Search results

The goal in this research is to offer a new interpretation of activism by focusing not on the various ideologies but on the order of worth that coordinates activism.

Ethnographic approaches of participant observation and nondirective interviewing were the methods used in this study.

Drawing on the order models (Boltanski & Thévenot, 1991), the authors introduce the existence of an “activist order.” This order is composed of rules that coordinate activists’ practices. Activists draw on this “activist order” to justify their practices but also to criticize other orders such as the market order.

This “activist order” serves as the structure underpinning both activists’ institutional frameworks (such as CSA and LETS) and their actions (e.g., antiadvertising campaigns). This paper also has implications for our understanding of the relationship between the Marketplace and consumer movements. The authors demonstrate that people navigate between different order of worth, from the market order to the “activist order” and vice versa.

The purpose of this paper is to explore changes in corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in food, soft drinks and packaging industries to capture changes in CSR implementation given increased environmental activism. The paper takes an exploratory approach in reviewing CSR policy changes to explore to what extent companies change CSR policies with increased environmentalism.

A comparative website analysis was used to analyse CSR policies of companies in the food, soft drinks and packaging industries in the UK. The companies were selected for the analysis based on their annual turnover and 23 companies were analysed (seven for the soft drinks industry, eight for the food industry and eight for packaging industry). Five interviews were conducted with packaging and retail professionals, and the findings were analysed by using thematic analysis, which captured trends in responses.

The findings show that companies are implementing and communicating CSR policies heavily focussed on reducing the environmental impact of their work and matching social debates on human rights, with which traditional CSR policies (corporate governance, supporting local communities and consultation with stakeholders) are fading away. Instead, companies have shifted attention towards the gender pay gap, modern slavery and extensive environmentalism. The interviews with packaging professionals and CSR managers from the retail industry show that the packaging industry designs CSR policies in line with requests from supermarkets, which are, in turn, influenced by consumer activism.

This paper shows the circular relationship between media coverage, consumer activism, which comes as a result, and the impact and changes this brings to the industry. To avoid reputation damage, companies should closely follow media debates to pre-empty consumer criticism and activism.

The findings show that companies are “mirroring the zeitgast” and going with trends to meet consumer expectations, which brings into question the sincerity of CSR policies and revives the criticism of capitalism and raises a question whether CSR is used by companies as a smokescreen that on the outset makes a difference to the society but keeps status quo intact.

The paper provides an insight into CSR implementation of three industries that faced heavy criticism from campaigners and the general public for their environmental impact. The paper shows how the CSR policy shifted to match this expectation and thus provides a good ground for studying the evolution of CSR using a case study from three selected industries.

The market system and a materialistic lifestyle have contributed to some of the environmental and social problems that currently affect the world. However, only a few consumers are willing to express ecological oriented consumption. This study aims to analyse how organic food consumers build a green identity, as well as the new expressions that arise from this identity construction.

A hermeneutical approach was adopted to address the narratives of 31 frequent consumers of organic products motivated by environmental issues. The narratives were collected through the interview method, which was further complemented by participant observation.

The following five phases of identity formation were identified: consciousness, gathering, negotiation, stabilisation and sharing. By looking at the different identity stages, it becomes visible how organic consumption and pro-environmental behaviours act as transformative practices, promoting ecological activism and fortifying a green identity.

This study extends the “processual theory of identity” by analysing how organic products help shape consumer practices and their lifestyle. Moreover, a contribution is provided on how we can build an ecological citizenship by reducing consumption and also by adopting alternative practices of consumption.

This paper aims to provide a typology of perceived risk in the context of consumer brand resistance and thus answers the following question: how do consumers perceive the risk they take when resisting brands?

Two qualitative methods were used. In-depth interviews were carried out with 15 consumers who resist brands. An ethnography was carried out for ten months in an international pro-environmental NGO.

This multiple qualitative method design led to the identification of four types of risks taken by consumers. The four categories of perceived risks identified are performance (lack of suitable alternatives for the brand), social issues (stigma and exclusion), legal reasons (legal proceedings) or physical considerations (violation of physical integrity). These risks are located along a continuum of resistance intensity. Resistance intensity levels are avoidance, offline word-of-mouth, online word-of-mouth, boycott, activism and finally extreme acts.

This study provides a framework that integrates perceived risks within the context of brand resistance. The paper highlights extreme acts of resistance and questions the limits of such behaviors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), offering a characterization, explanation, and critique. A recent European Commission conference on “CSR in an Enlarged Europe” suggests European interest in such an understanding, and other developments in the paper suggest a broader interest.

The paper utilizes local observations and analyses of secondary materials available from multinational and local companies in the region. Throughout, it offers examples of and perspectives on corporate and stakeholder responsibility in CEE. The paper suggests that CSR should be understood as corporate responsibility to stakeholders, rather than as corporate philanthropy, public relations, or marketing, and that limitations associated with corporate responsibility in CEE are associated with limitations in stakeholder responsibility. It proposes that in a market in which stakeholders place value on ethical behavior, corporate responsibility becomes endogenous. It identifies reasons for the lack of such stakeholder activism in CEE.

The paper's main conclusion is that without stakeholder responsibility, corporate responsibility will not develop in CEE. However, it also suggests and describes multiple examples of developments in the region that will contribute to both.

CEE provides an excellent arena in which to examine the development of both corporate and stakeholder responsibility. That examination provides insights on CSR elsewhere in the world. Additionally, CEE has been identified as a potential laboratory for excellence in CSR, but the paper identifies issues that must be addressed for responsibility to become a reality in the region.

Literature examining resistant consumer behaviour from an ethical consumption stance has increased over recent years. This paper aims to argue that the conflation between ethical consumer behaviour and “anti‐consumption” practices results in a nihilistic reading and fails to uncover the tensions of those who seek to position themselves as ethical while still participating in the general market.

The study adopts an exploratory approach through semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with a purposive sample of seven ethical consumers.

The analysis reveals the process through which ethical consumption is constructed and defined in relation to the subject position of the “ethical consumer” and their interactions with the dominant market of consumption.

This research is limited to a single country and location and focused on a specific consumer group. Expansion of the research to a wider group would be valuable.

The impact of ethical consumption on the wider field of consumption can be witnessed in the “mainstreaming” of many ethical ideals. This highlights the potential movements of power between various stakeholders that occupy particular spaces of social action.

Understanding the analysis through Bourdieu's concepts of field and the margins created between spaces of consumption, the paper focuses on the theoretical cross‐section of practice between ethical and market‐driven forms of consumption, advancing discussion by exploring how self‐identified “ethical consumers” defined, legitimatised and negotiated their practices in relation to consumption acts and lifestyles.

Postulates that the consumer is king in the marketplace. Opines that this doctrine is closely related to laissez‐faire with regard to products failing or succeeding, though market inequalities make it difficult to succeed in this. Advocates that the factors which handicap consumers in relation to sellers are product complexities, making it difficult for consumers to make reasoned comparisons, lack of interest and capability on the part of consumers to obtain and evaluate necessary product information, inequalities in income distribution and consumer ignorance and lack of expertise. Demonstrates, through the use of a 3‐part questionnaire, used in Benin City in Nigeria, a sample study of 50 adults from each of nine zones with a range of questions. Tabulates and explains in depth the results of the questionnaires and gives examples and explanations of the research findings. Concludes that a low level of consumer awareness is not, for a developing country, much of a surprise because of low levels of formal education and a lack of consumer organization. Gives policy recommendations to assist in aiding the consumer to become more adept (through laws and education) at discovering their rights.

The purpose of the study is to outline the unique role of compassion in reactions to cases of irresponsible corporate behavior that present information about victims of these events. In this study, four antecedents of compassion for the victims of irresponsibility are presented, and a model that explains the consequences of this emotion is tested empirically.

Two studies test the research hypotheses using a mix of experimental and survey research. The effects are tested both in laboratory conditions, where consumers assess a fictitious case of corporate irresponsibility, and through a test of reactions to real online campaigns.

Compassion is one of the drivers of consumers’ anger at the culprit, playing an indirect role in decisions to retaliate against perpetrators. Four key drivers of compassion are identified in the research: the perceived suffering of the victims, the perceived similarity of the victims to the observer, victims’ derogation and the vividness of the description of the victims.

The study offers insights both for campaigners wishing to instigate boycotts and organizations managing complex stakeholder relationships following a crisis. Insights on the role of compassion and its antecedents lead to more effective communications able to heighten or dampen this emotion.

Existing research offers contrasting views on the potential role of compassion in reactions to injustices. This study presents a novel account that clarifies previous findings and extends our knowledge of causes and consequences of compassion.

Marketing theory and practice is under severe criticism – socialists and the practitioners criticize marketing in its current form which calls for active efforts by marketers to reposition the discipline – making it beneficial to the masses. The Western world is thoroughly investigated based on the opinions of public regarding marketing as a discipline. However, studies which present a non-Western consumer’s attitudes toward the role of marketing in a society are scant. This purpose of this study is to encapsulate Pakistani consumers’ understandings and attitudes toward marketing with an emphasis on their perceptions of the ethicality and transformative power of the discipline.

A purposive convenience sample of 40 professionals with diverse non-marketing backgrounds and of the widest possible demographic profile participated in in-depth, unstructured interviews. The content analysis and grounded theory method were used for the analysis.

Marketing is appreciated for creating product awareness and, occasionally, combating social problems, but this positive image is clouded by severely criticizing it for promoting materialism, being irritatingly pervasive and pushy, as well as for using unethical and unfair practices.

The study offers a valuable insight into the discipline’s performative and social legitimation in a fast-growing Asian economy. The authors recommend paths for a positive repositioning of the discipline that will improve its public image and enhance its potential for being recognized as a force for positive social change.

Further to enhancing our understanding of consumer attitudes toward marketing, this paper’s value lies in it being the first ever exploration of the developing country perspective. Most importantly, it contributes to a debate that could enlighten the much-needed repositioning of marketing as a discipline to make it useful for masses.