Ethical Consumption
Innovation
Network
Ethical consumption combines the conceptual power of changemaking with the market power of consumption to reduce and redirect consumption for better social and environmental impact.
What is Ethical Consumption?
Old Move, New Movement
Ethical consumption was first introduced in the 18th century by abolitionists that refused to buy sugar from slave plantations, and gained momentum in the early 20th century as marginalized groups such as women, immigrants and Black people organized boycotts for social impact. Ethical consumption has always combined individual choice with collective communication and collaboration.
The ethical consumption movement has never blossomed to nearly its full potential, but that is now possible with new generations of consumers, new social attitudes about changemaking and new technologies for sharing information.
Too many well-meaning leaders today are focused only on the supply side - ethical production - which is important but ultimately shaped by consumer behavior. The urgency of climate change, biodiversity and other environmental crises are leading changemakers in all sectors to increasingly challenge the Global North's culture of rampant hyper-consumption, mythology of eternal economic growth and obsession with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the best measure of social wellbeing. As a society we need to explore the enormous leverage in the other side of the economic equation: ethical consumption.
I do think the consumption thing is something that really isn't being talked about.
Now there's so much openness about regenerative ag, and renewable energy, and more and more people are forming around the idea that we need to 'take care of nature’ … but what we haven't done, is how much are we using individually, and our cities, and our assumptions about 'what makes a good life’...
– Paul Hawken
Massive Challenge
The average rates at which people consume resources like oil and metals, and produce wastes like plastics and greenhouse gases, are about 32 times higher in North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia than they are in the developing world.
– Jared Diamond
We are in the beginning of mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth.
– Greta Thunberg
If 10% of the 100M youth in Global North were reached, and only 10% of their lifetime spending were influenced,
$2 trillion would be shifted towards ethical consumption
Massive Opportunity
An average Global North consumer spends $2M over a lifetime
43% of global consumers want to be ethical consumers (and would pay more for ethical goods and services), but less than 10% of consumption is actually ethical
Ethical consumption doubled in the last decade, with fastest growth among youth
Frameworks
Considerations for the Ethical Consumer
When designing consumer engagement initiatives, leaders in the movement consider additional context such as:
Conventional Consumer considers impact on self and family | Ethical Consumer also considers impact on broader society & environment |
Household Value joy, fulfillment, comfort, convenience, health, safety, durability, style, fit, taste | Ethical Value enabling another’s livelihood, enacting personal values, etc. |
Household Cost price, total cost of ownership, time (evaluation, purchase, maintenance, disposal), storage space, risk to health & safety | Ethical Cost environmental degradation, undermining personal values, etc. |
When comparing value and cost in the marketplace, consumer “rationale” is greatly influenced by advertising, branding, norms, nudges, peer influence, options paralysis and many other factors according to behavioral science. These influences include:
As a movement, ethical consumers have always combined individual choice with collective communication and collaboration.
Choices for the Ethical Consumer
In making choices, ethical consumers evaluate layers of Values & Mindsets, Industry Focus, Goods & Services, Brands and Products.
Networks
Innovation Network
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values & mindsets
industry focus
consumer choice layer
consumer life stage
evaluation type
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changemaker
Who are the leading changemakers
in the movement for ethical consumption?
Questions?
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