Creative industries and Britpop: the marketisation of culture,politics and national identity

Do contemporary governments adapt to rising social movements or do they actually cause them? This paper endeavours to argue that although it is often difficult to determine the origins of social transformations, there are reasons to believe that there exists not only a co-option but also a conscious shaping of social changes by political projects or governments for their own benefit. Building on other contributions that state that popular culture and youth consumerism are used in favour of nation branding, the present study moves beyond this to analyse the active role that governments play in the marketisation and consumption of culture, thus artificially multiplying the effective impact of some cultural waves that ultimately serve political purposes. In particular, I examine the so-called “Cool Britannia” phenomenon that, founded on the flourishing of new creative industries, with Britpop in the lead, had a significant historic impact in Britain.     

Personal values associated with political consumption: an exploratory study with university students in Brazil

Emerging countries have witnessed an incredible change in their societal structure in the last few years. In Brazil, the economical rise of the middle class brought more that 100 million people to the marketplace. This stimulus to consumerism (i.e. the social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in ever‐greater amounts) is accompanied by a notable growth in social movements and mobilization of citizen‐consumers, which indicates changes in the values of individuals and concerns with the direction the society is taking. Conscious and political consumption consequently arises as an alternative way. Especially among young consumers such issues are interesting to address from a theoretical and social point of view, as this new generation will shape the future of the nation. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to analyse socially conscious and political consumption in terms of consumers’ civic engagement as political citizens. We argue that the young political consumer is value‐oriented. The study relied on quantitative research, conducted through an internet‐based survey where 458 valid questionnaires were obtained. Schwartz's Portrait Values Questionnaire was used to measure personal values of the interviewees. Conscious and political consumption were measured through eight questions addressing alter‐ and anti‐consumption actions. The results indicated significant differences among the personal values of the university students that were classified as political consumers. Universalism and benevolence stood out among the core values of this group, with prominence of self‐transcendence, appreciation for equality and concerns for the well‐being of others. However, a gap was observed between the discourse and action of interviewees, once only one‐third of the sample undertook some form of political consumption. The conclusion was that most of the university students interviewed show the will to change society with individual actions, but demonstrate very little political commitment, and currently do not act politically in their purchases.     

Food consumption and political agency: on concerns and practices among Danish consumers

Increasingly ordinary individual consumers are expected to perform some kind of societal or political agency. In the debates about political consumption it is a recurrent topic to what degree consumption practices can be seen as political practices and how many consumers perform such practices. The aim of this article is to empirically qualify the demarcation of the political in individual consumer activities by integrating the concept of political agency in the definition of political consumption. On the basis of empirical results from a representative survey among food consumers in Denmark, the article suggests that by supplementing the criteria of consumers performing specific consumption activities with a criteria of consumers expressing political agency, a more precise empirical delimitation of political consumption can be achieved. Three groups of food consumers are identified: those who perform political consumption practices; those who perform politicized consumption practices; and those who vocalize the discourse of political consumerism.     

Shopping for Human Rights. An Introduction to the Special Issue

Globalization, free trade, and individualization have opened up a worldwide marketplace for trading goods. The fair trade movement and other political consumerist endeavours view consumers as important active holders of responsibility for global welfare. Civil society and governments strive to teach consumers how political consumerism can be used as a push factor to change market capitalism. The market itself can also create an interest in political consumerism and, thereby, teach consumers about the political responsibility embedded in their shopping choices. When this happens, the market works as a pull factor for securing human rights. Questions can be raised about the significance of political consumers as a way to solve complex global problems. Political consumerism may be a fair-weather option that loses its attractiveness in times of downward private and corporate economic spirals. Parts of the fair trade movement believe that there are problems with sole reliance on voluntary consumer choice and using personal money and private capital to solve human rights problems by shopping them away. The exponential growth of voluntary codes of corporate conduct and labelling schemes has also created contradictory practices, incoherence in efforts, and superficial changes or what activists call “sweatwash.” Increasingly, many actors call on international law to create new standards that apply direct human rights obligations on corporations.     

Consumer protection in Switzerland: Strengthening countervailing power or competition?

Intervention by pressure groups overshadows the discussion of the extension and revision of legislation in the field of competition. The result is increasing codification of political interpretations of the rules underlying a market oriented economy. This tendency is not only illustrated by the draft law on the monitoring of prices but also by the one on consumer protection. In both cases, two guiding principles are at stake, namely the strengthening of rules of competition and the improvement of the position of consumers. The article emphasizes the economic implications of these two principles and shows how difficult it is to reconcile them in the new law. Measures designed to provide more transparent market structures may have adverse effects. Measures designed to reinforce the position of consumers create imperfect conditions on the demand side. In both cases it is unclear how their explicit and social costs will be divided between producers and consumers and what will be their impact on prices.     

Social rights, essential services, and political mobilization in post-apartheid South Africa

This paper discusses movements that organize constituencies in order to allow them access to the consumption of goods and services, while rejecting at the same time their identity as consumers. Instead, they base their claims on people’s identities as citizens of the state and members of communities. Putting forward the notion of social rights, the paper examines how movements operating among marginalized communities in the post-colonial world work to define rights and entitlements, and use these to mobilize for enhancing the delivery of social services. In particular, the focus is on rights to land and to public utilities (water and electricity) in post-apartheid South Africa. Examining these in the context of political transition, the paper looks at different legal and political strategies, and the ways in which they draw on and shape discourses of power, rights, and social consumption. It concludes that meaningful social change and effective service delivery require a combined strategy, working with the courts and legal professionals, together with popular constituencies, the media, civil society organizations, academics, and state officials.     

Understanding consumption and entrepreneurship in subsistence marketplaces

This article describes exploratory research on how consumers and small entrepreneurs navigate subsistence marketplaces, with particular emphasis on social networks, a central characteristic of these contexts. Existing studies have characterized subsistence contexts as 1-to-1 interactional marketplaces due to the prevalence of face-to-face interactions among consumers and sellers when evaluating products, making purchases, and operating small businesses. This research uses survey methods to study these networks, paying particular attention to how individuals interact within them, the kind of information being shared, their influence on purchase decisions and business decisions, and finally, their impact on the marketplace skills of subsistence consumers and entrepreneurs. Consideration of both consumers and entrepreneurs provides perspective on the role of social networks from both sides of the business transaction. The article also discusses implications for business research and practice.     

Enhancing the parasocial interaction relationship between consumers through similarity effects in the context of social commerce

With the combination of social media and e-commerce, consumers usually gather all kind of available information for making their final purchase decisions online. From the perspective of interpersonal interaction, we proposed similarity (including external similarity and internal similarity) is an important peripheral informational processing route for consumers to make decisions. Built on the theories of similarity extrapolation, trust transfer and parasocial interaction (PSI), we examined whether similarity could enhance PSI relationship between consumers and the intention to do the social shopping and social sharing. The findings of PLS analysis in this study demonstrated that both external similarity and internal similarity significantly affected consumers’ PSI relationship forming and trust transfer, which in turn exerted profound impacts on consumers’ social commerce behaviors.     

The Contingent Value of Entrepreneurs’ Political Capital: Evidence from China

ABSTRACT

Who benefit from a transitioning economy, entrepreneurs who are politically connected or disconnected? Market transition theory and power conversion theory offer two divergent answers. Our study seeks to contribute to this debate by examining the contingent value of entrepreneurs’ political capital. We draw from social network theories and investigate whether and how entrepreneurs’ social networks influence the relationship between their political capital and social mobility. Using the data on Chinese entrepreneurs, we find that the impact of political capital on entrepreneurs’ social mobility is contingent on their network centrality. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Environmental activism and consumers’ perceived responsibility

The growing importance of environmentalism trends have led to a significant rise in environmentally friendly consumers’ attitudes and behaviours who thereby demonstrate their collective strength through both their individual buying decisions and their involvement in social movements, as is the case of the environmental activism. This activism extends to include a set of environmental behaviours spanning environmental group membership, involvement in political action and/or in environmental organisations, influencing policy or management decisions and engaging in pro‐environmental protection behaviours. The more citizens become aware of their own role in the problem of environmental degradation, the more willing they prove to become part of the solution. High levels of individual Perceived Environmental Responsibility (PER) may foster the more environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviours that lead to Environmental Activism (EA). Thus, the purpose of this research is precisely to discuss the relationship between PER and EA, and whether gender proves a significant factor in predicting PER and EA. For a sample of Portuguese consumers, who consented to participating in the research, we studied the predisposition towards EA by applying a questionnaire administered in the form of a personal interview. The results indicate that despite the perceived environmental responsibility observed, individuals present only low levels of environmental activism and civic participation in environmental causes. However, for the small percentage of individuals belonging to an environmental organisation, we do verify that EA ran higher among those reporting Environmental Group Membership (EGM). We additionally observe how PER might prove a predictor of EA even though the model applied to test this relationship only explained a small proportion of the variance in EA levels and hence requiring further research into the factors influencing EA. As regard gender, while women display similar levels of EA to men, they also report significantly higher PER than men.     

Consumers’ subjective and objective consumerism knowledge and subsequent complaint behaviour concerning consumer electronics: a South African perspective

Although there is immense international support for consumer protection, the notion exists that consumer protection can only exist in developed countries with ample fiscal resources and expertise to properly act in the interest of consumers. This conception leaves consumers in emerging and transitional economies in a difficult position as these economies indeed generally lack sufficient funding and the required capacity to educate consumers on their rights. With the South African Consumer Protection Act that came into effect in 2011, South African consumers can now claim to be among the best protected consumers in the world. However, many consumers are still not aware of their consumer rights, and do not have the necessary knowledge to pursue redress when they are dissatisfied. The objective of this research was therefore to explore and describe the relationship between consumers’ knowledge of consumerism (consumer protection) and their consumer complaint behaviour (CCB) concerning their dissatisfaction with a technologically advanced product, in this case, a consumer electronic product. This study attempts to differentiate between subjective consumerism knowledge and objective consumerism knowledge and by extension the measures used. In addition, we explored and described the relationship between demographic variables and levels of subjective and objective consumerism knowledge as well as the combined effect of the two types of knowledge on CCB. The findings revealed that the respondents had a reasonable level of subjective consumerism knowledge relative to a low level of objective consumerism knowledge. No significant relationship was found between subjective consumerism knowledge and demographic variables. However, the factors of race, gender and level of income were related to objective knowledge. A higher level of subjective knowledge could be associated with public action. Respondents with reasonable levels of objective knowledge were also better equipped to take private and public action. CHAID (Chi‐Square Automatic Interaction Detection) analysis highlighted that a combination of subjective and objective knowledge was the best predictor of taking public action only and of taking both private and public complaint action. The study has implications for policy makers, consumer protection organisations, retailers and the individual consumer. Our approach to measuring knowledge of consumerism could possibly be applied in other emerging contexts where consumers generally lack awareness of consumer protection.     

Better to shop than to vote?

This paper begins by reflecting on the current generalised political apathy signalled by low voter turnout and falling party membership. It would appear that people are exercising political choices not at the ballot box but by means of consumer activism. Corporations respond to consumer pressure in a way that governments do not, and are gradually assuming the role of global political actors. But this is a dangerous state of affairs for several reasons. In the first place, social welfare can never be the core activity of corporations. Corporate social motives are commercial, and there is a danger that their social policy decisions will be driven by the logic of the market place rather than social need. Recession, for instance, will curtail their social responsiveness, as will decisions to relocate. It is also the case that partnerships between governments and corporates run the risk of removing checks on the growth and abuse of corporate power. And finally, what price does society have to pay for the growth of corporate benevolence?     

The transformation of the eastern German economy

The eastern German economy has experienced a great deal in the five years since German reunification: an unexpectedly profound collapse following the Monetary, Economic and Social Union of July 1990; a massive loss of jobs with resulting social and political consequences; and an increasingly stable economic recovery. In which branches is recovery most dynamic? Where does the structural transformation seem to be leading? And which branches have the best chances of self-sustained growth in the future? This short analysis attempts to answer these questions, to demonstrate the different trends among the branches of the economy and thereby to underscore the differentiation within the economic transformation process in the new Länder.     

Investigating the direct and indirect effects of corporate hypocrisy and perceived corporate reputation on consumers’ attitudes toward the company

Consumers are placing increasing importance on the social responsibility of firms when making purchase decisions. Nonetheless, corporate irresponsibility has become more prevalent in the corporate world. Through corporate social responsibility (CSR), companies can showcase their virtues and appear as good citizens while ignoring many internal standards. Hence, the primary purpose of this study was to explore the impact of corporate hypocrisy on CSR belief, corporate reputation, and consumers’ attitudes toward a company that may have a bad reputation. Second, we investigated the mediating effect of CSR belief and perceived corporate reputation on the relationships between corporate hypocrisy and consumers’ attitudes toward the company. We asked a sample of respondents in Australia (n =518) to respond to a real CSR campaign launched by a beer company. The results showed that CSR belief mediates the relationship between corporate hypocrisy and consumers’ attitudes toward the company. The results indicated a perception that companies may use CSR to try to shift the blame from producers to users. The results of this study provide guidelines for managers, social marketers, and public policy makers on how to create and evaluate companies’ CSR campaigns. The results of this study contribute to the debate on how consumers respond to various CSR campaigns as well as the intended or unintended consequences of CSR in directing consumers’ attention away from the negative impacts businesses have on society.     

Consumer Decision Making Regarding a “Green” Everyday Product

One of the techniques marketers use to convert low‐involvement products into high‐involvement ones is adding an important product feature. A case in point is the common practice of adding a “green” or environmentally friendly product feature to an everyday product, something which is often assumed to elevate consumer involvement in the choice of the product. However, there is a lack of research investigating whether adding such a “green” product attribute actually makes any difference to how consumers make choices. Does the way in which consumers make decisions about groceries change when both “green” and conventional alternatives are available? Does it make them deliberate more or do they just develop another, simple choice heuristic? Based on observation and follow‐up interviews of consumers at the milk counter in two supermarkets which stock both organic (a “green” attribute) and conventional milk, it is concluded that, rather than changing the way consumers make decisions when buying this type of product, the availability of a “green” alternative seems to make “green” consumers develop a new, simple choice heuristic that allows them to do their shopping as effortless and time‐efficient as consumers buying conventional products.     

Ambiguous framings of political consumerism: means or end,product or process orientation?

For dealing with various societal problems, ‘political’/‘ethical’/‘responsible’ consumerism is often discussed as an effective democratic and participatory tool. However, political consumerism – along with its tools, such as product labelling – is often conceived and discussed in oversimplified ways. Instead, the tension between scientific complexity, knowledge uncertainty and a codified, standardized label involves extensive political strategy, interest conflicts and simplified framings of the consumers’ roles as political decision makers. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how criteria for organic food labelling have been simplified, or framed, within various versions of political consumerism in policy debates. The more general purpose is to examine variations of what consumerism may entail theoretically and practically. Examples are chosen of organic food labelling in the US. The analysis is based on framing theory. The first distinction is made between framings surrounding the extrinsic and intrinsic values of consumerism (i.e. consumer empowerment towards an external goal, or as an overriding principle of democracy). The second distinction is between product‐ and process‐oriented consumerism (i.e. consumer empowerment with regard to the purchased goods or concerning the ‘invisible’ production and disposal processes). These distinctions may facilitate critical examinations of criteria, processes and communication of consumer‐related policies.     

The New Employment Contract and the “At Risk” Worker

Employees of large blue chip corporations in the 1950s through the mid-1960s demonstrated great loyalty to their employers. In return, those employers provided cradle to grave job security and benefits for their workers. During the 1980s, however, this social contract between employees and employers seems to have undergone a change. The norms of the organization man of the earlier period passed from use and a new normative framework seems to have developed. The norm of loyalty on the part of both parties seems to have passed from practice. Employers would now terminate employees if it was in their short term interest to do so, while employees began to move from company to company, no longer making a career with one employer. Many writers have attributed this new employment relationship to the dynamics of the times, as we move from modern to late modern/early post-modern times. This paper reports the findings of a pilot qualitative study done with graduating seniors from an AACSB accredited business school (n=48). The subjects were asked to write self-reflective essays on the following themes: Given the nature of the new employment contract, are careers a vestige of the past? How do you feel about such concepts as career self reliance and career resiliency? Do you feel “at risk” in the new world of work? If so why, if not why not? If so, how do you plan to deal with it? The paper reports the critical response patterns of these graduating seniors and draws insights and conclusions from the literature illuminating the student reflections.     

The political economy of regulations and trade: Wine trade 1860–1970

Dramatic changes in the 1860–1970 wine trade provide insights on the political economy of regulations and policy instrument choice and trade. An invasion of Phylloxera in the 1870s turned France from the world's leading exporter to a massive importer of wine and grapes. When French production recovered a combination of tariffs, safety regulations and quality standards were introduced to protect its French producers, causing dramatic changes in global wine and grape production and trade, including in Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Changes in wine regulations were caused by relative income and loss aversion factors in political economy. Tariffs were the preferred policy instruments as they directly restrict imports, bring in revenues, have low transaction costs and are preferred political instruments when there are information imperfections. Safety regulations and quality standards, including labelling and input prohibitions, reduce asymmetric information for consumers or undesirable externalities, and simultaneously protected domestic producers. Regulations were often targeted at imported products (wine and raisins) when tariffs were ineffective or constrained by institutions (such as on colonial wine). Hence, tariffs and quality regulations were jointly used in wine policy, both as complements and as substitutes in policy design.     

The role of Swedish retailers in food innovations

Innovations should create value for increasingly individualistic consumers with varying demands and for other stakeholders. Today, retailers have the power in the supply/value chain. This research investigates how Swedish food retailers view innovations, their role and that of customers and suppliers in the development process and how they see future development. The study is based on open-ended interviews. The results show that Swedish retailers regard food product innovations as something to provide to consumers rather than achieve with consumers. Retailers want more collaboration with packaging suppliers to differentiate. Retailers are successful in establishing their own brands, in becoming brands themselves and in competing with producer brands. This follows the UK model and may result in fewer alternatives in stores and fewer product – or new technology-based innovations by Swedish producers. Service innovations can still occur for retailers to retain consumer loyalty. Consumers demand more than new products; they want to be excited by the shopping experience. More innovations will require deeper insight about consumers, efforts from the value chain and from outsiders. Collaboration is needed to establish trust among supply chain actors.