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Mcgregor (2006a) argues that the patterns of consumers are immoral and consumer behavior is unethical due to the negative impact on the next generations and the environment. The very definition of consumption means to consume, waste, squander, or destroy, and is synonymous with environmental destruction, the squandering of natural resources, and human exploitation. However, since the start of the 21st century, individuals have become gradually more interested in ethical, ecological, and social issues. From the consumer point of view, these preoccupations are embedded in the notion of “responsible consumption”. Over-consumption as a result of the media influence is continuously increasing, hurting the environment and society. Simultaneously, individuals become more aware of their purchasing decisions and the impact of their consumption patterns. Ethical consumerism is a practice through ‘positive buying’ where ethical products are favored. Ethical consumerism is growing (Berry and McEachern 2011), however, the complexity of ethical consumerism and gaps in prior studies result in consumers’ actual purchase behaviors regarding ethical products being limited.
The decision to consume or decline a certain good or service expresses the agent’s concern to abide by a certain moral standard (Cho & Krasser, 2011). consumer ethics seeks to describe, understand, and praise or criticize consumers for their behavior as ethical or non-ethical. Consumer ethical behavior can be expressed in one of the following forms:
- Positive buying: favoring ethical products and businesses that operate on beliefs based primarily on benefits for the greater good rather than self-interest.
There are 2 dimensions of positive buying :
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- Some forms of ethical buying benefit the natural environment, examples being environmentally friendly products, animal well being
- While others benefit people, examples being products free from child labor and fairly traded goods
- Moral Boycotts buying: boycotting unethical organizations that have negative
Describing an eEthicalConsumer
Webster’s Online Dictionary Describes an “ethical” consumer as an individual who is likely to “conform to acceptable standards of social or professional behavior”. Ethical consumers traditionally are concerned with “the people” element of consumerism (Strong, 1996), following Harrison et al. (2005) note that such types of consumers 2care whether a corporation promotes employees from minority ethnicities, plan their consumption to avoid harm to other animals, worry about product transportation distances and probably a plethora of other concerns”. According to Harper and Makatouni (2002, p289) being an ethical consumer means “buying products which are not harmful to the environment and society. This can be as simple as buying free range eggs or as complex as boycotting goods produced by child labor”
Sociodemographics of ethical consumer
There are a lot of studies researching the effects of socio-demographic factors, however, studies are not conclusive (e.g. Swaidan et al., 2006). For example, Muncy and Vitell (1992) have found that the individuals with the strongest ethical concerns appear to be older individuals with lower levels of both education and income. Several studies have argued that females are more concerned with ethical issues than males. Rawwas (1996) has also argued that females tend to be more ethical than males when evaluating questionable consumer practices. For example, most females have previously bought Fair Trade products (see e.g. BLEND and VAN RAVENSMAAY 1999; LOUREIRO and LOTADE 2005; TALLONTIRE et al. 2001). In a similar vein, Lu and Lu (2010) revealed that females tend to be somewhat more ethical than males. In contrast, Swaidan et al (2006) argued that gender is not a significant determinant of any questionable consumer behavior. ROBERTS (1996), CARRIGAN and ATTALA (2001), and TALLONTIRE et al. (2001, p. 5ff.) describe the ethical consumer as a person of 30 years and older, educated above average, and well-informed with relatively high income. Whereas more recently, De Pelsmacker (2005)] and Langen (2013) found demographic factors to be unrelated to consumers’ ethical purchasing behavior. This is one of the reasons why several authors stress that rather than socio-demographic variables, psychological variables such as values, attitudes, beliefs, and norms as well as altruistic behavior influence consumers’ choice in the direction of ethical concerns (see e.g. CHATZIDAKIS et al. 2007; FRAJ and MARTINEZ 2007; GRANKVIST et al. 2007; LUSK et al.
History of Ethical Consumerism ( shift from business to consumer )
The focus on the social responsibility of corporations has a relatively long history. Purposeful research on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept originated more than 60 years ago in the United States. The social responsibility of (private) consumers has, by contrast, received less attention from business ethicists and other scholars, even though arguments in favor of that subject have a similarly long history: Hartley Withers, the editor of The Economist at the beginning of the twentieth century, already spoke out in favor of ‘‘the consumer’s responsibility’’ almost a century ago (Withers 1920). As Steve Tammelleo and Louis Lombardi have recently observed: Unfortunately, discussions of ethics in economic activities have focused almost entirely on the responsibilities of businesses … Those on the other side of the transaction are often viewed primarily as beings acted on (Tammelleo and Lombardi 2014) However, there slowly seems to be an increasing awareness of consumer ethics in general and consumer social responsibility (ConSR) in particular.2 It is important to note that early work on ConSR has focused almost exclusively on aspects of environmental or ecological sustainability and policy implications (e.g., Antil 1984; Fisk 1973). These are unquestionably important perspectives, but we can also observe that the power of consumers to sanction, positively influence, and eventually change morally questionable practices seems to be larger than ever before (see also Schmidt 2016, p. 19). This concerns more of the social and economic aspects rather than just the environmental dimension of sustainability.
Defining the ethical consumer: green consumer and ethical consumer
Multiple authors (Smith, 190; Strong, 1996, Shaw & Shiu, 2002; Uusitalo & okssannen, 2004) considered the ethical consumer as an evolution of the green consumer. The green consumer has been researched mainly from 1the 970’s. The green (Balderjahn, 1988, Peattie 1998), environmentally conscious (Kinnear et al. 1974), or ecologically concerned ( Neilssen & Scheepers, 1992) consumers are defined as individuals that demonstrate an interest in the environment both by their general attitude to environmental protection and conservation as well as their pre disposing ofpurchasing bbehavior Kinnear et al., 1974; Kardash (1974 and Rolston and Di Bernetto (1994) describe the latter (predisposing purchasing bbehavior in a simpler way as the discrimination in ffavorof an environmentally superior product Hendarwan (2002, p16) defines green consumerism as that which involves “beliefs and values aimed at supporting greater good that motivates consumers’ purchases’. Elkington and Hailes (1989) eelaboratethat a green consumer avoids products that might “endanger the health of the consumers or others; cause significant damage to the environment during manufacture, use or disposal; consume a disproportionate amount of energy; cause unnecessary waste; use materials derived from threatening species or environments; involve unnecessary use or cruelty to animals or adversely effect other countries”.
Cherrier (2007) questions the concept of ethicalconsumerss as “rational choosers”, emphasizing that they perceive ethical consumers as people “who coalesce their multiple identities into the united and desired ethical identity by choosing when and how to participate in ethical practices” (2007:323). She claims that ethical consumption experience goes far beyond the marketplace and this experience is more social than individual. Therefore, she argues that the consumer‟’s degree of ethical involvement depends not only on self-identity but also on their relations with others and overall social context. In this research, I partly agree with Cherrier‟ ‘s perspective and will consider her point on ethical consumption as being more of a social practice, than individual practice and its impact on one‟s identity. At the dawn of the 21st century, citizens have become increasingly interested in ethical, social, and ecological issues. From the consumer standpoint, these preoccupations are reflected in the notion of “responsible consumption . From the consumer standpoint, these preoccupations are reflected in the notion of “responsible consumption.
The distinction between green consumer and ethical consumer is important because ethical concern encompasses a broader range of issues and therefore a more complex decision-making process for consumers (Shaw and Shiu,2002)
The role of information in ethical consumerism
It is rather easy to assert that to be capable of engaging in ethical consumerism, consumers need to be well-informed, meaning they need to possess all the information that is relevant to their consumption decisions. According to Hannah Berry and Morven McEachern (2005), such information involves ‘background data’ (i.e., for example, information about the general problems of climate change) as well as specific ‘product data’ (e.g., details about the country of origin, the supply chain, the materials processed, labels, and certifications) (Berry and McEachern 2005, p. 70). First, due to information asymmetries in markets, consumers do not possess complete information regarding a product or service and the consequences of using this particular product or service concerning others or the environment. Evolution of information and communication technology, and especially the Internet as a platform for stakeholders to exchange information, information is available much quicker, more transparent, and in a much wider spectrum, thus, indirectly contributing to the reduction of information asymmetry. The difficulty with information overload is to find relevant information. Consequently, and concerning Berry and McEachern (2005), it can be stated that ‘‘there is not a lack of information on ethical issues, but that its quality and complexity may be of concern in some areas’’ (Berry and McEachern In this respect, several authors, including Kristina Nolte (2005) and Lilian Weng (2014), argue concerning Simon’s (1971) seminal paper that the attention of individuals could be regarded as a scarce resource (see also Weng et al. 2012, on a related note). In Simon’s (1971) words “In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity deceptions and greenwashing consumers might develop a fundamental distrust concerning the credibility of corporate information and their CSR efforts in general Bernett et al (2005)assumes that if the consumers have the requisite knowledge the product that is produced to the detriment of distant others ( whether humans or non-humans) would be replaced by a product which is produced more ethically. The consumer’s failure to choose what is ethical is presumably stymied by a knowledge gap.
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