Search results

This article reviews the overall issue of sweatshop labour practices, with a particular focus on the apparel industry. Although sweatshop labour exists in the United States, the media focus in recent years has centred mainly on overseas manufacture. This article will review individual companies and the practices of which they have been accused. The issue of labour compensation will also be explored, as low wages is the target reason for many apparel manufacturers to source their production overseas. Appendices to this article include Foreign Labour Statistics, outlining foreign labour compensation as compared to that of the United States. This article will also review the focus of the White House Industry Partnership and United Students Against Sweatshops. Lastly, there is a detailed recommendation for suggested required information on all apparel products labelling, which would summarise the manufacturer's quality of labour practices on the garment label; thus providing the consumer with immediate information on the environment under which the item was manufactured.

The paper aims to combat economic illiteracy concerning poverty, minimum wages, sweatshops and working conditions.

The objectives were achieved by (among others) making a proper economic analysis of the unemployment effects of minimum wage laws. The main method(s) used for the research are empirical and theoretical.

The results point to laissez‐faire capitalism as the last best hope for the poor, whether in third world countries or in advanced economies. If the minimum wage were ended, and sweat shop conditions allowed to be bargained competitively, the poor would be much better off. Happily, in the nineteenth century, these regulations were not in force, and as a result the advanced economies were allowed to advance.

The implication of the present research is deregulation in the labor market.

The practical implications of such a legal change would be lowered unemployment rates, and an improvement in economic welfare on the part of the poor.

The present paper combines an analysis of minimum wages laws and sweatshop working conditions.

Worker welfare and modern slavery within the fashion industry remain a key supply chain challenge for many retailers, consumers, governments and advocacy groups. Yet, despite publicised worker-welfare violations, many fashion retailers continue to post record sales and profits, indicating that consumer concern does not always translate at the cash register. Research has shown that worker welfare is a less salient area of concern for fashion consumers, and the aim of this research is to investigate the reasons why this may be the case.

Due to the exploratory nature of the research, a qualitative methodology was deemed the most appropriate. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with Australian fast-fashion consumers to investigate the underlying reasons worker-welfare violations are less likely to elicit pro-social consumer behavioural change and are a less salient area of concern.

This study found that consumers perceive worker-welfare concerns at both a proximal and cultural distance to themselves, and therefore struggle to connect with the issues associated with modern slavery. Additionally, there was an underlying social consensus that exploitative practices are an accepted part of the fast-fashion supply chain to ensure the continuation of low-cost clothing. Despite an underlying awareness of exploitative practices and acknowledgement that modern slavery is ethically wrong, other consumer values often influenced purchase behaviour and the level of concern expressed towards garment workers.

This is the first study to apply psychological distance in a fast-fashion context to better understand consumer perceptions towards modern slavery. Responding to calls for further research into ethical consumption of apparel, this study develops an in-depth understanding of the reasons why worker welfare is a less salient area of concern for fast-fashion consumers. Extending on current literature, this study qualitatively investigates consumer sentiment towards worker welfare, identifying the greatest barriers to consumers' levels of concern. In addition to a theoretical contribution to the fashion, ethics and business literature, this article provides key insight to guide practice.

Manufacturers of labour‐intensive, branded consumer goods – particularly apparel and footwear – are facing increasing pressure from consumer groups, non‐government organisations (NGOs), and other stakeholders, to provide assurances that contracted suppliers in developing countries are complying with global labour and environmental standards. Companies have adopted a variety of strategies to strengthen and monitor compliance by their suppliers, including codes of conduct, direct monitoring by their own personnel, more stringent contract conditions, and reduction in the number of contractors. Increasingly, companies are turning to what are termed here “monitoring coalitions”, membership organisations that undertake to organise the monitoring of labour or other standards in overseas factories. To be effective, these emerging systems must address a range of issues, including how to manage the monitoring process, what standard to set, how to finance monitoring, how to disseminate the information collected, and, most difficult, how to accomplish costeffective monitoring in tens of thousands of production facilities in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Can industrial marketers afford to choose unethical strategies? To answer this question, this study aims to use game theory to analyze whether an industrial marketer choosing and implementing an unethical strategy is successful in maximizing her market share across her strategies.

The competition between two industrial marketers is modeled as a strategic game for the market share of a product that is identical in all attributes except the production process. Each industrial marketer’s objective is to choose to implement either the ethical or the unethical production process to maximize her market share.

The study finds that both industrial marketers choosing to implement ethical strategies is the unique Nash equilibrium of the game. That is, an industrial marketer choosing to implement an unethical strategy in the production process will be unsuccessful in maximizing her market share when both the industrial marketers are rational.

The study contributes to the literature on industrial marketing ethics, particularly that on product ethics, by showing that industrial marketers gain market share if they choose ethical strategies.

The study has implications for industrial marketing executives, as organizational consumers are increasingly aware of the strategies of industrial marketers. Failure to implement ethical strategies will cause industrial marketers to forgo their best possible market shares.

This study’s novelty lies in using a game theoretic approach to demonstrate the positive implications of ethical strategies for industrial marketers.

In recent years, the issue of human trafficking has become a key component of a growing number of corporate social responsibility initiatives, in which multinational corporations have furthered the pursuit of “market based solutions” to contemporary social concerns. This essay draws upon in-depth interviews with and ethnographic observations of corporate actors involved in contemporary anti-trafficking campaigns to describe a new domain of sexual politics that feminist social theorists have barely begun to consider. Using trafficking as a case study, I argue that these new forms of sexual politics have served to bind together unlikely sets of social actors – including secular feminists, evangelical Christians, bipartisan state officials, and multinational corporations – who have historically subscribed to very different ideals about the beneficence of markets, criminal justice, and the role of the state.

This paper aims to propose a taxonomy based on socially responsible practices across supply chains. The authors compare and contrast different socially responsible initiatives in manufacturing supply chains and their effect on economic performance, socially responsible outcomes and manufacturing costs.

This study is based on survey data collected in 262 manufacturing plants located in 15 countries. Cluster analysis is conducted to develop the research taxonomy. Moreover, socially responsible initiatives were compared on a country level. Finally, multiple regressions were performed to identify associations between performance, manufacturing and socially responsible variables.

The taxonomy was constructed based on four socially responsible corporate dimensions (legal, ethical, discretionary and economic). The results identified three clusters of manufacturing organizations that adopt different approaches to socially responsible initiatives across supply chains and their performance.

Previous studies explored the elements and the impacts of the go-no-go decisions in the intersection between CSR and the supply chain. The present study brings new insights by analyzing how socially responsible initiatives in supply chains and their performance are different. Moreover, the sample encompasses 15 countries, and it proposes a taxonomy and directions to support the managers’ decision-making process.

The purpose of this article is to offer a conceptual assessment of a contemporary consumer boycott of a global sports brand. A critical commentary is offered of the “Boycott PUMA” campaign with an examination of the positions and motivations of the different parties involved, specifically PUMA, the “Boycott PUMA” campaign, the Israeli Football Association and UEFA/FIFA.

This article is a position and conceptual paper, designed to generate a discussion on what is an emotive consumer boycott campaign. A distinction is made between political boycotts and consumer boycotts, whether it is possible to separate sport from politics, and if PUMA's claimed position of neutrality in this conflict can be achieved.

The focus here is on PUMA's corporate social responsibility statement in which they claim that sport and politics do not mix, with their response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 undermining this claim. PUMA's commitment to social justice is being used by the “Boycott PUMA” activists to expose the disconnect between PUMA's stated vision and its actions.

PUMA's brand has been built on creating a particular type of brand image, with a positive image and brand awareness essential for this sports apparel company. If the company finds itself in a media spotlight their brand equity can become damaged.

With very little research available on the Israel/Palestine from a sport sponsorship and marketing perspective, this article offers an original and much needed assessment of a potentially significant campaign.

Research examining corporate social responsibility (CSR) demonstrates a relatively consistent level of positive support by consumers. However, CSR is poorly defined and little is known about the mechanisms by which this response occurs. This paper seeks to understand how consumers define CSR and how it can enhance the overall value proposition for consumers.

The value typology developed by Sheth et al. is integrated with qualitative data to enhance understanding of these value paths. Interviews were conducted with consumers through the heart of the current recession, when consumers were particularly aware of value when making purchase decisions.

The way in which CSR manifests itself determines consumer support. CSR can provide three forms of value to consumers: emotional, social, and functional. Each of these enhances or diminishes the overall value proposition for consumers. Further, value created by one form of CSR can either enhance or diminish other product attributes.

The current research helps managers understand how CSR can create value for consumers. As a result, managers can better position products in order to enhance overall value. Further, practitioners can match the value with which consumers identify from CSR to the dominant value driver in their product category.

This study highlights that CSR includes a range of activities with differential means of adding value to consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore consumers’ responses to prosocial marketing claims presented on apparel hang tags. Guided by the theory of reasoned of action, this study examined the impact of varied prosocial claims (environment, labor, cancer charity) upon college students’ evaluations of hang tags used to promote university-branded apparel (i.e. t-shirts) as well as their attitudes and patronage intentions toward the apparel.

An intercept survey approach, with an experimental design component, was used to administer a written questionnaire to 262 college students. The experimental design component required participants to examine a university-branded t-shirt and to read the information provided on the product hang tag attached to the t-shirt.

In total, 60 percent of college students read apparel hang tags on a very frequent or frequent basis to gain information about brand name, care instructions, and fiber content. Further, college students evaluated apparel hang tags featuring prosocial marketing claims more positively than they evaluated hang tags with no prosocial marketing claim. In turn, these evaluations positively predicted the amount of money students were willing to pay for a university-branded t-shirt as well as their attitudes and purchase intentions toward university-branded apparel.

Findings suggest that apparel companies engaged in socially responsible business practices may wish to develop hang tags that address both desired product attributes as well as company engagement in prosocial initiatives.

This study extends the understanding of the role that prosocial marketing claims play in informing consumer's attitudes and behaviors relative to apparel.