What Type Of Ethical Consumer Would You Be?
What type of ethical consumer would you be? A moral consumer is a shopper who bases purchasing decisions on whether a product’s social and ethical positioning fits their values.
Should ethics play a role in your purchasing decisions? How much? Many levels of ethics could come into play as you make your buying decision. Where would you like to come down as an ethical consumer? Do you care at all?
What is important to you? Do you care if the product is safe? Would you care if a product harms the environment? Do you care if a product is tested on animals or if the company treats animals inhumanely?
Do you care about human rights? As an ethical consumer, what will come between your beliefs and the items you consider purchasing?
“Shopping is more important than voting”
– Andrew Wilson, Director of the UK’s Ashridge Centre for Business and Society
As a Living Simple Minimalist, I don’t shop much anymore. There is still a process I use before I make a purchase, and being an ethical consumer rarely plays a part. I ask myself if I need the item.
Do I already have an item that could serve the purpose of the potential new one? I asked where to store the new item and continued down my list.
For me, ethics comes into play only when it is political. There are products, businesses, and companies I automatically avoid spending money with because of my political beliefs.
I also avoid companies for what I feel to be well-publicized ethics violations. Given the information, we all would take an ethical consumer stance.
The Ethical Consumer and Informational Marketing
When it comes to being an ethical consumer, I believe it is safe to say almost all of us are opposed to child labor and other unethical practices against human beings, animals, and the environment.
These actions would negatively affect most purchasing decisions if they knew that a company engaged in such practices.
The problem with identifying companies engaging in practices that would offend an ethical consumer is insufficient marketing. There is no marketing that would make consumers more aware of ethical and unethical practices that a company may be engaged in, and no company will willingly distribute such information.
Most companies don’t see the ethical consumer as a viable market. Unfortunately, we all regularly buy products that are produced by child labor, harm the environment, and are developed by torture and testing on animals.
We regularly buy products that are killing the people who produce them, but we are just unaware of it.
With a little push and proper awareness, businesses can market more to the ethical consumer. They haven’t created and sold these products and services because the consumer is unaware of the possibilities.
People regularly buy hybrid cars, organic foods, environmentally friendly detergents, and energy-saving light bulbs. This shows interest, but there is no push for more.
Yes, those products have other benefits, such as saving money on gas, health benefits, style, and comfort, but ethical properties are not marketed either. I think the market would grow if the ethical consumer were presented with the information and business catering to the market.
Sometimes, the information is not presented; otherwise, the ethical consumer buys products that do not support their values.
Likewise, people want to be ethical and ignore ethics, such as eating healthy, exercising, and saving money. Sometimes, all that is needed is a marketing push toward better behavior.
When given information, the ethical consumer will behave more according to their purchasing values.
Value vs. Values and The Ethical Consumer
When surveyed, people often choose to identify as ethical consumers. Studies of purchasing habits conflict with those surveys because you usually only have the person’s word to go on.
When businesses create products and services that cater to the whims of the ethical consumer, they are met with lagging sales and indifference.
Is that due to insufficient marketing, as discussed earlier, or because people just are not as ethical as they believe themselves to be? These results may discourage companies from developing products and services for the ethical consumer.
Researchers found that most people will not sacrifice product function for ethics. When faced with a choice of good ethical positioning and impaired product functionality or vice versa, people overwhelmingly choose good and bad ethical positioning.
They revealed the reluctance to consider ethical product features as anything but secondary to their primary reasons for purchasing the products or services.
Most people would believe there would be differences influenced by gender, education, income, culture, domicile, fundamental values, and so on, but this proved unfounded. Consumers behave similarly despite those differences. Cost does matter to most consumers despite ethical concerns.
The cost of a product may even be of higher concern than ecological hazards and uphold human rights standards, research shows. Hell, I believe the color of a pair of shoes may even outweigh ecological hazards and uphold human rights standards on how they were produced.
Sadly, even the most socially responsible ethical consumers do not care enough to pay a higher price for products and services that align with their moral standards.
Conclusion
As a simple minimalist living, I must ask, is the ethical consumer dead? I would say not. It is true that, for now, the price is an important determining factor in deciding whether to purchase one item over another.
The fact that most consumer state that ethics plays a role in their purchasing decision in surveys is promising. In practice, they seem to forget that and allow the price to rule their purchasing decision.
There is strong evidence that when equipped with the knowledge of a company’s business practices, the ethical consumer re-emerges and makes purchasing decisions consistent with their values.
The question is, who’s going to equip the consumer with that information? This is an important role that needs to be filled.
Who will equip the consumer with information on companies that break the law? Those who use child labor, harm the environment, abuse animals, break health laws and abuse human rights?
Money and power usually get these concerns swept under the rug. Even worse, when a company is convicted of these violations, they get what amounts to a slap on the wrist, and the public is never notified.
We will not discuss companies that manufacture in places where these are not crimes. We need to do better as a human race to care for each other and the environment.
Earning ever-growing profits should not be the company’s only goal.
With the power of the internet, the consumer can acquire all the information needed to find and choose ethical brands. As the popularity of ethical brands grows, so does the power of the ethical consumer.
This is a good thing because the growth of the ethical consumer market will be noticed by mainstream companies and force a change in the practices of the violators.
Hopefully, remember to be an ethical consumer in words and an ethical consumer in practice. The well-being is ensured for you and yours. You have power.
Be the change you seek. Be an ethical consumer. Shopping can be as powerful as voting.
