Attitudes of Businessmen,Consumers, and Consumerists Toward Consumerism

Despite the apparent concern about consumerism issues by various groups, it appears that much of this concern has been based on speculation and casual observations. There is a paucity of empirical research regarding attitudes toward consumerism. This study is the first to assess the attitudes of businessmen, consumers and consumerists—all from the same geographic and market environmenttoward several important consumerism issues. The results, which show significant differences in various areas, have important policy implications for consumerists, politicians and businessmen.     

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.     

In search of status through brands from Western and Asian origins: Examining the changing face of fashion clothing consumption in Chinese young adults

Consumption for many is increasingly underpinned by the search for and creation of identity and status through specific consumption practices, including consumerism and placing a high priority on brands. One product category where such consumption practices underpin its growth and marketing is fashion clothing. The expressive nature of clothing makes it particularly important in societies where consumerism and status seeking is a priority. In picking up the significance and the role of fashion clothing, this study explores the impact of Chinese young adults’ consumerism, their status consumption tendencies and decision-making style on their perceptions of fashion clothing brands’ status, with origins from the West versus Asia. The results show that Chinese young adults prefer fashion clothing brands with Western origins over those with Asian origins. The levels of consumerism, status consumption and decision-making styles were major contributors to how they perceived the brands, and in this sense western fashion clothing brands may communicate status and wealth better than Asian brands. Further, the findings show a willingness on the part of young Chinese adults to buy more than what they need and look for prestigious-symbolic brands of fashion clothing.     

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.     

Environmental consumerism: A process of children's socialization and families' resocialization

The development and impact of children's concern for the environment is addressed. A model is presented that illustrates that such development may be based upon children's cognitive status, their exposure to nature, and their exposure to particular socializing influences. One of the possible outcomes of children's concern for the environment is that they may become catalysts for family environmental consumerism, and thereby influence related family attitudes and decision-making. We propose that environmental consumerism may be moderated by the nature of family communication patterns, which can affect the possibility of family resocialization regarding environmental concerns. In addition, family resources are also expected to moderate the degree of family environmental consumerism. We suggest that environmental consumerism will be reflected in both purchasing and recycling choices and behavior. Consequently, marketing implications are also addressed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Consumer Protection in Postwar Canada: Role and Contributions of the Consumers' Association of Canada to the Public Policy Process

This article traces the contribution of the Consumers' Association of Canada (CAC) to the advancement of Canadian consumer protection legislation in the decades after World War II. The theory of the consumerism life cycle shows that the CAC as the spearhead of grassroots consumer activism in Canada was able to address effectively consumer concerns at both the administrative and policymaking levels of government. Analysis of the rise and fall of consumerism in post–WWII Canada from the perspective of the consumerism life cycle also might well have implications for the further development of that theory.     

圣经和算盘的对峙—试论新闻实践中的专业主义和消费主义

作为一种影响到社会各个领域和生活各个层面的文化形态，消费主义带给新闻实践的影响是显著的。由此许多人认为消费主义必将侵蚀专业主义。但在消费社会的语境下，消费社会的逻辑结构是市场民主制。从新闻伦理学角度对专业主义和消费主义重新进行审视。可知新闻专业主义的消解并非是消费主义影响新闻实践的必然结果，新闻实践中呈现出的专业主义或消费主义是政府、媒介、工商界以及公众四种力量博弈的结果。     

Political consumerism between individual choice and collective action: social movements,role mobilization and signalling

The notion of political consumerism has two implications. First, consumers wield some kind of power that they can use to effect social change through the marketplace. Second, political consumerism refers to and somehow combines the rationalities of two subsystems, politics and the economy. Yet regarding their everyday, individualized shopping decisions, consumers do not appear to command a great deal of power. What kind of influence, then, can individual economic decisions have on producers? Is that influence robust enough to attribute power to consumers? And if consumers do indeed have power, how can we conceive the implied translation of political concerns into the monetary logic of the economy? An answer to those questions needs to take into account the societal context of political consumerism. This paper analyses how political consumerism relates to the functional differentiation of modern society and how social movements are fundamental to understanding it. Through what I shall call role mobilization, social movements turn the role sets of their supporters into transmission belts for political objectives, and by authoritatively communicating those objectives, they provide signals to producers, who otherwise would not know a great deal about their consumers’ preferences.     

Participation in Green Consumer Policies: Deliberative Democracy under Wrong Conditions?

In policy debates about reducing environmental and social harms, political consumerism is often called for by actors from a broad political spectrum. This paper examines traits of deliberative democracy in cases where instruments of political consumerism (eco-labelling, certificates and standards) are developed. The empirical cases are processes surrounding eco-labelled, standardised forestry, food and electricity in Sweden. In green forestry certification, deliberative processes have taken place close to deliberative democracy ideals. Yet, these processes have been made possible because of equal power levels, although power, according to deliberative theory, should be irrelevant. In organic food labelling, a smothering consensus climate has enabled deliberation, although such a policy condition is at odds with certain deliberative democracy ideals. In electricity labelling, its deliberative processes were embraced by everyone, although the problem scope was narrowly defined, whilst fundamental problems were not addressed. If deliberative democracy researchers become involved in critical frame reflection in consumer-oriented policy making, changes can be made that help reduce environmental harms and strengthen public engagement in political consumerism.     

专卖店的消费主义叙事

在“物的包围”下的消费主义时代，芭芭拉·克鲁格提出“我买故我在”。这显然是对笛卡尔哲学本义的现代性颠覆，消费行为已成为推动个人主体独立存在的证明。作为现代性标志之一的品牌专卖店，正是构成都市人实现“购物”这一意义复杂的消费实践的重要场所，上演新一轮时尚的美学演示，隐含着独特的符号内涵与文化政治深意，是都市场景中新一轮消费主义叙事的当代隐喻。     

Demographic Discontinuity: Another Explanation for Consumerism?

This supplemental explanation for consumerism focuses on how unique demographics may have contributed to the movement. Prior movements may not have achieved the scale or magnitude of the most recent movement because they did not occur after a period of rapid population growth. The latter is speculated to be part of the societal structural strains that contributed, not only to the consumerism movement, but also to the social discontent of the 1960s and 1970s.     

Sheldon Garon and Patricia L. Maclachlan, eds. The Ambivalent Consumer: Questioning Consumption in East Asia and the West

This book, edited and introduced by Sheldon Garon and PatriciaMaclachan, represents the first comparative volume on globalizationof consumer culture especially from the perspective of EastAsia. This volume is the end result of a seminar series organizedby Abe Fellowship Program and funded by the Japan FoundationCenter for Global Partnership. The title of this book indicates the challenge facing the editorsapproaching consumerism in such a comprehensive and ambitiousway. Understanding consumerism has always been an appealing     

Does the Individualist Consume More? The Interplay of Ethics and Beliefs that Governs Consumerism Across Cultures

Individualism leading to more consumerism seems to be a bit of truism nowadays in the media. The USA is particularly indicted for being too individualistic and consumerist. Past research has mostly indicated a positive relationship between the two. However, past research has not suggested a negative association between individualism and consumerism. This paper offers support for such a negative relationship by showing that an individual’s ethical values can temper the consumerist nature of individualists. Data were collected in the USA and Taiwan. Structural equation models demonstrate that our hypothesized model fits our data well. A key result over the global sample is the stability of the linear path from individualism to work ethic to consumer ethic to consumerism. The two-nation comparison also supports differences in how Taiwanese and Americans differ in their belief that consumption benefits society.     

Materialism,Religion, and Implications for Marketing—An Ethnographic Study of Nichiren Buddhism

The pursuit of material pleasures, construed as symbolizing consumer culture, is often at odds with religion. Hence for consumers for whom religion is important, there may be a quandary reconciling religious values, such as simple living and modest possessions with living in today's society awash with the ideology of consumerism with its abundance of goods and propaganda of the materialistic good life. This study explores how consumers reconcile religious precepts with materialism in today's consumer culture and society with an ethnographic study of a worldwide Buddhist organization that practices Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. The study reveals that religion can embrace even the paradoxical entities of consumerism, materialism, and spiritualism; transcend thought duality; and emanate the positive potential intrinsic to all, leading to an individual human revolution with implications for marketing and societal transformation. The researcher hopes to add to the understanding of the religion, consumerism, and materialism linkage.     

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.     

Bio-politicizing consumption: neo-liberal consumerism and disembodiment in the food marketplace

How consumerism proliferates in society is central to consumer culture studies, yet little research has examined the power of consumerist discourses in shaping consumption at the intersection of marketing with State regulation. Drawing on Foucault's notions of governmentality and bio-power, a discourse analysis is conducted of food date labeling regulation. The study problematizes how labeling actualizes a form of neo-liberal consumerism within manufacturing and retail in which consumption is enacted as a site of bio-political control. Labeling, it is argued, fosters unsustainable excess consumption in the name of life and health of people by temporalizing and standardizing consumption, as well as disembodying the marketplace as an area for knowledge creation in consumption. Accordingly, the study discusses two processes “bio-politicizing” consumption that seek to dispense responsibility and re-distribute embodied consumption competence. Finally, it highlights the potential in people to resist such consumerism by developing alternative subjectivities and embodiments in the marketplace.     

Recognizing consumerism as an “illness of an empty soul”: A catholic morality perspective

Catholics personalist authors have been always concerned about consumerism, which is considered a radical dissatisfaction that compulsively tries to fill the emptiness of the inner self. It is a form of idolatry where malls are modern cathedrals. What are the antecedents and consequences of this moral approach, inducing consumers’ engagement in anti-consumption behaviors? This conceptual paper updates the literature review about this research topic, acknowledging the thoughts written in encyclical letters of three Popes of Catholic Church: John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. This paper also proposes a new model of ethical decision-making model that aims to describe the implications of recognizing consumerism as a moral/spiritual issue according to the Catholic Church teaching. This paper provides useful insights into the influence of Catholic teaching on the adoption of anti-consumption behaviors.     

What Will Consumers Pay for Social Product Features?

The importance of ethical consumerism to many companies worldwide has increased dramatically in recent years. Ethical consumerism encompasses the importance of non-traditional and social components of a company's products and business process to strategic success – such as environmental protectionism, child labor practices and so on. The present paper utilizes a random utility theoretic experimental design to provide estimates of the relative value selected consumers place on the social features of products.     

Orientations Toward Consumerism: A Test of a Two-Dimensional Theory

Some past studies concerning attitudes toward consumer public policy issues have attempted to distinguish characteristics of consumerism supporters from those of nonsupporters. Results to date have been largely inconsistent. This study incorporates a solution preference dimension into the supporter/nonsupporter analysis in order to help resolve past identification anomalies and to suggest a theoretical explanation for diverse orientations. More specifically, a two-dimensional theory of consumerism orientations is developed and tested as a special case of Rokeach's broader Two-Value Theory of Political Orientations. The survey data presented tend to general support the hypothesized theoretical structure.     

Consumer resistance in a world of advertising clutter: The case of Adbusters

The pervasive influence of advertising and consumer culture is examined in relation to a postmodern condition marked by increased speed, fragmentation, and the decentering of the subject. This condition often prompts the consumer to develop ad‐avoidance strategies that protect his/her psychic space by filtering out excess advertising clutter (which also colonizes the public and discursive space of consumer culture). The struggle for these cultural spaces resembles a war of position between the ideology of consumerism and its opponents, who attempt to cultivate alternative worldviews toward consumerism. Although some perspectives see consumption as a means for self‐expression and the fashioning of multiple identities, this position valorizes consumption practices irrespective of their environmental and social impact. An evaluation of the antiadvertising magazine Adbusters illustrates the obstacles inherent in launching challenges to consumerism, and the difficulty of resisting consumerism given advertising's control over cultural spaces. Marketers have converted resistance efforts from some of consumption's most ardent critics into market segments by targeting certain goods and services toward them. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.