicians' self-interest and non-economic forces affect government economic policy...
has offered counter-arguments based on economic demonstration to this theory of 'amoral markets' versus 'moral governments'.
Areas of concern
Ethical Consumer, the alternative consumer organisation, collects and categorises information of more than 30.000 companies according to their performance in five main areas, composing the Ethiscore:- Environment: Environmental Reporting, Nuclear Power, Climate Change, Pollution & Toxics, Habitats & Resources
- People: Human Rights, Workers' Rights, Supply Chain Policy, Irresponsible Marketing, Armaments
- Animals: Animal Testing, Factory Farming, Other Animal Rights
- Politics: Political Activity, Boycott Call, Genetic Engineering, Anti-Social Finance, Company Ethos
- Product Sustainability: Organic, Fairtrade, Positive Environmental Features, Other Sustainability.
Boycott
Moral boycott is the practice of avoiding or boycottBoycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
ing products which a consumer believes to be associated with unethical behavior.
An individual can choose to boycott a product. Alternatively, the decision may be the application of criteria reflective of a morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
(or, in the terminology of ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, a theory of value
Theory of value (economics)
"Theory of value" is a generic term which encompasses all the theories within economics that attempt to explain the exchange value or price of goods and services...
) to any purchasing decisions.
Products
Reasons for products boycotts include- factory farmingFactory farmingFactory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...
- environmental harmNatural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
- Packaging not fully and simply, locally kerbside recyclableRecyclingRecycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
. - strike actionStrike actionStrike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
Corporations
Examples include corporations that- are perceived to espouse unethical behavior by one of its subsidiaries
- investing a portion of their profits in for example the arms industryArms industryThe arms industry is a global industry and business which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology and equipment. It comprises government and commercial industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military material, equipment and facilities...
Such boycotts can cause great damage to reputations, not to mention loss of profits, and has, in part, led to the development of the concept of corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...
.
Consumers are encouraged by animal welfare organisations to only shop at supermarkets which have strict animal welfare policies regarding the products they sell. Compassion in World Farming
Compassion In World Farming
Compassion in World Farming is a campaigning and lobbying animal welfare organisation, with headquarters in the UK, branches in eight European countries and international representatives in China, Australia and South Africa...
produce a supermarket survey every 2 years assessing supermarket performance in the UK.
Countries
Examples:- Made in GermanyMade in GermanyMade in Germany is a merchandise mark indicating that a product has been manufactured in Germany.- History :The label was originally introduced in Britain by the Merchandise Marks Act 1887....
- Consumer boycotts of South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
over apartheid. These boycotts were mirrored in state policy over time, and contributed to the fall of the Apartheid regime. - The ongoing boycott of Israeli products due to the perceived treatment of ethnic Palestinians by the government of Israel.
Research
GfK NOPGfK NOP
GfK NOP is a leading market research agency based in London, providing business insight through quantitative and qualitative research.- History :...
, the market research group, has made a five-country study of consumer beliefs about the ethics of large companies. The report was described in a Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
article published on February 20, 2007 entitled "Ethical consumption makes mark on branding", and was followed up by an online debate/discussion hosted by FT.com (http://www.ft.com/ethicalbrands). The countries surveyed were Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the USA, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. 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.
About a third of respondents told researchers they would pay higher prices for ethical brands though perception of various companies ethical or unethical status varied considerably from country to country.
The most ethically perceived brands were The Co-op
The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group Ltd. is a United Kingdom consumer cooperative with a diverse range of business interests. It is co-operatively run and owned by its members. It is the largest organisation of this type in the world, with over 5.5 million members, who all have a say in how the business is...
(in the UK), Coca Cola (in the US), Danone (in France), Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
(in Germany) and Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
(in Spain). Coca Cola, Danone, Adidas and Nestlé did not appear anywhere in the UK's list of 15 most ethical companies. Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
appeared in the lists of the other four countries but not in the UK's list.
In the UK, the Co-operative Bank
Co-operative Bank
The Co-operative Bank plc is a commercial bank in the United Kingdom and Guernsey, with its headquarters in Manchester.The bank markets itself as an ethical bank, and refuses to invest in companies involved in the arms trade, global climate change, genetic engineering, animal testing and use of...
has produced an Ethical Consumerism Report (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.
A number of organisations provide research-based evaluations of the behavior of companies around the world, assessing them along ethical dimensions such as human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, the environment
Environment (biophysical)
The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...
, animal welfare
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. 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." 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" which provides an online seachable database under the name Corporate Critic or Ethiscore. 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".
Conscious consuming
Conscious Consuming is a social movement that based around increased awareness of the impact of purchasing decisions on the environment and the consumers health and life in general. It is also concerned with the effects of media and advertising on consumers. Many aspects of Conscious Consuming have been practiced throughout the world but not in a cohesive form.As a result of organizations such as Adbusters and the Center for a New American Dream, the Conscious Consuming movement began in Boston in the summer of 2003 when a group of people gathered together and planned an alternative gift fair, "Gift It Up!" In the fall of 2004, another group of Bostonians formed a group named "Conscious Consuming" and began meeting to discuss a broad range of topics, from the environmental impact of consumption to the effect of media and advertising. The memberships quickly overlapped and in 2005, the groups merged into Conscious Consuming.
Conscious consuming has its roots in voluntary simplicity, in which people re-evaluate their work-life balance
Work-life balance
Work–life balance is a broad concept including proper prioritizing between "work" on the one hand and "life" on the other. Related, though broader, terms include "lifestyle balance" and "life balance".-History:The work-leisure dichotomy was invented in the mid 1800s...
in order to spend more of their time and money on the things that matter to them. As people work less, there is more time for connecting with family and friends, volunteerism, hobbies, and community service. A natural off-shoot of working less is spending less. Instead of spending time and money shopping, people engaging in voluntary simplicity buy less. They get goods using web sites like craigslist
Craigslist
Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....
, trade with friends, make do with what they have, or hit yard sales. When they do purchase something new, the decision to buy is made consciously. A would-be shopper asks, "Is this item made in line with my values? Am I supporting the local economy? Are the people who produce this item treated and compensated fairly? Is this item built to last?" As a result of these questions, conscious consumers find themselves supporting organic agriculture, fair-trade and sweat-shop free products, and local and independent businesses.
Conscientious consumption
The consumer rationalizes unnecessary and even unwanted consumption by saying that "it's for a good cause". As a result, the consumer buys pink ribbons during National Breast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure...
, green products to support the environment, candy and popcorn from school children, greeting cards and gift wrap from charities, and many other, 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 he is buying a tangible product.
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.PullApart
PullApartPullapart
PullApart is a UK-based, independent packaging recycling classification system. Applied at the kerbside, it combines environmental and consumer packaging surveys to provide customers with a measurement of the ease with which specific types of packaging may be recycled locally...
is a kerbside packaging recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
classification system used in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
which combines both environmental
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
and consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
packaging surveys
Statistical survey
Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....
. It encourages local people to buy products that are fully, and simple to kerbside recyclable.
See also
- Anti-consumerismAnti-consumerismAnti-consumerism refers to the socio-political movement against the equating of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions...
- Carrying capacityCarrying capacityThe carrying capacity of a biological species in an environment is the maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water and other necessities available in the environment...
- Cause marketingCause marketingCause marketing or cause-related marketing refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a "for profit" business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. The term is sometimes used more broadly and generally to refer to any type of marketing effort for social and...
- The Coffeelands TrustThe Coffeelands TrustThe Coffeelands Trust , is a project which provides direct support to victims of conflict who live and work in coffee communities throughout the world...
- ConsumerismConsumerismConsumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
- Consumers UnionConsumers UnionConsumers Union is a non-profit organization best known as the publisher of Consumer Reports, based in the United States. Its mission is to "test products, inform the public, and protect consumers."...
, a US consumer advocacy organization - Ecotarian
- Ethical ConsumerEthical ConsumerEthical Consumer is a not-for-profit UK magazine and , founded in 1989, which publishes information on the social, ethical and environmental behaviour of companies and issues around trade justice and ethical consumerism. It defines its mission as to "promote universal human rights, environmental...
, the UK's leading alternative consumer organisation - Ethical Consumers CommunityEthical Consumers CommunityThe Ethical Consumers Community is a non-profit organization based out ofHamilton, Ontario that promotes sustainability through selling ethical products that conform to the triple bottom line. The organization allow members to products such as low flush toilets and solar hot water systems at...
- Environmental Defense Fund
- Fair tradeFair tradeFair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
- Green brandsGreen brandsGreen brands are those brands that consumers associate with environmental conservation and sustainable business practices.Such brands appeal to consumers who are becoming more aware of the need to protect the environment. A green brand can add a unique selling point to a product and can boost...
- Green Earth MarketGreen Earth MarketLaunched in 2006, Green Earth Market is an American online retailer of environmentally friendly goods, offering products that are made locally , of natural, organic, or recycled materials, and/or produced in a fair trade, sustainable, or organic production process or method utilizing energy...
, an online retailer of environmentally friendly goods based in the U.S. - International Labor Rights FundInternational Labor Rights FundThe International Labor Rights Forum is a nonprofit advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, DC that describes itself as "an advocate for and with the working poor around the world". ILRF, formerly the International Labor Rights Education & Research Fund, was founded in 1986...
- InterrupcionInterrupcionInterrupcion, founded in 2000, is a global organization of non-profit and for-profit organizations and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Interrupcion works to integrate social change into everyday life by actively facilitating and promoting community involvement, responsible consumption , and...
, international organization promoting ethical consumption, based in Buenos Aires - Purchasing powerPurchasing powerPurchasing power is the number of goods/services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if you had taken one dollar to a store in the 1950s, you would have been able to buy a greater number of items than you would today, indicating that you would have had a greater purchasing...
- Socially responsible investingSocially responsible investingSocially responsible investing , also known as sustainable, socially conscious, or ethical investing, describes an investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social good....
- The Green GuideThe Green GuideThe Green Guide was a bi-monthly publication produced by the National Geographic Society as an information resource on eco-conscious and healthy living. Founded in 1994, it ceased publication in 2009, and now exists as a website only....
, a publication produced by the National Geographic Society about eco-conscious and healthy living - TraidcraftTraidcraftTraidcraft is a UK-based fairtrade organisation, established in 1979. The organisation has two components: a public limited company called Traidcraft plc, which sells fairly traded products in the United Kingdom; and a development charity called Traidcraft Exchange that works with poor producers in...
, a UK-based fairtrade organisation
External links
- Ethical Consumer magazine
- Corporate Critic - Ethical ConsumerEthical ConsumerEthical Consumer is a not-for-profit UK magazine and , founded in 1989, which publishes information on the social, ethical and environmental behaviour of companies and issues around trade justice and ethical consumerism. It defines its mission as to "promote universal human rights, environmental...
's corporate social responsibility database - Compassionate Shopping Guide - Compassion in World FarmingCompassion In World FarmingCompassion in World Farming is a campaigning and lobbying animal welfare organisation, with headquarters in the UK, branches in eight European countries and international representatives in China, Australia and South Africa...
's food shopping guide - Good Egg Awards - Compassion in World FarmingCompassion In World FarmingCompassion in World Farming is a campaigning and lobbying animal welfare organisation, with headquarters in the UK, branches in eight European countries and international representatives in China, Australia and South Africa...
's award for companies sourcing cage-free eggs - Green Seal - certification for products and services