i
DO ETHICS MATTER IN CONSUMER
PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR
Fig 1 IKEArsquos reusable blue bag embraces the green imperative
JACQUELINE BEI WALKER
Lord Ashcroft International Business School (LAIBS)
Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge - 2009
ii
ABSTRACT
In recent years ethical trade and Corporate Social Responsibility have
gained a lot of attention in the UK yet limited attention has been given to
the role and impact of ethical concerns on consumer purchase behaviour
The overall purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding
of ethical consumerism A self-administered questionnaire was used as the
data collection technique in order to achieve the objectives of this study
The results of the findings revealed that despite consumersrsquo high level of
awareness of ethical issues there is little evidence that these issues greatly
affect consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour In fact price seems to be the
most important indicator of their purchasing behaviour The uneven
distribution of wealth also makes it impossible for all consumers to choose
ethically sound products The findings of this study are a useful source of
information for marketers who may want to attract this ldquogreenrdquo segment of
the market Furthermore whether or not marketers are pursuing the ethical
strategy they should also bear in mind that even if a good eco-performance
is unlikely to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still
lead to competitive disadvantages
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This dissertation could not have been written without the support from
Mr Tim Froggett who did not only serve as my supervisor but also
encouraged and challenged me through the dissertation process and never
accepting less than my best efforts Many thanks to my professors at the
Ashcroft International Business School for helping me to think through their
challenging course work Also sincere thanks to staff at the AIBS for
assisting me with administrative tasks related to my studies
I would also like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to my
mentor Mrs Lynn Morgan for her time knowledge and assistance during
my studies
Most especially I would like to thank my husband Clive Walker and our
children for their support love encouragement without which I could not
have survived the process
And especially to God who made all things possible
iv
CONTENTS Title Page i Abstract ii Acknowledgement iii Table of Contents iv List of tables v 1 Introduction 1 11 Background 1 12 What is ethical consumerism 2 13 CSR vs Profit 8 14 Aims amp Rationale 9 15 Objectives 9
2 Literature review 7 21 Ethical issues 7 211 Environmental issues 7 212 Child Labour 8 213 Fair-trade 9
214 Factory farming 10 22 The Ethical Consumer 10 23 Barriers to ethical consumption 12 24 Conclusion of literature review 15
3 Methodology 16 31 The Empirical study 16 32 Sampling 19 33 Questionnaire 22 34 Limitations 23
4 Results of findings 24
5 Discussion of findings 31
51 Consumerrsquos interest and knowledge of ethical products 31 511 Age and Ethical Awareness 31 512 Gender and Ethical Awareness 31 513 Awareness of Key ethical issues 32 514 Awareness of Ethical Products 33 52 Attitude-Behaviour gap 34 53 Barriers to Ethical Consumerism 36 531 Price 36 532 Source of information 38 533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism 39 54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour 41 6 Conclusions amp Recommendations 44 61 Conclusion 44 62 Managerial Implications amp Recommendations 46 7 Bibliography 48
8 Appendix 1 52
v
TABLE OF FIGURES
Fig 1 IKEArsquos reusable blue bag embraces the green imperative i
Figure 2 A sugar bowl with East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves on the side 1
Figure 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 4
Figure 4 Environmental issues 7
Figure 5 A child carrying unbaked bricks 8
Figure 6 Fair-trade Logo 9
Figure 7 Broiler chicken 10
Graph 1 Age groups 24
Graph 2 Gender 25
Graph 3 Purchase decisions 25
Graph 4 Most Ethical Companies 26
Graph 5 Most important Ethical Issues 26
Graph 6 Years of Ethical concerns 27
Graph 7 Consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical products 27
Graph 8 Purchasing products made from exploitation of workers 28
Graph 9 Unethical product by association 28
Graph 10 Labels 29
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing 29
Graph 12 Do Consumers give unwanted belongings to charity 30
Graph 13 The Ethical Consumer 30
Graph 14 Age and Ethical Awareness 31
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical Awareness 32
Graph 16 Ethical Issues 33
Graph 17 Ethical premium pricing 37
Graph 18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism 39
Graph 1 Reusable products 43
1
10 INTRODUCTION
ldquoThe act of buying is a vote for an economic and social model for a
particular way of producing goods We are concerned with the quality of
goods and the satisfactions we derive from them But we cannot ignore the
conditions under which products are made ndash the environmental impact and
working conditions We are linked to them and therefore have a
responsibility for themrdquo By Anwar Fazal former President of the International
Organization of Consumer Unions (Harrison 1997)
11 Background
Ethical consumption of some sort has existed over the centuries According
to an article on the BBC website related to the abolition of slave trade in
1791 thousand of pamphlets were printed encouraging people to boycott
sugar produced by slaves Estimates suggest that 300000 people
abandoned this product resulting to a drop in sales by a third to a half At
the same time sales of sugar from India where slavery was not used
increased tenfold over two years (BBCcouk 2008)
Fig 1 An earthenware sugar bowl with the words East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves inscribed on the side Source BBCcouk
While the notion of ethical consumption can be traced back at least to the
18th century as seen above there have been a growing debate and
criticism over the past decades about the impact or role of ethical
consumerism The concept of ethical consumerism has grown significantly
and the meaning of ethical consumerism has evolved from an
environmental issue (green consumerism) to incorporate issues such as
2
child labour Fair-trade factory farming food miles health related issues
CO2 emissions government regimes etc
12 What is Ethical consumerism
Defining ethical consumerism is not an easy task since the term means
different things to different people Some studies on ethical consumption
concentrate only on environmental issues and thus omit ethical issues that
have come to the force in the recent years such as child labour (Tallotire et
al 2001) Harrison et al (2006) refer to ethical consumerism as ldquoa set of
debates and strategies in which consumption is not so much the object of
moral evaluation but more a medium for moral and political actionrdquo
Green consumption is often thought of as the process of avoiding certain
types of products such as those causing pollution or cruelty to animals
(Schaefer and Crane 2001 Strong 1996) It can also represent positive
product choices such as the purchase of environmentally friendly products
or recycling behaviour (Carrigan et al 2004)
ldquoEthical consumerism refers to buyer behaviour that reflects concern with
the problems that arise from unethical and unjust global trades such as
child and low-paid labour infringement of human rights animal testing
labour union suppressions inequalities in trading relations with the Third
World and polution of the environment (Lee 2008)
Recent studies on ethical consumerism suggest that consumers are giving
increasing considerations to the ethical components of products and
business processes and that these concerns have financial implications for
the businesses involved (Auger et al 2007) According to Baker (2003) the
ethical investment Research Service estimated that the value investments
in the UK held in ethical investment funds passed the pound4 billion mark by
mid-2001 and although it is relatively small compared to the total funds the
impact on corporate reputations of being de-listed from a particular ethical
fund gives them a disproportionately large influence in public relations
terms
3
Interest in ethical and environmental investment is set to intensify with new
initiatives such as the FTSE4Good index of socially responsible companies
Also businesses in Europe are now affected by a series of EU
environmental legislations and governmental laws for example green taxes
such as landfill taxes are being introduced in many EU countries including
the UK According to BBC news the EU in 2007 announced plans to
introduce a mandatory emissions standard for vehicles Car companies will
be forced to achieve a fleet average of 130g of CO2 per kilometre for their
trucks and cars by 2012 The UK government has also set a goal of cutting
carbon dioxide emissions by 20 by 2010 The government has set targets
in some sectors aiming for example to reduce imports of organics and to
reach a target of 70 home grown organics by 2010 (Mintel)
According to the 2007 Ethical Consumerism Report household expenditure
of ethical goods and services has almost doubled in the past five years It
further states that on average every household in the UK spent pound664 in
line with their ethical values in 2006 compared to just pound366 in 2002 These
figures reflects total economic value attached to broad range of personal
choices such as food finance charitable donations that are related to
concerns for the environment animal welfare and human rights support for
local communities via local shopping or boycott of brands whose behaviour
conflicts with their ethical priorities The Co-operative Bank states that
eight in ten consumers would choose eco-friendly product given the
choice
Fig 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 2006 Source The co-operative Bank
4
13 CSR vs profit
A growing number of scholars believe that companies can no longer be
seen purely as private institutions but as a social institution responsible not
only to its shareholders but also to its stakeholders which include
consumers employees creditors communities etc (Balabanis et al
1998) This arguement is similar to the stakeholder theory whereby a
company is responsible to all its stakeholders for its success The concept
of CSR implies that companies could be accountable for its actions that
affect communities and the environment
Some scholars such as Milton Friedman (1970) have however argued that
lsquothe social responsibility of companies is to maximize profit for its
shareholdersrsquo Companies exist to make profit and even ethical companies
must make profit and expand in order to survive According to such
scholars a company can contribute to society by remaining in business
thereby allowing its employees to keep their jobs its suppliers to keep a
customer its customers the products demanded and to its shareholders
profit This could explain the continuous dominance of companies such as
Tesco with its lsquoeveryday low pricingrsquo strategy obtained through ruthless
cost-cutting By dictating the terms in which it operates to employees
suppliers communities etc Tesco has managed to provide its key
stakeholders (customers) what they demand most low prices
Furthermore it can be argued that in a free market economy where there
are no government regulations the theory of supply and demand will help
adjust itself in response to customersrsquo needs In other words in a free
economy activities flow openly with no cost to entry or exit producers and
consumers can obtain ldquotruerdquo information about a product its prize its
characteristics and availability Consequently if customers are not satisfied
with a product they could use their buying power to impose their values to
companies through boycott It can also be argued that demand and supply
at equilibrium maximizes the efficient allocation of available resources
Consequently there is no waste of natural resources
It can further be argued that there is no such thing as an ethical company
since the production of any goods produces waste and increases the level
of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere Furthermore a journalist Jon Entinersquos
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
ii
ABSTRACT
In recent years ethical trade and Corporate Social Responsibility have
gained a lot of attention in the UK yet limited attention has been given to
the role and impact of ethical concerns on consumer purchase behaviour
The overall purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding
of ethical consumerism A self-administered questionnaire was used as the
data collection technique in order to achieve the objectives of this study
The results of the findings revealed that despite consumersrsquo high level of
awareness of ethical issues there is little evidence that these issues greatly
affect consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour In fact price seems to be the
most important indicator of their purchasing behaviour The uneven
distribution of wealth also makes it impossible for all consumers to choose
ethically sound products The findings of this study are a useful source of
information for marketers who may want to attract this ldquogreenrdquo segment of
the market Furthermore whether or not marketers are pursuing the ethical
strategy they should also bear in mind that even if a good eco-performance
is unlikely to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still
lead to competitive disadvantages
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This dissertation could not have been written without the support from
Mr Tim Froggett who did not only serve as my supervisor but also
encouraged and challenged me through the dissertation process and never
accepting less than my best efforts Many thanks to my professors at the
Ashcroft International Business School for helping me to think through their
challenging course work Also sincere thanks to staff at the AIBS for
assisting me with administrative tasks related to my studies
I would also like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to my
mentor Mrs Lynn Morgan for her time knowledge and assistance during
my studies
Most especially I would like to thank my husband Clive Walker and our
children for their support love encouragement without which I could not
have survived the process
And especially to God who made all things possible
iv
CONTENTS Title Page i Abstract ii Acknowledgement iii Table of Contents iv List of tables v 1 Introduction 1 11 Background 1 12 What is ethical consumerism 2 13 CSR vs Profit 8 14 Aims amp Rationale 9 15 Objectives 9
2 Literature review 7 21 Ethical issues 7 211 Environmental issues 7 212 Child Labour 8 213 Fair-trade 9
214 Factory farming 10 22 The Ethical Consumer 10 23 Barriers to ethical consumption 12 24 Conclusion of literature review 15
3 Methodology 16 31 The Empirical study 16 32 Sampling 19 33 Questionnaire 22 34 Limitations 23
4 Results of findings 24
5 Discussion of findings 31
51 Consumerrsquos interest and knowledge of ethical products 31 511 Age and Ethical Awareness 31 512 Gender and Ethical Awareness 31 513 Awareness of Key ethical issues 32 514 Awareness of Ethical Products 33 52 Attitude-Behaviour gap 34 53 Barriers to Ethical Consumerism 36 531 Price 36 532 Source of information 38 533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism 39 54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour 41 6 Conclusions amp Recommendations 44 61 Conclusion 44 62 Managerial Implications amp Recommendations 46 7 Bibliography 48
8 Appendix 1 52
v
TABLE OF FIGURES
Fig 1 IKEArsquos reusable blue bag embraces the green imperative i
Figure 2 A sugar bowl with East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves on the side 1
Figure 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 4
Figure 4 Environmental issues 7
Figure 5 A child carrying unbaked bricks 8
Figure 6 Fair-trade Logo 9
Figure 7 Broiler chicken 10
Graph 1 Age groups 24
Graph 2 Gender 25
Graph 3 Purchase decisions 25
Graph 4 Most Ethical Companies 26
Graph 5 Most important Ethical Issues 26
Graph 6 Years of Ethical concerns 27
Graph 7 Consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical products 27
Graph 8 Purchasing products made from exploitation of workers 28
Graph 9 Unethical product by association 28
Graph 10 Labels 29
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing 29
Graph 12 Do Consumers give unwanted belongings to charity 30
Graph 13 The Ethical Consumer 30
Graph 14 Age and Ethical Awareness 31
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical Awareness 32
Graph 16 Ethical Issues 33
Graph 17 Ethical premium pricing 37
Graph 18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism 39
Graph 1 Reusable products 43
1
10 INTRODUCTION
ldquoThe act of buying is a vote for an economic and social model for a
particular way of producing goods We are concerned with the quality of
goods and the satisfactions we derive from them But we cannot ignore the
conditions under which products are made ndash the environmental impact and
working conditions We are linked to them and therefore have a
responsibility for themrdquo By Anwar Fazal former President of the International
Organization of Consumer Unions (Harrison 1997)
11 Background
Ethical consumption of some sort has existed over the centuries According
to an article on the BBC website related to the abolition of slave trade in
1791 thousand of pamphlets were printed encouraging people to boycott
sugar produced by slaves Estimates suggest that 300000 people
abandoned this product resulting to a drop in sales by a third to a half At
the same time sales of sugar from India where slavery was not used
increased tenfold over two years (BBCcouk 2008)
Fig 1 An earthenware sugar bowl with the words East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves inscribed on the side Source BBCcouk
While the notion of ethical consumption can be traced back at least to the
18th century as seen above there have been a growing debate and
criticism over the past decades about the impact or role of ethical
consumerism The concept of ethical consumerism has grown significantly
and the meaning of ethical consumerism has evolved from an
environmental issue (green consumerism) to incorporate issues such as
2
child labour Fair-trade factory farming food miles health related issues
CO2 emissions government regimes etc
12 What is Ethical consumerism
Defining ethical consumerism is not an easy task since the term means
different things to different people Some studies on ethical consumption
concentrate only on environmental issues and thus omit ethical issues that
have come to the force in the recent years such as child labour (Tallotire et
al 2001) Harrison et al (2006) refer to ethical consumerism as ldquoa set of
debates and strategies in which consumption is not so much the object of
moral evaluation but more a medium for moral and political actionrdquo
Green consumption is often thought of as the process of avoiding certain
types of products such as those causing pollution or cruelty to animals
(Schaefer and Crane 2001 Strong 1996) It can also represent positive
product choices such as the purchase of environmentally friendly products
or recycling behaviour (Carrigan et al 2004)
ldquoEthical consumerism refers to buyer behaviour that reflects concern with
the problems that arise from unethical and unjust global trades such as
child and low-paid labour infringement of human rights animal testing
labour union suppressions inequalities in trading relations with the Third
World and polution of the environment (Lee 2008)
Recent studies on ethical consumerism suggest that consumers are giving
increasing considerations to the ethical components of products and
business processes and that these concerns have financial implications for
the businesses involved (Auger et al 2007) According to Baker (2003) the
ethical investment Research Service estimated that the value investments
in the UK held in ethical investment funds passed the pound4 billion mark by
mid-2001 and although it is relatively small compared to the total funds the
impact on corporate reputations of being de-listed from a particular ethical
fund gives them a disproportionately large influence in public relations
terms
3
Interest in ethical and environmental investment is set to intensify with new
initiatives such as the FTSE4Good index of socially responsible companies
Also businesses in Europe are now affected by a series of EU
environmental legislations and governmental laws for example green taxes
such as landfill taxes are being introduced in many EU countries including
the UK According to BBC news the EU in 2007 announced plans to
introduce a mandatory emissions standard for vehicles Car companies will
be forced to achieve a fleet average of 130g of CO2 per kilometre for their
trucks and cars by 2012 The UK government has also set a goal of cutting
carbon dioxide emissions by 20 by 2010 The government has set targets
in some sectors aiming for example to reduce imports of organics and to
reach a target of 70 home grown organics by 2010 (Mintel)
According to the 2007 Ethical Consumerism Report household expenditure
of ethical goods and services has almost doubled in the past five years It
further states that on average every household in the UK spent pound664 in
line with their ethical values in 2006 compared to just pound366 in 2002 These
figures reflects total economic value attached to broad range of personal
choices such as food finance charitable donations that are related to
concerns for the environment animal welfare and human rights support for
local communities via local shopping or boycott of brands whose behaviour
conflicts with their ethical priorities The Co-operative Bank states that
eight in ten consumers would choose eco-friendly product given the
choice
Fig 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 2006 Source The co-operative Bank
4
13 CSR vs profit
A growing number of scholars believe that companies can no longer be
seen purely as private institutions but as a social institution responsible not
only to its shareholders but also to its stakeholders which include
consumers employees creditors communities etc (Balabanis et al
1998) This arguement is similar to the stakeholder theory whereby a
company is responsible to all its stakeholders for its success The concept
of CSR implies that companies could be accountable for its actions that
affect communities and the environment
Some scholars such as Milton Friedman (1970) have however argued that
lsquothe social responsibility of companies is to maximize profit for its
shareholdersrsquo Companies exist to make profit and even ethical companies
must make profit and expand in order to survive According to such
scholars a company can contribute to society by remaining in business
thereby allowing its employees to keep their jobs its suppliers to keep a
customer its customers the products demanded and to its shareholders
profit This could explain the continuous dominance of companies such as
Tesco with its lsquoeveryday low pricingrsquo strategy obtained through ruthless
cost-cutting By dictating the terms in which it operates to employees
suppliers communities etc Tesco has managed to provide its key
stakeholders (customers) what they demand most low prices
Furthermore it can be argued that in a free market economy where there
are no government regulations the theory of supply and demand will help
adjust itself in response to customersrsquo needs In other words in a free
economy activities flow openly with no cost to entry or exit producers and
consumers can obtain ldquotruerdquo information about a product its prize its
characteristics and availability Consequently if customers are not satisfied
with a product they could use their buying power to impose their values to
companies through boycott It can also be argued that demand and supply
at equilibrium maximizes the efficient allocation of available resources
Consequently there is no waste of natural resources
It can further be argued that there is no such thing as an ethical company
since the production of any goods produces waste and increases the level
of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere Furthermore a journalist Jon Entinersquos
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This dissertation could not have been written without the support from
Mr Tim Froggett who did not only serve as my supervisor but also
encouraged and challenged me through the dissertation process and never
accepting less than my best efforts Many thanks to my professors at the
Ashcroft International Business School for helping me to think through their
challenging course work Also sincere thanks to staff at the AIBS for
assisting me with administrative tasks related to my studies
I would also like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to my
mentor Mrs Lynn Morgan for her time knowledge and assistance during
my studies
Most especially I would like to thank my husband Clive Walker and our
children for their support love encouragement without which I could not
have survived the process
And especially to God who made all things possible
iv
CONTENTS Title Page i Abstract ii Acknowledgement iii Table of Contents iv List of tables v 1 Introduction 1 11 Background 1 12 What is ethical consumerism 2 13 CSR vs Profit 8 14 Aims amp Rationale 9 15 Objectives 9
2 Literature review 7 21 Ethical issues 7 211 Environmental issues 7 212 Child Labour 8 213 Fair-trade 9
214 Factory farming 10 22 The Ethical Consumer 10 23 Barriers to ethical consumption 12 24 Conclusion of literature review 15
3 Methodology 16 31 The Empirical study 16 32 Sampling 19 33 Questionnaire 22 34 Limitations 23
4 Results of findings 24
5 Discussion of findings 31
51 Consumerrsquos interest and knowledge of ethical products 31 511 Age and Ethical Awareness 31 512 Gender and Ethical Awareness 31 513 Awareness of Key ethical issues 32 514 Awareness of Ethical Products 33 52 Attitude-Behaviour gap 34 53 Barriers to Ethical Consumerism 36 531 Price 36 532 Source of information 38 533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism 39 54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour 41 6 Conclusions amp Recommendations 44 61 Conclusion 44 62 Managerial Implications amp Recommendations 46 7 Bibliography 48
8 Appendix 1 52
v
TABLE OF FIGURES
Fig 1 IKEArsquos reusable blue bag embraces the green imperative i
Figure 2 A sugar bowl with East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves on the side 1
Figure 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 4
Figure 4 Environmental issues 7
Figure 5 A child carrying unbaked bricks 8
Figure 6 Fair-trade Logo 9
Figure 7 Broiler chicken 10
Graph 1 Age groups 24
Graph 2 Gender 25
Graph 3 Purchase decisions 25
Graph 4 Most Ethical Companies 26
Graph 5 Most important Ethical Issues 26
Graph 6 Years of Ethical concerns 27
Graph 7 Consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical products 27
Graph 8 Purchasing products made from exploitation of workers 28
Graph 9 Unethical product by association 28
Graph 10 Labels 29
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing 29
Graph 12 Do Consumers give unwanted belongings to charity 30
Graph 13 The Ethical Consumer 30
Graph 14 Age and Ethical Awareness 31
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical Awareness 32
Graph 16 Ethical Issues 33
Graph 17 Ethical premium pricing 37
Graph 18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism 39
Graph 1 Reusable products 43
1
10 INTRODUCTION
ldquoThe act of buying is a vote for an economic and social model for a
particular way of producing goods We are concerned with the quality of
goods and the satisfactions we derive from them But we cannot ignore the
conditions under which products are made ndash the environmental impact and
working conditions We are linked to them and therefore have a
responsibility for themrdquo By Anwar Fazal former President of the International
Organization of Consumer Unions (Harrison 1997)
11 Background
Ethical consumption of some sort has existed over the centuries According
to an article on the BBC website related to the abolition of slave trade in
1791 thousand of pamphlets were printed encouraging people to boycott
sugar produced by slaves Estimates suggest that 300000 people
abandoned this product resulting to a drop in sales by a third to a half At
the same time sales of sugar from India where slavery was not used
increased tenfold over two years (BBCcouk 2008)
Fig 1 An earthenware sugar bowl with the words East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves inscribed on the side Source BBCcouk
While the notion of ethical consumption can be traced back at least to the
18th century as seen above there have been a growing debate and
criticism over the past decades about the impact or role of ethical
consumerism The concept of ethical consumerism has grown significantly
and the meaning of ethical consumerism has evolved from an
environmental issue (green consumerism) to incorporate issues such as
2
child labour Fair-trade factory farming food miles health related issues
CO2 emissions government regimes etc
12 What is Ethical consumerism
Defining ethical consumerism is not an easy task since the term means
different things to different people Some studies on ethical consumption
concentrate only on environmental issues and thus omit ethical issues that
have come to the force in the recent years such as child labour (Tallotire et
al 2001) Harrison et al (2006) refer to ethical consumerism as ldquoa set of
debates and strategies in which consumption is not so much the object of
moral evaluation but more a medium for moral and political actionrdquo
Green consumption is often thought of as the process of avoiding certain
types of products such as those causing pollution or cruelty to animals
(Schaefer and Crane 2001 Strong 1996) It can also represent positive
product choices such as the purchase of environmentally friendly products
or recycling behaviour (Carrigan et al 2004)
ldquoEthical consumerism refers to buyer behaviour that reflects concern with
the problems that arise from unethical and unjust global trades such as
child and low-paid labour infringement of human rights animal testing
labour union suppressions inequalities in trading relations with the Third
World and polution of the environment (Lee 2008)
Recent studies on ethical consumerism suggest that consumers are giving
increasing considerations to the ethical components of products and
business processes and that these concerns have financial implications for
the businesses involved (Auger et al 2007) According to Baker (2003) the
ethical investment Research Service estimated that the value investments
in the UK held in ethical investment funds passed the pound4 billion mark by
mid-2001 and although it is relatively small compared to the total funds the
impact on corporate reputations of being de-listed from a particular ethical
fund gives them a disproportionately large influence in public relations
terms
3
Interest in ethical and environmental investment is set to intensify with new
initiatives such as the FTSE4Good index of socially responsible companies
Also businesses in Europe are now affected by a series of EU
environmental legislations and governmental laws for example green taxes
such as landfill taxes are being introduced in many EU countries including
the UK According to BBC news the EU in 2007 announced plans to
introduce a mandatory emissions standard for vehicles Car companies will
be forced to achieve a fleet average of 130g of CO2 per kilometre for their
trucks and cars by 2012 The UK government has also set a goal of cutting
carbon dioxide emissions by 20 by 2010 The government has set targets
in some sectors aiming for example to reduce imports of organics and to
reach a target of 70 home grown organics by 2010 (Mintel)
According to the 2007 Ethical Consumerism Report household expenditure
of ethical goods and services has almost doubled in the past five years It
further states that on average every household in the UK spent pound664 in
line with their ethical values in 2006 compared to just pound366 in 2002 These
figures reflects total economic value attached to broad range of personal
choices such as food finance charitable donations that are related to
concerns for the environment animal welfare and human rights support for
local communities via local shopping or boycott of brands whose behaviour
conflicts with their ethical priorities The Co-operative Bank states that
eight in ten consumers would choose eco-friendly product given the
choice
Fig 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 2006 Source The co-operative Bank
4
13 CSR vs profit
A growing number of scholars believe that companies can no longer be
seen purely as private institutions but as a social institution responsible not
only to its shareholders but also to its stakeholders which include
consumers employees creditors communities etc (Balabanis et al
1998) This arguement is similar to the stakeholder theory whereby a
company is responsible to all its stakeholders for its success The concept
of CSR implies that companies could be accountable for its actions that
affect communities and the environment
Some scholars such as Milton Friedman (1970) have however argued that
lsquothe social responsibility of companies is to maximize profit for its
shareholdersrsquo Companies exist to make profit and even ethical companies
must make profit and expand in order to survive According to such
scholars a company can contribute to society by remaining in business
thereby allowing its employees to keep their jobs its suppliers to keep a
customer its customers the products demanded and to its shareholders
profit This could explain the continuous dominance of companies such as
Tesco with its lsquoeveryday low pricingrsquo strategy obtained through ruthless
cost-cutting By dictating the terms in which it operates to employees
suppliers communities etc Tesco has managed to provide its key
stakeholders (customers) what they demand most low prices
Furthermore it can be argued that in a free market economy where there
are no government regulations the theory of supply and demand will help
adjust itself in response to customersrsquo needs In other words in a free
economy activities flow openly with no cost to entry or exit producers and
consumers can obtain ldquotruerdquo information about a product its prize its
characteristics and availability Consequently if customers are not satisfied
with a product they could use their buying power to impose their values to
companies through boycott It can also be argued that demand and supply
at equilibrium maximizes the efficient allocation of available resources
Consequently there is no waste of natural resources
It can further be argued that there is no such thing as an ethical company
since the production of any goods produces waste and increases the level
of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere Furthermore a journalist Jon Entinersquos
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
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A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
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ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
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Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
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20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
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PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
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[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
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Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
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TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
iv
CONTENTS Title Page i Abstract ii Acknowledgement iii Table of Contents iv List of tables v 1 Introduction 1 11 Background 1 12 What is ethical consumerism 2 13 CSR vs Profit 8 14 Aims amp Rationale 9 15 Objectives 9
2 Literature review 7 21 Ethical issues 7 211 Environmental issues 7 212 Child Labour 8 213 Fair-trade 9
214 Factory farming 10 22 The Ethical Consumer 10 23 Barriers to ethical consumption 12 24 Conclusion of literature review 15
3 Methodology 16 31 The Empirical study 16 32 Sampling 19 33 Questionnaire 22 34 Limitations 23
4 Results of findings 24
5 Discussion of findings 31
51 Consumerrsquos interest and knowledge of ethical products 31 511 Age and Ethical Awareness 31 512 Gender and Ethical Awareness 31 513 Awareness of Key ethical issues 32 514 Awareness of Ethical Products 33 52 Attitude-Behaviour gap 34 53 Barriers to Ethical Consumerism 36 531 Price 36 532 Source of information 38 533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism 39 54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour 41 6 Conclusions amp Recommendations 44 61 Conclusion 44 62 Managerial Implications amp Recommendations 46 7 Bibliography 48
8 Appendix 1 52
v
TABLE OF FIGURES
Fig 1 IKEArsquos reusable blue bag embraces the green imperative i
Figure 2 A sugar bowl with East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves on the side 1
Figure 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 4
Figure 4 Environmental issues 7
Figure 5 A child carrying unbaked bricks 8
Figure 6 Fair-trade Logo 9
Figure 7 Broiler chicken 10
Graph 1 Age groups 24
Graph 2 Gender 25
Graph 3 Purchase decisions 25
Graph 4 Most Ethical Companies 26
Graph 5 Most important Ethical Issues 26
Graph 6 Years of Ethical concerns 27
Graph 7 Consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical products 27
Graph 8 Purchasing products made from exploitation of workers 28
Graph 9 Unethical product by association 28
Graph 10 Labels 29
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing 29
Graph 12 Do Consumers give unwanted belongings to charity 30
Graph 13 The Ethical Consumer 30
Graph 14 Age and Ethical Awareness 31
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical Awareness 32
Graph 16 Ethical Issues 33
Graph 17 Ethical premium pricing 37
Graph 18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism 39
Graph 1 Reusable products 43
1
10 INTRODUCTION
ldquoThe act of buying is a vote for an economic and social model for a
particular way of producing goods We are concerned with the quality of
goods and the satisfactions we derive from them But we cannot ignore the
conditions under which products are made ndash the environmental impact and
working conditions We are linked to them and therefore have a
responsibility for themrdquo By Anwar Fazal former President of the International
Organization of Consumer Unions (Harrison 1997)
11 Background
Ethical consumption of some sort has existed over the centuries According
to an article on the BBC website related to the abolition of slave trade in
1791 thousand of pamphlets were printed encouraging people to boycott
sugar produced by slaves Estimates suggest that 300000 people
abandoned this product resulting to a drop in sales by a third to a half At
the same time sales of sugar from India where slavery was not used
increased tenfold over two years (BBCcouk 2008)
Fig 1 An earthenware sugar bowl with the words East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves inscribed on the side Source BBCcouk
While the notion of ethical consumption can be traced back at least to the
18th century as seen above there have been a growing debate and
criticism over the past decades about the impact or role of ethical
consumerism The concept of ethical consumerism has grown significantly
and the meaning of ethical consumerism has evolved from an
environmental issue (green consumerism) to incorporate issues such as
2
child labour Fair-trade factory farming food miles health related issues
CO2 emissions government regimes etc
12 What is Ethical consumerism
Defining ethical consumerism is not an easy task since the term means
different things to different people Some studies on ethical consumption
concentrate only on environmental issues and thus omit ethical issues that
have come to the force in the recent years such as child labour (Tallotire et
al 2001) Harrison et al (2006) refer to ethical consumerism as ldquoa set of
debates and strategies in which consumption is not so much the object of
moral evaluation but more a medium for moral and political actionrdquo
Green consumption is often thought of as the process of avoiding certain
types of products such as those causing pollution or cruelty to animals
(Schaefer and Crane 2001 Strong 1996) It can also represent positive
product choices such as the purchase of environmentally friendly products
or recycling behaviour (Carrigan et al 2004)
ldquoEthical consumerism refers to buyer behaviour that reflects concern with
the problems that arise from unethical and unjust global trades such as
child and low-paid labour infringement of human rights animal testing
labour union suppressions inequalities in trading relations with the Third
World and polution of the environment (Lee 2008)
Recent studies on ethical consumerism suggest that consumers are giving
increasing considerations to the ethical components of products and
business processes and that these concerns have financial implications for
the businesses involved (Auger et al 2007) According to Baker (2003) the
ethical investment Research Service estimated that the value investments
in the UK held in ethical investment funds passed the pound4 billion mark by
mid-2001 and although it is relatively small compared to the total funds the
impact on corporate reputations of being de-listed from a particular ethical
fund gives them a disproportionately large influence in public relations
terms
3
Interest in ethical and environmental investment is set to intensify with new
initiatives such as the FTSE4Good index of socially responsible companies
Also businesses in Europe are now affected by a series of EU
environmental legislations and governmental laws for example green taxes
such as landfill taxes are being introduced in many EU countries including
the UK According to BBC news the EU in 2007 announced plans to
introduce a mandatory emissions standard for vehicles Car companies will
be forced to achieve a fleet average of 130g of CO2 per kilometre for their
trucks and cars by 2012 The UK government has also set a goal of cutting
carbon dioxide emissions by 20 by 2010 The government has set targets
in some sectors aiming for example to reduce imports of organics and to
reach a target of 70 home grown organics by 2010 (Mintel)
According to the 2007 Ethical Consumerism Report household expenditure
of ethical goods and services has almost doubled in the past five years It
further states that on average every household in the UK spent pound664 in
line with their ethical values in 2006 compared to just pound366 in 2002 These
figures reflects total economic value attached to broad range of personal
choices such as food finance charitable donations that are related to
concerns for the environment animal welfare and human rights support for
local communities via local shopping or boycott of brands whose behaviour
conflicts with their ethical priorities The Co-operative Bank states that
eight in ten consumers would choose eco-friendly product given the
choice
Fig 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 2006 Source The co-operative Bank
4
13 CSR vs profit
A growing number of scholars believe that companies can no longer be
seen purely as private institutions but as a social institution responsible not
only to its shareholders but also to its stakeholders which include
consumers employees creditors communities etc (Balabanis et al
1998) This arguement is similar to the stakeholder theory whereby a
company is responsible to all its stakeholders for its success The concept
of CSR implies that companies could be accountable for its actions that
affect communities and the environment
Some scholars such as Milton Friedman (1970) have however argued that
lsquothe social responsibility of companies is to maximize profit for its
shareholdersrsquo Companies exist to make profit and even ethical companies
must make profit and expand in order to survive According to such
scholars a company can contribute to society by remaining in business
thereby allowing its employees to keep their jobs its suppliers to keep a
customer its customers the products demanded and to its shareholders
profit This could explain the continuous dominance of companies such as
Tesco with its lsquoeveryday low pricingrsquo strategy obtained through ruthless
cost-cutting By dictating the terms in which it operates to employees
suppliers communities etc Tesco has managed to provide its key
stakeholders (customers) what they demand most low prices
Furthermore it can be argued that in a free market economy where there
are no government regulations the theory of supply and demand will help
adjust itself in response to customersrsquo needs In other words in a free
economy activities flow openly with no cost to entry or exit producers and
consumers can obtain ldquotruerdquo information about a product its prize its
characteristics and availability Consequently if customers are not satisfied
with a product they could use their buying power to impose their values to
companies through boycott It can also be argued that demand and supply
at equilibrium maximizes the efficient allocation of available resources
Consequently there is no waste of natural resources
It can further be argued that there is no such thing as an ethical company
since the production of any goods produces waste and increases the level
of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere Furthermore a journalist Jon Entinersquos
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
v
TABLE OF FIGURES
Fig 1 IKEArsquos reusable blue bag embraces the green imperative i
Figure 2 A sugar bowl with East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves on the side 1
Figure 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 4
Figure 4 Environmental issues 7
Figure 5 A child carrying unbaked bricks 8
Figure 6 Fair-trade Logo 9
Figure 7 Broiler chicken 10
Graph 1 Age groups 24
Graph 2 Gender 25
Graph 3 Purchase decisions 25
Graph 4 Most Ethical Companies 26
Graph 5 Most important Ethical Issues 26
Graph 6 Years of Ethical concerns 27
Graph 7 Consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical products 27
Graph 8 Purchasing products made from exploitation of workers 28
Graph 9 Unethical product by association 28
Graph 10 Labels 29
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing 29
Graph 12 Do Consumers give unwanted belongings to charity 30
Graph 13 The Ethical Consumer 30
Graph 14 Age and Ethical Awareness 31
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical Awareness 32
Graph 16 Ethical Issues 33
Graph 17 Ethical premium pricing 37
Graph 18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism 39
Graph 1 Reusable products 43
1
10 INTRODUCTION
ldquoThe act of buying is a vote for an economic and social model for a
particular way of producing goods We are concerned with the quality of
goods and the satisfactions we derive from them But we cannot ignore the
conditions under which products are made ndash the environmental impact and
working conditions We are linked to them and therefore have a
responsibility for themrdquo By Anwar Fazal former President of the International
Organization of Consumer Unions (Harrison 1997)
11 Background
Ethical consumption of some sort has existed over the centuries According
to an article on the BBC website related to the abolition of slave trade in
1791 thousand of pamphlets were printed encouraging people to boycott
sugar produced by slaves Estimates suggest that 300000 people
abandoned this product resulting to a drop in sales by a third to a half At
the same time sales of sugar from India where slavery was not used
increased tenfold over two years (BBCcouk 2008)
Fig 1 An earthenware sugar bowl with the words East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves inscribed on the side Source BBCcouk
While the notion of ethical consumption can be traced back at least to the
18th century as seen above there have been a growing debate and
criticism over the past decades about the impact or role of ethical
consumerism The concept of ethical consumerism has grown significantly
and the meaning of ethical consumerism has evolved from an
environmental issue (green consumerism) to incorporate issues such as
2
child labour Fair-trade factory farming food miles health related issues
CO2 emissions government regimes etc
12 What is Ethical consumerism
Defining ethical consumerism is not an easy task since the term means
different things to different people Some studies on ethical consumption
concentrate only on environmental issues and thus omit ethical issues that
have come to the force in the recent years such as child labour (Tallotire et
al 2001) Harrison et al (2006) refer to ethical consumerism as ldquoa set of
debates and strategies in which consumption is not so much the object of
moral evaluation but more a medium for moral and political actionrdquo
Green consumption is often thought of as the process of avoiding certain
types of products such as those causing pollution or cruelty to animals
(Schaefer and Crane 2001 Strong 1996) It can also represent positive
product choices such as the purchase of environmentally friendly products
or recycling behaviour (Carrigan et al 2004)
ldquoEthical consumerism refers to buyer behaviour that reflects concern with
the problems that arise from unethical and unjust global trades such as
child and low-paid labour infringement of human rights animal testing
labour union suppressions inequalities in trading relations with the Third
World and polution of the environment (Lee 2008)
Recent studies on ethical consumerism suggest that consumers are giving
increasing considerations to the ethical components of products and
business processes and that these concerns have financial implications for
the businesses involved (Auger et al 2007) According to Baker (2003) the
ethical investment Research Service estimated that the value investments
in the UK held in ethical investment funds passed the pound4 billion mark by
mid-2001 and although it is relatively small compared to the total funds the
impact on corporate reputations of being de-listed from a particular ethical
fund gives them a disproportionately large influence in public relations
terms
3
Interest in ethical and environmental investment is set to intensify with new
initiatives such as the FTSE4Good index of socially responsible companies
Also businesses in Europe are now affected by a series of EU
environmental legislations and governmental laws for example green taxes
such as landfill taxes are being introduced in many EU countries including
the UK According to BBC news the EU in 2007 announced plans to
introduce a mandatory emissions standard for vehicles Car companies will
be forced to achieve a fleet average of 130g of CO2 per kilometre for their
trucks and cars by 2012 The UK government has also set a goal of cutting
carbon dioxide emissions by 20 by 2010 The government has set targets
in some sectors aiming for example to reduce imports of organics and to
reach a target of 70 home grown organics by 2010 (Mintel)
According to the 2007 Ethical Consumerism Report household expenditure
of ethical goods and services has almost doubled in the past five years It
further states that on average every household in the UK spent pound664 in
line with their ethical values in 2006 compared to just pound366 in 2002 These
figures reflects total economic value attached to broad range of personal
choices such as food finance charitable donations that are related to
concerns for the environment animal welfare and human rights support for
local communities via local shopping or boycott of brands whose behaviour
conflicts with their ethical priorities The Co-operative Bank states that
eight in ten consumers would choose eco-friendly product given the
choice
Fig 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 2006 Source The co-operative Bank
4
13 CSR vs profit
A growing number of scholars believe that companies can no longer be
seen purely as private institutions but as a social institution responsible not
only to its shareholders but also to its stakeholders which include
consumers employees creditors communities etc (Balabanis et al
1998) This arguement is similar to the stakeholder theory whereby a
company is responsible to all its stakeholders for its success The concept
of CSR implies that companies could be accountable for its actions that
affect communities and the environment
Some scholars such as Milton Friedman (1970) have however argued that
lsquothe social responsibility of companies is to maximize profit for its
shareholdersrsquo Companies exist to make profit and even ethical companies
must make profit and expand in order to survive According to such
scholars a company can contribute to society by remaining in business
thereby allowing its employees to keep their jobs its suppliers to keep a
customer its customers the products demanded and to its shareholders
profit This could explain the continuous dominance of companies such as
Tesco with its lsquoeveryday low pricingrsquo strategy obtained through ruthless
cost-cutting By dictating the terms in which it operates to employees
suppliers communities etc Tesco has managed to provide its key
stakeholders (customers) what they demand most low prices
Furthermore it can be argued that in a free market economy where there
are no government regulations the theory of supply and demand will help
adjust itself in response to customersrsquo needs In other words in a free
economy activities flow openly with no cost to entry or exit producers and
consumers can obtain ldquotruerdquo information about a product its prize its
characteristics and availability Consequently if customers are not satisfied
with a product they could use their buying power to impose their values to
companies through boycott It can also be argued that demand and supply
at equilibrium maximizes the efficient allocation of available resources
Consequently there is no waste of natural resources
It can further be argued that there is no such thing as an ethical company
since the production of any goods produces waste and increases the level
of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere Furthermore a journalist Jon Entinersquos
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
1
10 INTRODUCTION
ldquoThe act of buying is a vote for an economic and social model for a
particular way of producing goods We are concerned with the quality of
goods and the satisfactions we derive from them But we cannot ignore the
conditions under which products are made ndash the environmental impact and
working conditions We are linked to them and therefore have a
responsibility for themrdquo By Anwar Fazal former President of the International
Organization of Consumer Unions (Harrison 1997)
11 Background
Ethical consumption of some sort has existed over the centuries According
to an article on the BBC website related to the abolition of slave trade in
1791 thousand of pamphlets were printed encouraging people to boycott
sugar produced by slaves Estimates suggest that 300000 people
abandoned this product resulting to a drop in sales by a third to a half At
the same time sales of sugar from India where slavery was not used
increased tenfold over two years (BBCcouk 2008)
Fig 1 An earthenware sugar bowl with the words East India Sugar Not Made by Slaves inscribed on the side Source BBCcouk
While the notion of ethical consumption can be traced back at least to the
18th century as seen above there have been a growing debate and
criticism over the past decades about the impact or role of ethical
consumerism The concept of ethical consumerism has grown significantly
and the meaning of ethical consumerism has evolved from an
environmental issue (green consumerism) to incorporate issues such as
2
child labour Fair-trade factory farming food miles health related issues
CO2 emissions government regimes etc
12 What is Ethical consumerism
Defining ethical consumerism is not an easy task since the term means
different things to different people Some studies on ethical consumption
concentrate only on environmental issues and thus omit ethical issues that
have come to the force in the recent years such as child labour (Tallotire et
al 2001) Harrison et al (2006) refer to ethical consumerism as ldquoa set of
debates and strategies in which consumption is not so much the object of
moral evaluation but more a medium for moral and political actionrdquo
Green consumption is often thought of as the process of avoiding certain
types of products such as those causing pollution or cruelty to animals
(Schaefer and Crane 2001 Strong 1996) It can also represent positive
product choices such as the purchase of environmentally friendly products
or recycling behaviour (Carrigan et al 2004)
ldquoEthical consumerism refers to buyer behaviour that reflects concern with
the problems that arise from unethical and unjust global trades such as
child and low-paid labour infringement of human rights animal testing
labour union suppressions inequalities in trading relations with the Third
World and polution of the environment (Lee 2008)
Recent studies on ethical consumerism suggest that consumers are giving
increasing considerations to the ethical components of products and
business processes and that these concerns have financial implications for
the businesses involved (Auger et al 2007) According to Baker (2003) the
ethical investment Research Service estimated that the value investments
in the UK held in ethical investment funds passed the pound4 billion mark by
mid-2001 and although it is relatively small compared to the total funds the
impact on corporate reputations of being de-listed from a particular ethical
fund gives them a disproportionately large influence in public relations
terms
3
Interest in ethical and environmental investment is set to intensify with new
initiatives such as the FTSE4Good index of socially responsible companies
Also businesses in Europe are now affected by a series of EU
environmental legislations and governmental laws for example green taxes
such as landfill taxes are being introduced in many EU countries including
the UK According to BBC news the EU in 2007 announced plans to
introduce a mandatory emissions standard for vehicles Car companies will
be forced to achieve a fleet average of 130g of CO2 per kilometre for their
trucks and cars by 2012 The UK government has also set a goal of cutting
carbon dioxide emissions by 20 by 2010 The government has set targets
in some sectors aiming for example to reduce imports of organics and to
reach a target of 70 home grown organics by 2010 (Mintel)
According to the 2007 Ethical Consumerism Report household expenditure
of ethical goods and services has almost doubled in the past five years It
further states that on average every household in the UK spent pound664 in
line with their ethical values in 2006 compared to just pound366 in 2002 These
figures reflects total economic value attached to broad range of personal
choices such as food finance charitable donations that are related to
concerns for the environment animal welfare and human rights support for
local communities via local shopping or boycott of brands whose behaviour
conflicts with their ethical priorities The Co-operative Bank states that
eight in ten consumers would choose eco-friendly product given the
choice
Fig 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 2006 Source The co-operative Bank
4
13 CSR vs profit
A growing number of scholars believe that companies can no longer be
seen purely as private institutions but as a social institution responsible not
only to its shareholders but also to its stakeholders which include
consumers employees creditors communities etc (Balabanis et al
1998) This arguement is similar to the stakeholder theory whereby a
company is responsible to all its stakeholders for its success The concept
of CSR implies that companies could be accountable for its actions that
affect communities and the environment
Some scholars such as Milton Friedman (1970) have however argued that
lsquothe social responsibility of companies is to maximize profit for its
shareholdersrsquo Companies exist to make profit and even ethical companies
must make profit and expand in order to survive According to such
scholars a company can contribute to society by remaining in business
thereby allowing its employees to keep their jobs its suppliers to keep a
customer its customers the products demanded and to its shareholders
profit This could explain the continuous dominance of companies such as
Tesco with its lsquoeveryday low pricingrsquo strategy obtained through ruthless
cost-cutting By dictating the terms in which it operates to employees
suppliers communities etc Tesco has managed to provide its key
stakeholders (customers) what they demand most low prices
Furthermore it can be argued that in a free market economy where there
are no government regulations the theory of supply and demand will help
adjust itself in response to customersrsquo needs In other words in a free
economy activities flow openly with no cost to entry or exit producers and
consumers can obtain ldquotruerdquo information about a product its prize its
characteristics and availability Consequently if customers are not satisfied
with a product they could use their buying power to impose their values to
companies through boycott It can also be argued that demand and supply
at equilibrium maximizes the efficient allocation of available resources
Consequently there is no waste of natural resources
It can further be argued that there is no such thing as an ethical company
since the production of any goods produces waste and increases the level
of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere Furthermore a journalist Jon Entinersquos
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
2
child labour Fair-trade factory farming food miles health related issues
CO2 emissions government regimes etc
12 What is Ethical consumerism
Defining ethical consumerism is not an easy task since the term means
different things to different people Some studies on ethical consumption
concentrate only on environmental issues and thus omit ethical issues that
have come to the force in the recent years such as child labour (Tallotire et
al 2001) Harrison et al (2006) refer to ethical consumerism as ldquoa set of
debates and strategies in which consumption is not so much the object of
moral evaluation but more a medium for moral and political actionrdquo
Green consumption is often thought of as the process of avoiding certain
types of products such as those causing pollution or cruelty to animals
(Schaefer and Crane 2001 Strong 1996) It can also represent positive
product choices such as the purchase of environmentally friendly products
or recycling behaviour (Carrigan et al 2004)
ldquoEthical consumerism refers to buyer behaviour that reflects concern with
the problems that arise from unethical and unjust global trades such as
child and low-paid labour infringement of human rights animal testing
labour union suppressions inequalities in trading relations with the Third
World and polution of the environment (Lee 2008)
Recent studies on ethical consumerism suggest that consumers are giving
increasing considerations to the ethical components of products and
business processes and that these concerns have financial implications for
the businesses involved (Auger et al 2007) According to Baker (2003) the
ethical investment Research Service estimated that the value investments
in the UK held in ethical investment funds passed the pound4 billion mark by
mid-2001 and although it is relatively small compared to the total funds the
impact on corporate reputations of being de-listed from a particular ethical
fund gives them a disproportionately large influence in public relations
terms
3
Interest in ethical and environmental investment is set to intensify with new
initiatives such as the FTSE4Good index of socially responsible companies
Also businesses in Europe are now affected by a series of EU
environmental legislations and governmental laws for example green taxes
such as landfill taxes are being introduced in many EU countries including
the UK According to BBC news the EU in 2007 announced plans to
introduce a mandatory emissions standard for vehicles Car companies will
be forced to achieve a fleet average of 130g of CO2 per kilometre for their
trucks and cars by 2012 The UK government has also set a goal of cutting
carbon dioxide emissions by 20 by 2010 The government has set targets
in some sectors aiming for example to reduce imports of organics and to
reach a target of 70 home grown organics by 2010 (Mintel)
According to the 2007 Ethical Consumerism Report household expenditure
of ethical goods and services has almost doubled in the past five years It
further states that on average every household in the UK spent pound664 in
line with their ethical values in 2006 compared to just pound366 in 2002 These
figures reflects total economic value attached to broad range of personal
choices such as food finance charitable donations that are related to
concerns for the environment animal welfare and human rights support for
local communities via local shopping or boycott of brands whose behaviour
conflicts with their ethical priorities The Co-operative Bank states that
eight in ten consumers would choose eco-friendly product given the
choice
Fig 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 2006 Source The co-operative Bank
4
13 CSR vs profit
A growing number of scholars believe that companies can no longer be
seen purely as private institutions but as a social institution responsible not
only to its shareholders but also to its stakeholders which include
consumers employees creditors communities etc (Balabanis et al
1998) This arguement is similar to the stakeholder theory whereby a
company is responsible to all its stakeholders for its success The concept
of CSR implies that companies could be accountable for its actions that
affect communities and the environment
Some scholars such as Milton Friedman (1970) have however argued that
lsquothe social responsibility of companies is to maximize profit for its
shareholdersrsquo Companies exist to make profit and even ethical companies
must make profit and expand in order to survive According to such
scholars a company can contribute to society by remaining in business
thereby allowing its employees to keep their jobs its suppliers to keep a
customer its customers the products demanded and to its shareholders
profit This could explain the continuous dominance of companies such as
Tesco with its lsquoeveryday low pricingrsquo strategy obtained through ruthless
cost-cutting By dictating the terms in which it operates to employees
suppliers communities etc Tesco has managed to provide its key
stakeholders (customers) what they demand most low prices
Furthermore it can be argued that in a free market economy where there
are no government regulations the theory of supply and demand will help
adjust itself in response to customersrsquo needs In other words in a free
economy activities flow openly with no cost to entry or exit producers and
consumers can obtain ldquotruerdquo information about a product its prize its
characteristics and availability Consequently if customers are not satisfied
with a product they could use their buying power to impose their values to
companies through boycott It can also be argued that demand and supply
at equilibrium maximizes the efficient allocation of available resources
Consequently there is no waste of natural resources
It can further be argued that there is no such thing as an ethical company
since the production of any goods produces waste and increases the level
of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere Furthermore a journalist Jon Entinersquos
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
3
Interest in ethical and environmental investment is set to intensify with new
initiatives such as the FTSE4Good index of socially responsible companies
Also businesses in Europe are now affected by a series of EU
environmental legislations and governmental laws for example green taxes
such as landfill taxes are being introduced in many EU countries including
the UK According to BBC news the EU in 2007 announced plans to
introduce a mandatory emissions standard for vehicles Car companies will
be forced to achieve a fleet average of 130g of CO2 per kilometre for their
trucks and cars by 2012 The UK government has also set a goal of cutting
carbon dioxide emissions by 20 by 2010 The government has set targets
in some sectors aiming for example to reduce imports of organics and to
reach a target of 70 home grown organics by 2010 (Mintel)
According to the 2007 Ethical Consumerism Report household expenditure
of ethical goods and services has almost doubled in the past five years It
further states that on average every household in the UK spent pound664 in
line with their ethical values in 2006 compared to just pound366 in 2002 These
figures reflects total economic value attached to broad range of personal
choices such as food finance charitable donations that are related to
concerns for the environment animal welfare and human rights support for
local communities via local shopping or boycott of brands whose behaviour
conflicts with their ethical priorities The Co-operative Bank states that
eight in ten consumers would choose eco-friendly product given the
choice
Fig 3 The Ethical Consumerism Report 2006 Source The co-operative Bank
4
13 CSR vs profit
A growing number of scholars believe that companies can no longer be
seen purely as private institutions but as a social institution responsible not
only to its shareholders but also to its stakeholders which include
consumers employees creditors communities etc (Balabanis et al
1998) This arguement is similar to the stakeholder theory whereby a
company is responsible to all its stakeholders for its success The concept
of CSR implies that companies could be accountable for its actions that
affect communities and the environment
Some scholars such as Milton Friedman (1970) have however argued that
lsquothe social responsibility of companies is to maximize profit for its
shareholdersrsquo Companies exist to make profit and even ethical companies
must make profit and expand in order to survive According to such
scholars a company can contribute to society by remaining in business
thereby allowing its employees to keep their jobs its suppliers to keep a
customer its customers the products demanded and to its shareholders
profit This could explain the continuous dominance of companies such as
Tesco with its lsquoeveryday low pricingrsquo strategy obtained through ruthless
cost-cutting By dictating the terms in which it operates to employees
suppliers communities etc Tesco has managed to provide its key
stakeholders (customers) what they demand most low prices
Furthermore it can be argued that in a free market economy where there
are no government regulations the theory of supply and demand will help
adjust itself in response to customersrsquo needs In other words in a free
economy activities flow openly with no cost to entry or exit producers and
consumers can obtain ldquotruerdquo information about a product its prize its
characteristics and availability Consequently if customers are not satisfied
with a product they could use their buying power to impose their values to
companies through boycott It can also be argued that demand and supply
at equilibrium maximizes the efficient allocation of available resources
Consequently there is no waste of natural resources
It can further be argued that there is no such thing as an ethical company
since the production of any goods produces waste and increases the level
of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere Furthermore a journalist Jon Entinersquos
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
4
13 CSR vs profit
A growing number of scholars believe that companies can no longer be
seen purely as private institutions but as a social institution responsible not
only to its shareholders but also to its stakeholders which include
consumers employees creditors communities etc (Balabanis et al
1998) This arguement is similar to the stakeholder theory whereby a
company is responsible to all its stakeholders for its success The concept
of CSR implies that companies could be accountable for its actions that
affect communities and the environment
Some scholars such as Milton Friedman (1970) have however argued that
lsquothe social responsibility of companies is to maximize profit for its
shareholdersrsquo Companies exist to make profit and even ethical companies
must make profit and expand in order to survive According to such
scholars a company can contribute to society by remaining in business
thereby allowing its employees to keep their jobs its suppliers to keep a
customer its customers the products demanded and to its shareholders
profit This could explain the continuous dominance of companies such as
Tesco with its lsquoeveryday low pricingrsquo strategy obtained through ruthless
cost-cutting By dictating the terms in which it operates to employees
suppliers communities etc Tesco has managed to provide its key
stakeholders (customers) what they demand most low prices
Furthermore it can be argued that in a free market economy where there
are no government regulations the theory of supply and demand will help
adjust itself in response to customersrsquo needs In other words in a free
economy activities flow openly with no cost to entry or exit producers and
consumers can obtain ldquotruerdquo information about a product its prize its
characteristics and availability Consequently if customers are not satisfied
with a product they could use their buying power to impose their values to
companies through boycott It can also be argued that demand and supply
at equilibrium maximizes the efficient allocation of available resources
Consequently there is no waste of natural resources
It can further be argued that there is no such thing as an ethical company
since the production of any goods produces waste and increases the level
of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere Furthermore a journalist Jon Entinersquos
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
5
investigation of The Body Shop in 1994 found that only a very small fraction
of its ingredients came from the ldquoTrade not Aidrdquo program a program
claimed to help developing countries (Entine 1995)
Some companies hire PR firms to portray a false image of them which
could hinder or distort the flow of information required by consumers to
make informed choices (also known as ldquogreenwashingrdquo) John McMurtry in
his book lsquoUnequal fredoms The Global Markets as an Ethical systems
(1998) however argues that lsquothere is no purchasing or investment
decisions that does not in itself imply some moral choicersquo
14 Aims amp Rationale
I chose ethical consumerism because the market for ethical products is
growing fast and ethics could be a major factor in consumer purchasing
behaviour in the future My research will also seek to understand why
ethical consumption and the purchase of ethical productsservices has not
become common practice despite increase public awareness of ethical
issues
15 Objectives
Identify the scale of UK consumersrsquo interest and knowledge of
ethical productsservices
Determine if gender and age influence UK consumersrsquo ethical
purchase decision
Examine the barriers to ethical consumerism
Elaborate on the attitude behaviour gap
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
6
20 LITERATURE REVIEW
21 The ethical issues
There are many ethical issues that are of concern to consumers but for this
dissertation the following will be discussed environmental issues animal
welfare abuses child labour and Fair Trade
211 Environmental issues
Fig 4 Environmental issues Source stopgreenwashorg
ldquoEconomists tell us that natural resources are scarce but that human wants
are unlimited and as Gandhi once famously said
ldquoThere is enough on earth for everybodys need but not for
everyones greedrdquo (enoughorg 2008)
The social and environmental consequences of the unquestioning pursuit of
economic growth of the 21st century have become increasingly noticeable
eg increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere a hole in the
ozone layer caused by CFC releases widespread destruction of the rain
forest a growing list of endangered species and ecosystems etc (Baker
2003) Environmental issues gained a lot of momentum in recent years
because of a growing awareness that rather short-sighted lifestyles in all
parts of the world have led to the depletion of energy sources pollution
deterioration of soil fertility reduction of biodiversity and climate change
(Solomon et al 2002)
Despite this growing environmental concerns some anti-environmentalist
such as Bjoslashrn Lomborg (2001) the author of ldquoSkeptical Environmentalistrdquo
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
7
have criticized the claims of overpopulation scarcity of raw-material and
resource consumption as unsupported claiming that environmentalists are
diverting resources to environmental issues when those resources could be
used effectively elsewhere (eg in poor countries to eradicate poverty and
diseases) forcing the global community to adopt inappropriate policies
which may have adverse effects on humanity
Lomborg (2001) dismisses the idea that overpopulation will lead to
widespread hunger and argues that technological improvements in
agriculture should help eradicate hunger He claims that food products are
not threatened by human prosperity with the exception of fish which he
claimed could be improved through fish farming He also finds no indication
of widespread deforestation and notes that the Amazon forest still retains
more than 80 of its cover He however points out that deforestation is
linked to poor economic conditions in the countries concerned and that
higher economic growth should tackle the problem of deforestation He also
claimed that concerns regarding waste is exaggerated as the entire waste
produced by the USA in the 21st century could fit into a square of 28km (ie
0009 of US total surface)
212 Child Labour
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
8
Fig 5 A child carries unbaked bricks to a kiln at a brick factory in Raichak India in December 2000 Scenes like this remain a fact of life in India despite a ban on hard labour by children Source nationalgeographiccom (2008)
Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are
engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education health
leisure and basic freedoms violating their rights Of these children
more than half are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such
as work in hazardous environments slavery or other forms of
forced labour illicit activities such as drug trafficking and
prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts
(International Labour Organization ILO 2008)
Although consumers in the UK are concerned about this issue child labour
is not regarded as unethical in all countries For example Pakistan has no
legislation against child labour In fact it is encouraged since it improves
familyrsquos income keeps children off the streets and away from worst danger
and boosts the national income
213 Fair Trade
Fig 6 Fair-trade logo Source fairtradeorg
Fair trade is also concerned with issues of ecological concern which
stretch beyond pollution affiliations to include concerns for the degradation
of natural resources sustainable use of raw materials communities and
cultures (Strong 1997)
Cafe Direct the UKrsquos first ldquoFair Traderdquo brand coffee is a collaboration
between organizations such as Oxfam Traidcraft Twin Trading and Equal
Exchange Initially sold through alternative channels Cafe direct is now
UKrsquos 6th largest coffee brand and commands around 7 of the UK coffee
market However critics say too many fair trade dollars wind up in the
pockets of retailers and middlemen including non-profit organizations
(BBCcouk)
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
9
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
10
214 Factory farming
Fig 7 ldquobroiler chickenrdquo Source advocacybritannicacom
The increasing consumer awareness of animal exploitation and cruelty has
played a crucial role in persuading consumers to give due consideration to
animal welfare It has been argued that the trend of mass production
resulting in pain and suffering for animals poses ethical issues Animals on
factory farms have their genes manipulated pumped with hormones
antibiotics and other chemicals to encourage high productivity As
awareness of this issue grow in the UK the government and EU are
fighting to regulate the industry and remove inappropriate behaviour
towards these animals The Farm Animal Welfare Council was founded in
1979 to tackle these issues
However despite the growing concern for factory farming it can be argued
that not everyone can afford free range products especially lower income
consumers Also free range products are not sufficient to feed the growing
population in the UK (advocacybritannicacom)
22 The ethical consumer
It is also not very easy to define an ethical consumer since it is not easy to
determine the reasons behind a purchase Some consumers may buy a
product because it is healthy others because it is cheap or simply because
it is the only choice available According to Harrison et al (2006) an ethical
purchaser may have political religious spiritual environmental social or
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
11
other motives for choosing one product over another Consumers are rarely
consistent in their purchase behaviour (Strong 1997 p 36) For example the
consumer who buys product from Body Shop because of its fair trade
values may also buy products from Nestle or Gap
Some consumers might be misled in their choice of ethical products For
example lsquoQuorn products which many people consume as an ethical
alternative to meat is often made using eggs from battery-farmed chicken
(Doane D 2001) The Body Shop has always presented itself as an ethical
company yet the company is now owned by LrsquoOreal a company that not
only holds none of the values of Body shop such as its refusal to test
cosmetics on animals but is also partly owned by Nestleacute the target of the
worldrsquos largest international consumer boycott because of its aggressive
and unethical marketing of infant formula (Spurr B 2006)
Wagner (1997) as cited in Baker (2003) indicates that attempts to profile
the green consumer have not always yielded strongly indicative results due
to the fact that one study has been repeatedly contradicted in another Also
such results were frequently inconclusive and sometimes contradictory
Accordingly Baker (2003) suggests that the solution to this difficulty is to try
and understand the purchase rather than the purchaser Many green
purchases involve some form of comprise over conventional purchases
such as paying a premium in the case where improving eco-performance
could increase production costs accepting a lower level of technical
performance in exchange of improved eco-performance as in the case of
rechargeable batteries that provide less power but are ultimately cheaper
and greener or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such as health
food shops
In this perspective Harrison et al (2006) argues that any important
economic action is going to help some groups and hurt others According to
Baker (2003) in the past customer satisfaction has been judged in terms of
the performance of the product at the moment of consumption A green
consumer may reject a product because they become aware of the
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
12
environmental harm that the product causes in production or disposal They
may also avoid a product because they disapprove of the activities of the
producerrsquos suppliers or investors
According to Tallontire (2001) regular fair-trade buyers are untypical of the
population as a whole they are better educated wealthier mostly female
over 30 years of age and tend to work in the public sector or lsquocaring
professionsrsquo Research into Oxfam fair-trade buyers reveals that they are
generally under 50 years of age a Guardian newspaper reader
whiteBritish married Labour supporting undertaken further education
(Oxfam Campaigns 1995)
23 Barriers to ethical consumption
As stated in Baker (2003) lsquoMany research have found out that the majority
of consumers profess concern for the environment a desire to buy greener
products and a willingness to pay more for them or accept technical
performance reductions However the number of consumers measurably
changing their purchasing behaviour to buy ethical products is much less
and this has generally been interpreted as a failure to back up intentions
with purchase and a tendency to over report social and environmental
concerns (eg Baker 2003 Lee 2008 Solomon et al 2002)
Furthermore a survey by corporate edge as cited in Carrigan and Attala
(2001) found that 57 of their sample said they would stop buying a brand
if they knew child labour has been employed and only 21 supported
actions against companies perceived as unethical This shows that there is
a notable difference between professing support for an action and actually
carrying it out They also found out that although consumers express
willingness to make ethical choices social responsibility was not a
dominant criterion In fact there seem to be a disparity between increase
awareness and ethical purchase behaviour Some of the reasons for this
behaviour also known as the ldquoattitude-behaviour gaprdquo are as follows
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
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Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
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Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
13
Environmental preferable products may not meet consumersrsquo criteria of
price performance quality and easy access (Hurtado 1998 as cited in
Tallontire et al 2001 Carrigan et al 2007) Following in the same
argument Tallotire et al (2001) points out that while income could be a
major factor in consumersrsquo willingness to pay premium prices other factors
such as the awareness of the ethical issues related to the product and
market characteristics also play a part In the case of market characteristic
Tallotire et al (2001) cites the example in the UK of consumersrsquo willingness
to pay premium for fair trade coffee particularly for roast and ground as
oppose to instant coffee Harrison et al (2006) presumes that ethical
consumption has to be open about the high price of ethical goods and
services so that if humanity wants a decent society it has to pay for it or
society and the biosphere will pay anyway
Insufficient information about ethical benefits of products could also be
seen as a barrier The National Consumer council (NCC) identified a core
of willing consumers who could find lsquoneither the products nor the accurate
information to guide their behaviourrsquo (Harrison et al 2006) They further
argue that unless the consumer is an avid reader of newspapers or uses
ethical consumer guides which rate companies accordingly companyrsquos
information does not filter down otherwise Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004)
support the above argument by pointing out that because consumers do not
devote time searching external information or evaluating the alternatives
the intentions and choice of product remain unchanged However even
when they search for information on-pack information may lack credibility
with consumers (Tallontire et al 2001 p18)
The Internet enables products and companies to search prior to purchase
For example wwwscorecardorg wwwethicalconsumerorg provides
products and company information Also new technologies coming out
soon in the UK will include Hand-held bar code scanners used to provide
point of sale information on companyrsquos practises (Harrison et al 2006)
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) presume that ethical products requires that a
large amount of effort be invested in information acquisition and decision
making
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
14
Citing further barriers to ethical consumption Harrison et al (2001) argue
that there is a general distrust of information from companies among ethical
consumers At the heart of this distrust is the persistent problem of
greenwashing whereby companies make deliberately misleading
statement Harrison et al quote the example of the little red tractor meat
label that proclaim lsquokind to Animalsrsquo when its underpinning welfare
standards are generally no higher than minimum legal requirements
Other barriers to ethical consumerism include the fact that many people
have little inclination to pay a premium especially with the global economic
crisis affecting most of the UK population Tallontire et al (2001) claim that
consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour can make a
difference in ethical terms in order to be persuaded to buy Also the lack of
product in the market could be a barrier
Furthermore Carrigan et al (2007) argue that whilst consumers often
punish unethical companies through boycotts they do not necessarily
reward ethical companies According to Carrigan et al many people
believe that businesses have a responsibility not to do harm (eg use slave
labor or produce dangerous by-products during manufacturing) but that
they do not automatically have an obligation to help others (eg sponsor a
local community project) Also if a companyrsquos behaviour has no direct
impact on an individual they are unlikely to take action
Also broadcasting green ethical credentials could attract scrutiny and
criticism especially when some parts of the company have not been
ethically overhauled (Harrison et al 2006) That is the reason why
although companies like the co-operative bank are keen to publicise their
ethical initiative some companies such as BampQ prefer the low key
approach Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) also argue that even though
information helps some consumers make ethical choices some consumers
may feel that the additional information is confusing and may increase their
sense of uncertainties
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
15
Uusitalo and Oksanen (2004) however presume that production
satisfaction could motivate consumers over time to take the trouble to
select an ethical product and pay the premium price for it Consumers also
need up-to-date and accurate information in order to make ethical choices
Information about firm should be conveyed to consumers in such a form
that it is easily reached and does not cause them unnecessary
inconveniences
24 Conclusion of literature review
Within the literature there is the debate as to the commitment of
consumers towards ethical purchasing (Carrigan et al 2004) Most
research has concluded that consumers are very interested in both
negative and positive ethical purchasing meanwhile others have found a
gap in the ethical attitude of consumers (eg Carrigan and Attala 2001
Carrigan et al 2004 Tallotire et al 2001)
There also appears to be a divergence between opinion polls on green and
ethical consumersrsquo values and the volume of sales of ethical product
(Tallotire et al 2001) However Tallotire et al (2001) point out that those
promoting the concept of consumption of ethical products recognize the
limitation of quantitative survey because of the relatively low awareness of
concepts such as fair trade One advantage of survey however is that they
manage to grab the press headline claim Tallotire et al (2001) Tallotire et
al (2001) further point out that the common methodological flaw of all
surveys ndash they do not allow for the difference between what people do and
what they say
The following findings will focus on ethics and how they relate to consumer
buying choices It will also try to understand why there is the attitude-
behaviour gap and what marketers could do to remove the barriers to
ethical consumption
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
16
30 METHODOLOGY
31 The Empirical Study
For my research I will adopt an inductive approach as it involves theory
generating as oppose to theory testing as in the case of the deductive
approach I will therefore collect data and develop a theory as a result of
my data analysis to find out whether ldquoethicsrdquo play an important role in
consumersrsquo purchase behaviour Saunders et al (2007) describe the
inductive theory as a lsquoresearch approach involving the development of a
theory as a result of the observation of empirical data Saunders et al
(2007) argues that followers of induction would criticise deduction because
of its tendency to construct a rigid methodology that does not permit
alternative explanation of what is going on
The inductive research approach is particularly important for my research
due to the fact that I am more interested in understanding the role ethics
play in consumerrsquos buying behaviour rather than the deductive approach
which will tend to describe what is happening Also the inductive approach
is more appropriate for my research because I lack prior knowledge on
ethical consumption to be able to frame a hypothesis In other words my
objectives are to understand what ethical consumption is and its importance
to consumers
From this research approach I will be using interpretivism philosophy since
it lsquorequires the researcher to seek to understand the subjective reality and
meaning of participantsrsquo (Saunders 2007) The challenge here is to enter
the social world of our research subjects and understand their world from
their own points of view claims Saunders et al (2007) This philosophy
focuses on the way in which individuals behave based on the way they
interpret situations as oppose to positivism in which individualsrsquo behaviour
is viewed in terms of the external forces that affect them Interpretivism is
very compatible with the inductive research approach because of the
complexity of consumerrsquos behaviour It could also be argued that positivism
would not be appropriate in my research as the social world of business
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
17
and management is far too complex to lend itself to theorising by definite
laws in the same way as the physical sciences Also rich insights into this
complex world will be lost if such complexity is reduced to lsquolaw-likersquo
generalisation (Saunders et al 2007 p 106) Bryman (2004) argues that
the study of the social world requires a different logic of research
procedure one that reflects the distinctiveness of humans as against the
natural order
Grounded theory will also be used during my research project since a
combination of inductive and deductive approaches is helpful to explain
consumersrsquo purchasing behaviour According to Saunders et al (2007) in
grounded theory data starts without the formation of an initial theory
framework Theory is developed from data generated by a series of
observation This type of theory will therefore be very relevant for my
research in this perspective Grounded theory is also known as an
inductivedeductive approach by Collis and Hussy (2003) as cited in
Saunders et al (2007)
An exploratory research will be adopted during the preliminary stage of
my research to help refine my research question into a researchable one
Exploratory research is very useful at the preliminary stage when the
researcher has limited amount of experience and knowledge about a
research issue According to Zidmund (2003) there are three interrelated
reasons for conducting an exploratory research (1) diagnosing a situation
(2) screening alternatives and (3) discovering new ideas Zikmund (2003)
also states that lsquothe purpose of the exploratory research is to progressively
narrow the scope of the research topic and to transform discovered
problems into defined ones incorporating specific research objectivesrsquo He
further adds that exploratory research is a useful preliminary step that helps
ensure that lsquoafter such exploration the researcher should know exactly what
data to collect during the formal project and how the project will be
conducted According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three ways of
conducting exploratory research as follows
o A search of the literature
o Interviewing lsquoexpertsrsquo in the subject
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
18
o Conducting focus group interviews
I chose to search the literature using primary secondary and tertiary
sources to gather information needed for my study My primary sources of
information included questionnaires reports theses and reading pass
dissertations and thesis copies My Secondary sources of information
include books journals newspaper ethical magazines etc While my
tertiary sources of information come from googlecouk yahoocom
abstracts dictionaries indexes and encyclopaedias I will also visit
healthorganicfair-trade shops to find out information about ethical
consumers The above sources of information can also be defined as
Secondary data since they are all previously collected data
In order to successfully investigate the role of ethics in buying behaviour I
will use mixed method research This method uses both quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques and analyses either at the same time
or one after the other (Saunders et al 2007) Qualitative methods could be
defined as
ldquoan array of interpretative technique which seek to describe
decode translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning
not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social worldrdquo (van Maanen 1983) tba to
reference list
While quantitative methods are predominantly used for any data collection
techniques or data analyses that generates numerical data such as
questionnaires statistics or graphs (Saunders et al 2007)
The advantages of using this technique in my research are the fact that the
more techniques you use the richer the information you get since different
methods can be used for different reasons For example I will use the
questionnaire to collect quantitative data which would allow me for
example to verifier if age or gender effect consumersrsquo ethical purchase
behaviour I will also use questionnaires to collect descriptive or
explanatory data related to consumerrsquos perception of what is an ethical
company
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
19
Another advantage of using mixed methods is the fact that it enables
research triangulation to take place The idea behind research triangulation
is that by combining different methods empirical materials and theories
researchers can hope to overcome the weakness and biases that often
come with single methods single observer and single theory studies
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) as cited in Saunders et al (2007) argue that
mixed methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to
answer you research questions and where they allow you to better evaluate
the extent to which your research findings can be trusted and interferences
made from them
For this research I will collect quantitative data by using the statistical
technique called SPSS to analyse interpret present and explain the data
collected through the questionnaire I will also use the questionnaire to
collect descriptive or explanatory data related to respondentsrsquo definition of
an ethical consumer I may also choose to use individual in-depth
interviews at a latter state of my research to address any discrepancies or
pending issues related to my research
Quantitatively-based marketing research enquiries are particularly
important in research as it adds depth and understanding into the role of
ethics in the buying habits of consumers While qualitatively based
marketing research was particularly very important in the early stages of
market studies when concepts were being explored insights into behaviour
gained and research ideas generated Chisnall (2005) argue that
quantitative methods bring rigour and disciplined enquiry to the overall
research activities and is likely to benefit significantly from the more flexible
and spontaneous approach of qualitative techniques for example in the
design of effective questionnaires and the development of creative
promotional ideas
32 Sampling
The first sampling question to be asked is ldquowho is to be sampledrdquo There
are two types of sampling techniques Probability sampling in which every
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
20
member of the population has a known nonzero probability of selection
(eg simple random sample) and the non-probability sampling in which the
probability of any particular member of the population being chosen is
unknown and members of the population are selected on the basis of
personal judgement (eg Quota sampling)
Taking into consideration the impossibility to survey the entire population I
will be using a non-probability sampling called lsquocluster samplingrsquo for my
research This method of sampling is very useful where the populations
under survey are widely dispersed This form of probability sampling occurs
when interviews are concentrated in a relatively small number of groups or
clusters which are selected at random (Chisnall 2005 p 110) The purpose
of cluster sampling is to sample economically while retaining the
characteristics of a probability sample (Zikmund 2003 p 389) For
example if a Fair-trade coffee marketer can assume that the product will
work as well in London as in Manchester cluster sampling may be used In
my research I assume that consumersrsquo attitude towards ethical products to
be the same in the Cambridge population as anywhere in the UK Zihmund
(2003) stresses that ideally the sample should be a mirror image of the
population
Although cluster sampling is attractive in terms of cost and time the
drawbacks include the fact the sampling error is higher given the small
scale of my sample size Consequently the resultant sample might be
biased or non-representative of the population However taking into
consideration that respondents come from all works of life are of different
ages from privileged and unprivileged backgrounds it could be argued that
the sample portray an even representative of the UK population I decided
not to chose the other types of probability sampling such as the systematic
stratified multistage or simple random sampling because of the high cost
and time entail in carrying out the research
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
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49
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50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
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Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
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Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
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Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
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Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
21
Target group
The target group for this study will be based on people around Cambridge
because of (a) the relatively accessible data from this segment (b) limitation
of time (c) limitation of financial resources Furthermore in order to ensure
objective evaluation of my findings the segment will be evenly distributed
between two age groups (ie 16 ndash 14 and 25+) in order to determine if age
matter in ethical purchasing behaviour Other segments of the UK
population such especially children and young adults below 15 were not
included (this segment also affect the purchasing behaviour of their
parents) because of the possibility that they might not grasp the meaning of
ethical purchasing Fifty respondents will be randomly chosen for this
research The questionnaires will be handed to respondents at different
venues on different days of the week and also through the internet to avoid
any bias
Finally my choice of methodology will be governed by ethical
considerations especially when collecting data from people through the
use of the questionnaire I will ensure that my research is both
methodologically acceptable and morally defensible to those involve in my
research
According to Saunders et al (2007) lsquoresearch ethics related to questions
about how we formulate and clarify our research topic design our research
and gain access collect data process and store our data analyse data and
write up our research finding in a moral and responsible way There are two
types of philosophical standpoints related to ethics Deontological view
argues that the end served by the research can never justify the use of
research which is unethical while teleological view argues that the end
justify the means I will adopt the deontological view by not deceiving
anybody to obtain research data and making sure respondents get
feedback from me once my research is completed
My questionnaire will be designed to ensure that none of the questions are
biased or would cause discomfort stress or any discomfort whatsoever I
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
22
will abide to any confidentiality or anonymity promises made at all times I
will also avoid applying any pressure on participant to give me information
they do not want to and will be sensitive to the impact my work could have
on those related to my research
33 Questionnaire
A lot of time was spent designing the questionnaire This was important as
questionnaires are the best way of collecting data I also took into
consideration my aims and objectives in order to create an effective
questionnaire The aim of the questionnaire was to seek to identify the role
of ethics in my respondents buying choices Chisnall (2003) define
questionnaire as lsquoa method of obtaining specific information about a defined
problem so that the data after analysis and interpretation result in a better
appreciation of the problemrsquo
There are many types of questionnaires and various methods of
interviewing the respondents A structure style questionnaire consists of a
series of formal questions designed to attract answers of limited response
and the unstructured style questionnaire where consists of a freer style of
investigation whereby the interviewer encourages conversation to develop
The design of the questionnaire also differs depending on how it is
administered Self-administered questionnaires are completed by the
respondent while interviewer-administered is completed by the interviewer
based on answers of the respondent
For my dissertation I will design a well structured self-administered
questionnaire which will be delivered mostly by hand and collected
immediately thus ensuring the reliability of responses and data since no
one else but the respondent will be answering the questions Respondent
will be selected randomly from students who are not related to me in order
to avoid bias Also collecting the questionnaire immediately will not only be
time efficient but will also mean that the questions are not discussed with
others thereby contaminating their response
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
23
Virtually all data collected by questionnaires will be analysed by computer
using SPSS Therefore I will establish a coding scheme and incorporate it
on the question before collecting data
After the completion of the questionnaire procedure data collected will be
recorded analyzed interpreted and presented in a way to help answer the
research questions and to meet my objectives Once data has been
entered and checked for accuracy and errors data analysis can now begin
34 Limitations
The results of the survey are limited to the Cambridge region which may
not be adequate for drawing a general conclusion about the ethical
consumerism of the entire UK population Future research should look at a
broader-based sample drawn from many cities around the UK
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
24
40 RESULTS OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the summary of the data collected through the
questionnaire in appendix 1 and findings from its analysis
1) Age groups
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age groups
Percent 34 66
16-24 25+
Graph 1 Age groups
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
25
2) Gender
Gender
Male
34
Female
66
Male
Female
Graph 2 Gender
3) Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
Some products are considered ethically acceptable
eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decisions
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
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big changes to come [Online]
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A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
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Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
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BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
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University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
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Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
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Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
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20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
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PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
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Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
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httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
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Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
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Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
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International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
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[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
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MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
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Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
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OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
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=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
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deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
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Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
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Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
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51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
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PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
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Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
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[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
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[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
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TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
26
4) How do you rate the following companies as ethical companies Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph 4 Most Ethical companies
5) Please number each of the ethical issues below in order of importance Number the most important 1 the next 2 and so on If a factor has no importance at all please leave blank
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
EmissionsRecycling Food Miles
Plastic Bags
overuse
Graph 5 Most important Ethical issues
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
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Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
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49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
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Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
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Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
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Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
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Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
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Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
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Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
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httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
27
6) How long have you been concerned about these issues
years of ethical concern
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years +
Missing
Graph 6 years of ethical concern
7) How much are you willing to pay for a product that is ethically sound
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
How much are you willing to pay for ethical
product
Percent 34 28 8 30
Up to 10Up to 20
more
More than
30Normal price
Graph 7 consumerrsquos willingness to pay for ethical product
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
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ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
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Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
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20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
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PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
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Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
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Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
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A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
28
8) Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for low wages in poor condition
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
9) If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
YesNo
Dont know
Percent
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent 34 22 44
Yes No Dont know
Graph 9 unethical products by association
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
29
10) When shopping for non-food items do you look at the label to see where the product is made
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph 10 labels
11) Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a ploy to
charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Missing
Graph 11 Ethical Marketing
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
30
12) Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity shops door to door
collections
Always Frequently Never Missing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 12 Do consumers give unwanted belongings to charity
13) Would you class yourself as an ethical consumer
Are you an ethical Consumer
Yes
42
No
16
Dont know
42
Graph 13 Ethical consumer
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
31
50 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter encompasses the ways in which the empirical findings provide
answers to the research question and objectives It should be noted
however that not all the numerical and statistical details of each question
from the findings will be presented in order to avoid excess and irrelevant
information which could create confusion
51 Consumer interest and knowledge of ethical products
511 Age and Ethical Awareness
Ethical awareness was high among the age group of 25+ (see graph
below) Cross-tabulations between age-groups and ethical buying decisions
show that the majority of older respondents of the 25+ age group
considered ethical consumerism when buying a products as oppose to a
small amount of respondents aged 16 ndash 24
0
5
10
15
20
25
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
16-24
25+
Graph 14 Age and Ethical awareness
512 Gender and Ethical Awareness
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
32
Crossndashtabulation between gender and consumers buying decisions indicate
that ethical awareness was higher among women and less for the male
gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
A consideration I buy ethical products Never a consideration
Does ethics matter in buying decision
Male
Female
Graph 15 Gender and Ethical awareness
From the findings on the role of age and gender in ethical awareness we
could define the demographic profile of an ethical consumer as female
aged 25+ This is not surprising as research show that females form a
higher proportion of shoppers in the UK Many researches have concluded
that ethical consumers are more likely to be female married well educated
with a relatively high income or generally in a better position to afford
premium priced products (Carrigan and Attalla 2001 Strong C 1996
Mintel reports) Also a research carried out by mintel (2008) revealed that
womenrsquos press regularly features article on environmental and human
interest issues which helps them to be more informed on ethical issues It
further states that even with the changing structure of the population (eg
smaller households more single people) women are still the main shoppers
for the household
513 Awareness of key Ethical issues
Respondents were asked to grade on a scale of one to five the most
important ethical issues to them Ethical sourcing was high on respondent
list with 26 per cent of respondent followed by recycling (28) C02
emission and food miles both came third with (18 respectively) and the
overuse of plastic bags came last with only (10) of the score The above
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
33
findings not only indicated that respondents were aware of ethical issues
but it also showed the selective nature of consumers Carrigan and Attala
(2001) study also arrived at the same conclusion that consumers are
ldquoselectively ethicalrdquo in their attitudes as not all ethical issues provoked the
same reaction from them This could explain why the overuse of plastic
bags was very low on repondentsrsquo list of ethical priorities
Most important ethical issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent
Frequency
Percent 26 18 28 18 10
Frequency 13 9 14 9 5
Ethical
Sourcing
C02
Emission
s
RecyclingFood
Miles
Plastic
Bags
Overuse
Graph16 Ethical issues
514 Awareness of Ethical Productscompanies
When asked to identify socially responsible firms among 5 selected
companies The Body Shop was select as the most ethical company (44
per cent see graph 4) The body shop an ethical pioneer is well known for
its anti-animal testing Second most ethical company was The Cooperative
Bank in second position (30 per cent) well known for its ethical banking
policies and its ldquoEthical consumerismrdquo reports
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
34
Most Ethical Company
44
28
30
10
6
The Body Shop
Primark
Nestle
TheCo-opBank
Microsoft
Missing
Graph
4 Most ethical companies
Not surprisingly Primark fell at the bottom of the list as the least ethical
company These results come five months after Primark was publicly
exposed through a very damaging hour long BBC Panorama investigation
watched by 42 million viewers in Great Britain which found out that
Primark suppliers in India were using child labour (timesonlinecouk 2008)
Timesonlinecouk website also has an exclusive survey that show that out
of all clothing retailers on high street Primark is the worst offender when it
comes to failing to address social and environmental issues
52 Attitude Behaviour Gap
The above findings clearly prove that although UK consumers are aware of
ethical issues and products this does not necessarily translate into sales
nor does it lead them to boycott unethical companies and reward the good
ones
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
35
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
In the graph above about 48 percent of respondents claim that they would
not buy a product knowing that it has been produced by people working for
low wages in poor conditions
For example although Primark is rated as the least ethical company
surprisingly it is one of the few companies doing very well in recent months
despite the tough economic climate In fact Associate British Foods (ABF)
revealed this month that Primarkrsquos profit rose 165 per cent to 233 million
pounds with revenue up 21 per cent to 193 billion pounds in the year to
September 13th with like-for-like sales up 4 per cent (Marketwatchcom
2008 timesonlinecouk 2008) It is also set to open 4 new stores in the UK
including one in Cambridge by Christmas
The success of Primark is in stark contrast with ethical companies such as
Marks and Spencer which for the first half ended Sept 17 saw its profit
drop by 44 to 221 million pounds (MarketWatchcom2008) Many other
ethical retailers including John Lewis whose sales fell 14 percent in
November are discounting their stock for up to 20 to attract customers
despite their ethical credentials
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
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ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
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Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
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A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
36
Some products are considered ethically acceptable eg Fair-trade products Is it
54
12
28
6
A consideration
I buy ethical products
Never a consideration
Missing
Graph 3 Purchase decision
The attitude behaviour gap is also clearly evident in the finding on graph 3
below which reveal that although for a vast majority of respondents (54 per
cent) ethical sound product was a consideration during purchase decision
only as little as 12 actually buy a product because of its ethical
credentials It was however never a consideration for 28 per cent of
respondents The most notable example of this attitude behaviour gap are
high-end eco-friendly restaurants that may source sustainable fish but also
offer foie gras on the menu (mintel 2008)
53 Barriers to ethical consumerism
Some of the main reasons why there is an attitude behaviour gap with
respondents of this study could be due to some barriers to ethical
consumerism Some of the reasons are outline below as follows
531 Price
Although income could be a major draw back for ethical consumers willing
to pay ethical premium however the graph below from this study show that
even among self-identified ethical consumers price could be a barrier to
ethical consumerism This is in line with the ideas of rational choice theory
(RCT) whereby people will choose the object that provides the greatest
reward at the lowest cost
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
37
78
1
5
31
1
3
7
5
2
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Up to 10
Up to 20
more
More than
30
Normal
priceH
ow
mu
ch
are
yo
u w
illi
ng
to
pay f
or
eth
ical
pro
du
ct
Are you an Ethical Consumer Yes
Are you an Ethical Consumer No
Are you an Ethical Consumer Dont know
Graph17 Ethical premium pricing
Also according to retail analyst TNS (2008) disposable income is at its
lowest level for a decade due to high taxes housing costs food and fuel
prices etc In other words consumers have less money to spend each
month after they have paid their bills
This could explain why in recent months bargain supermarkets chains such
as Lidl and Aldi are doing extremely well and attracting middle class
shoppers while at the same time profit at organic supermarkets such as
Whole Foods Market is declining TNS worldpanel grocery market share
figures published for the 12 weeks ending 7th September 2008 also
confirmed the trend of shoppers responding to strong low price messages
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
38
532 Source of information
Some people argue that advertising products as ethical is just a
ploy to charge higher prices Do you agree or disagree
2
54
38
4 2
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
System
Graph11 Ethical Marketing
From the results of my study above it is clearly evident that respondents do
not believe in green marketing Consumers are finding it very difficult to
differentiate between those companies which are genuinely ethical and
those taking advantage of the benefits of being ldquogreenrdquo Using ethical
credentials to sell a product could be a barrier to ethical consumerism
because of consumerrsquos perception that they are being manipulated or
misled by companies regarding their ethical practices Harrison et al (2001)
argue that there is a general distrust of information from companies among
ethical consumers because of greenwashing In 2008 the environmental
group GreenPeace launched a website called ldquostopgreenwashorgrdquo aim at
informing the public on these unethical practices confront deceptive
greenwashing campaigns give consumersactivists and lawmakers the
information and tools they need to hold companies accountable for their
actions
In 2007 Terrachoice an environmental marketing company released a study
called ldquoThe six Sins of Greenwashing (terrachoicecom 2008) which found
that 99 of 1018 the consumer products randomly surveyed for the study
was guilty of making false and misleading green marketing claims A total of
1753 ethical claims were made by these companies and only 1 out of the
1018 was found not guilty of greenwashing According to this study the 6
sins are as follows
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
39
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off is suggesting that a product is ldquogreenrdquo based
on a single or minor environmental attribute without considering the major
environmental issues such as global warming energy etc (2) Sin of No
Proof is an environmental claim with no evidence or supporting information
(3) Sin of Vagueness is any claim that is poorly defined or its real meaning
is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer (4) Sin of
Irrelevance may be claims which are irrelevant and therefore distracts the
consumer from finding a truly greener option (5) Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
are claims that may be true withing the product category but that risk
distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the
category as a whole for example organic cigarettes (6) Sin of Fibbing is
committed by making claims that are simply false
533 Complexity of Ethical consumerism
Another barrier to ethical consumerism related to information could stem
from the fact that marketing effort could become so complex for consumers
to accurately compare company product value (Talontire et al 2001) The
graph below from my study show such complexity whereby respondents
were ask if they will continuously purchase a product which has been taken
over by an unethical company and the majority (44) were not so sure
If you had purchased ethically sound products from a company
that was taken over by a less ethically sound company would you
continue to purchase the product Eg LrsquoOreal took over The Body
Shop McDonald took over Precirct agrave- Manger
34
22
44
Yes
No
Dont know
Graph18 Complexity of Ethical Consumerism
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
40
It could be argued that people would prefer ethical consumerism to be more
straightforward Although in this case low level of information related to
what the take over implies could be blame for the 44 respondentsrsquo
skepticism The complexity could also involve the fact that not all stages of
a productrsquos production are ethical For example raw materials could be
obtained through very poor working conditions and then manufactured in an
ethical manner Not surprisingly when questioned about ethical purchasing
some consumers will state that they cannot perceive any difference
between the ethics of one company vs another (Carrigan and Attala 2001)
There is a widespread of consumer skepticism about ethical marketing
which is being fuelled by initiatives from campaign groups such as Friends
of the Earthrsquos ldquoGreen Con of the Year Awards (Baker 2003) However
although ethical marketing have had bad press not all information is
greeted with skepticism 25 years after the publication of ldquoOur Common
Futurerdquo also known as the Brundtland report (1987) related to the growing
concern of the deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources many companies such as The Body Shop and BampQ have
deliberately avoided the ldquobrand sellrdquo style of marketing preferring to
concentrate on editorial coverage and in-store promotions than the
conventional advertising (Tallontire 2001 Bake 2003)
Some consumers seem to appreciate information on labels of products than
other forms of marketing even though information on labels could be
difficult to understand The results of my findings below show that a vast
majority (68 per cent) of respondents sometimes check the labels of non-
food items for information on country of origin
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
41
When shopping for non-food items do you look at
the label to see where the product is made
Always
16
Sometimes
68
Never
16
Always
Sometimes
Never
Graph10 labels
A Gallup poll for the CWS also indicated that 67 of consumers want more
information and clearer labeling (Tallontire 2001) The rise of easily
accessible information increase media engagement on ethical issues and
the use of internet to publish information on the ethics of company still
accounts for the increasingly informed ethical consumers Labeling has
been a particularly important issue in green marketing as it provides
customers with a simple and trustworthy signal of a products social and
ethical credentials (Baker 2003)
54 Negative Ethical Purchasing Behaviour
In graph 8 below when respondents were asked if there will buy a product
knowing that it was made from the exploitation of workers in very poor
working conditions 48 per cent said no In other words 48 per cent of
respondents would boycott a product because of unethical conducts
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
42
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes
No
Dont Know
Would you buy a product knowing that it has been produced by
people working for low wages in poor condition
Percent
Percent 30 48 22
Yes No Dont Know
Graph 8 purchasing product made from exploitation of workers
With exception of certain fair-trade products for many years the main form
of ethical consumerism was ldquonegative ethical purchase behaviourrdquo
according to Tallontire (2001) Although such boycotts are organized by
campaign groups for example Baby Milk Actionrsquos boycott of Nestle many
consumers may chose to boycott a product or services associated with a
particular ethical issues as is the case of my findings
The Co-operative Bankrsquos 2007 Ethical Consumer report found out that the
value of consumer boycotts of clothing retailers did grow by 20 per cent in
2006 reflecting concerns amongst some consumers that low prices of
clothing for example could mean poor labour conditions The values in this
reports reflects the money that consumers switch from one product to
another due to concerns over a companyrsquos record on ethical issues
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
43
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Always
Frequently
Never
Missing
Do you give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops door to door collections
Percent 30 64 4 2
Always Frequently Never Missing
Graph 19 Reusable products
It is however be important to note that there could be other reasons why
consumers switch from using a particular product For example it could be
for health reasons price availability of products etc In the graph above
respondents were asked if they give unwanted clothes books etc to charity
shops and a vast majority (64 per cent) frequently give products to charity
shops Other reasons for giving unwanted items to charity could include
peer pressure lack of recycling bins etc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
44
60 CONCLUSION amp RECOMMENDATIONS
61 Conclusion
The aim of this research was to find out if ethics matter in consumer buying
behaviour The findings from this research demonstrate that even though
UK consumers seem to be more aware and knowledgeable about ethical
issues as a result of more media coverage of companies such as Primark
it does not necessarily translate into sales of more ethical products
Price seems to be the most important indicator of consumers purchasing
behaviour especially due to the present economic downturn The effects of
ethics of consumers buying behaviour is very limited due to barriers to
ethical consumerism discussed above
The study also reveals that consumers are rarely ethically consistent For
example those who buy fairly trade products might not care for animal
tested products As stated in Baker (2003) perhaps the solution to
understanding green purchasing behaviour is to try and understand the
purchase rather than the purchaser Many ethical purchases involve some
form of compromise such as paying an ethical premium or accepting lower
level of performance or travelling to non-standard distribution outlets such
as a health shop for ethical products
Consumers also need to be aware that the ethical issues are real problems
and that purchasing these products will make a difference (ie Fair-trade
product) According to Baker (2003) recent years have witnessed an
increasing range of conservation-orientated behaviour among consumers
from the recycling of cans and bottles to the boom of returning consumer
durables to the supply chain through small ads or car boot sales
The findings also revealed that there is no such thing as an ldquoethical
consumerrdquo As stated in Baker (2003) all consumers are ethical consumers
in some way or the other in that when faced with two products that are
identical in all respect except that one is superior in term of its eco-
performance they would choose the one with high eco-performance And
to reiterate John McMurtryrsquos statement ldquothere is no purchasing or
investment decision that does not in itself imply some form of moral choicerdquo
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
45
Also some significant contribution to ethical consumerism seems to be
generally overlooked such as product maintenance and avoiding or
delaying purchase through a make-do and mend mentality (Baker 2003)
The increasingly well informed consumers are not only demanding ethically
and fairly traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and
retailers about their ethical claims Furthermore although consumers are
skeptical regarding companyrsquos ethical marketing strategies information
from non-governmental organization (NGOs) are trusted by consumers As
stated in Baker (2003) an international social attitude survey by Edelman
showed that 60 per cent respondents trusted these organizations compared
to 15 per cent who trusted the government and 10 per cent who trusted the
major corporations
It could also be argued that ethically consumerism is becoming very
important in todayrsquos business and an organization which ignores this trend
of ethical consumption and its potential growth could be at risk of loosing
customers or potential market shares Increasing media interest on issues
such as climate change are dominating headlines each of which are
creating market opportunities and threats to many companies Within the
society concern about the environment and social impact of businesses
are also growing in many ways The Co-operative Bankrsquos Ethical Consumer
Reports are encouraging UK consumers to make ethical choices
Environmental performances is very important for companies wishing to
attract investors Eco-performance of companies could act as a key to gain
entry into new markets as in the case of mercury free battery ranges Also
competitive advantage could be gained through good ethical performance
as in the case of The Co-operative Bank which gained as many as 200000
customers because of its ethical policies (Baker 2003) Ethical concerns
are also creating demand for new products in market segments such as
cars cleaning products etc
According to Baker (2003) green marketing successes also involves the 4
Prsquos (ie Product Price Place and Promotion) of the marketing mix meeting
the 4 Ss criteria namely
Satisfaction of customerrsquos needs
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
46
Safety of products and production for consumers workers society
and the environment
Social acceptability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Sustainability of the products their production and the other
activities of the company
Ethical issues are also changing production economics of products such as
cars chemical and power generation Rising landfill costs and tougher
regulations on emissions means that production costs are increasingly
influenced by what is discarded after production
Ethical products need to be supported by marketing communications that
allow the individual consumer to feel a sense of lsquomaking a differencersquo in
order to secure a commitment to regular ethical purchase behaviour and
develop brand loyalty The emphasis on individual producer stories in many
fair trade adverts and labeling clearly attempts to fulfill this role
62 Managerial implications amp Recommendations
The findings of this study have important implications for business
especially for marketing managers who may want to attract this segment of
the market
Since consumers need to be convinced that their purchase behaviour do
make a difference in order to be persuaded to buy marketers need to
convey future ethical marketing information in a manner that does not
confuse or alienate consumers
As stated in Baker (2003) a number of prescriptive and regulatory
guidelines have been developed to guide marketers in formulating and
making claims about the environmental performances Davis (1993) as
stated in Baker (2003) suggests the following
Ensure that the promoted product benefits has a real impact Eg
reduced harmful emissions
Identify the productrsquos specific benefits in terms of the product
attribute that contributes to improved environmental performance
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
47
Provide specific data about the benefits eg specifying the
proportion and nature of recycled content
Provide a context to allow consumers to make meaningful
comparisons
Define any technical terms used
Explain the benefit since consumers often have limited
understanding of environmental issues
Coddington (1993) as stated in Baker (2003) recommend that firms
engaged in a greening process should set up an environmental task force
in which marketers play a leading role He identifies marketing managers as
being lsquosuperbly qualifiedrsquo for the task because marketers are able to identify
and analyze the marketing implications of corporate environmental
exposures and initiatives Marketers can help identify new business
products and service opportunities that arise out of those exposures
Marketers can work to ensure that when corporate environmental policies
are developed the marketing implications are given due considerations He
further states marketers must co-ordinate their activities across
departments such as RampD manufacturing packaging sales and public
relations
Finally marketers have to be aware of the fact that whether or not they are
pursuing an ethical strategy and even if a good eco performance is unlikely
to yield competitive advantages a poor eco-performance can still lead to
competitive disadvantages
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
48
70 REFERENCE LIST
Adams R (2007) Green consumerism and the food industry early signs of
big changes to come [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0700920903pdf [Cited on 7 Oct 08]
A2govorg (2008) Recycle logo [Online] wwwa2govorgrecycle_logogif
[Cited on 1 Oct 08]
Academicmintelcom (2008) Is Fair Trade Fair [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomlogonampstart=displayampid=386354 [Cited on 01
Oct 08]
Advocacybritanniacom (2008) The Difficult Lives and Deaths of Factory-
Farmed Chickens [Online] httpenwikipediaorgwikiFactory_farming [25
Nov 08]
Allen D T (2008) What is a ldquoGreenrdquo Product Department of Chemical
Engineering University of Texas
Baker J M (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition By MPG Books Ltd
Bodmin Cornwall
BBCcom (2008) the abolition of slave trade 1907 [Online]
httpwwwbbccoukhistorybritishabolitionabolition_tools_gallery_07sht
ml [cited 6 Oct 2008]
BBC News (2006) How fair is fair trade [Online]
httpnewsbbccouk1hibusiness4788662stm [Cited on 25 Nov 2005]
Bryman A (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition By Oxford
University Press
Brundtland report (1987) [online] httpwwwworldinbalancenetpdf1987-
brundtlandpdf [cited on 20 Nov 08]
Chisnall P (2005) Marketing Research 7th Edition By McGraw Hill
Education
Datamonitor (2005) UK Ethical Consumerism Mass Appeal CorpWatch
[Online] httpwwwcorpwatchorgarticlephpid=11926 [13 Sept 08]
Doane D (2001) Taking Flight the rapid growth of Ethical Consumerism
New Economic Foundation report for the Cooperative Bank [Online]
httpwwwneweconomicsorggenuploadstaking20flight20-
20epi202001pdf [Cited on 12 Sept 08]
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
49
Carrigan M amp Attalla A The myth of ethical in purchase behaviour [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770180701pdf [Cited 8 Oct 2008]
Carrigan M Szmigin amp Wright J (2004) Shopping for a better world
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0770210604pdf
Engel J F Blackwell R D amp Miniard P W (1995) Consumer Behaviour 8th
Edition By The Dryden Press
Entine j (1995) Exploiting Idealism Jon Entine on howThe Body Shop
betray its customeers [Online]
httpwwwjonentinecomarticlesutne_exploiting_idealism_02htm [Cited
25 Nov 08]
Eastwood P J (1995) Farm animal welfare Europe and the Meat
Manufacturer British Food Journal [Online] www
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewContentItemdojsessionid=664A
AD1357F0E958E9E59035FAE9F03CcontentType=ArticleampcontentId=870
303 [Cited on 2 Oct 08]
Fair Trade Foundation (2008) What is Fair Trade [Online]
httpwwwfairtradeorgukwhat_is_fairtradefaqsaspx [Cited 30 Sep 08]
Goliath (2008) Ethical Marketing A question of ethics [Online]
httpgoliathecnextcomcoms2gi_0199-4371250ETHICAL-MARKETING-
A-question-ofhtml [Cited on 6 Oct 08]
Gosden R (1995) Greening all the way to the Bank [Online]
httphomepagemaccomherinstrgosdenarenahtml [Cited 7 Oct 08]
Harrison R (1997) Bare-faced Cheek The NewInternationalists [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm 19 Sept 08] amp
httpwwwnewintorgissue289barehtm
Harrison R Newholm T amp Shaw Deirdre (2006) The Ethical Consumer By
SAGE Publication Ltd
Hawkins D I Best R J amp Coney K A (1998) Consumer Behaviour
Building Marketing Strategy 7th Edition By the McGraw-Hill Company
IDAUSAorg (2008) Facts Factory farming [Online]
httpwwwidausaorgfactsfactoryfarmfactshtml [Cited on 14 Oct 08]
International Labour Organization (2008) World Day Against Child Labou
12 June [Online]
httpwwwiloorgipecCampaignandadvocacyWDACLlang--enindexhtm
[Cited on 30 Sept 2008]
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
MarketWatchcom (2008) Marks amp Spencer suffers while Primark thrives [Online] httpwwwmarketwatchcomnewsstoryms-primark-results-show-ukstoryaspxguid=5A306A1F-E447-4FBE-A089-85B8F22711EDampdist=msr_1 [Cited Nov 20 2008]
Meenakshi H (2007) The physical environment as the foundation of
Marketing environment [Online] httpbcognizanceiiitaacinoct-
dec06b1html [Cited 20 Sep 08]
McCormack B amp Hill E (1997) Conducting a Survey The SPSS Workbook
By International Business Press
Mowen J C 1995) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
Mintel (2008) Attitude toward ethical foods [Online]
httpacademicmintelcomsinatraoxygen_academicsearch_resultsshow
ampdisplayid=173791displayid=230842hit1 [Cited 27 Nov 08]
Nationalgeographiccom (2008) Child Labour Banned in India [Online]
httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnews200610photogallerieschild-
laborphoto2html [Cited on 30 Sept 08]
Fig 3 NewInternationalist (2006) Consumption The fact Issue 395 [Online]
httpwwwnewintorgfeatures20061101facts [Cited 11 Oct 08]
OrganicConsumerorg (2008) A Short History of the Ethical ConsumerAnti-Sweatshop Movement in the USA [Online] httpwwworganicconsumersorgarticlesarticle_4515cfm [Cited 30 Sept 08]
Pettie K amp Crane (2005) Green Marketing Legend myth face or prophesy
[Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightsearchQuickOptionsdosearchTerm
=Green+marketing3A+legend2C+myth2C+farce+or+prophesyampdum
my=amphdAction=button_searchamphdPreviousBrowserId=-
1110423636amplpSearchHistoryID=ampshTab=ARTICLESampsearchIncludeRTC=
searchIncludeRTCampsearchIncludeRTC=searchNotIncludeRTCampsearchInclu
deEBF=searchIncludeEBFampsearchIncludeEBF=searchNotIncludeEBFampsea
rchWithin=RD_ALLampsearchWithin= [cited 7 oct 08]
Raghavan L amp Gazala V (2008) Going Green in India [Online]
httpwwwlandorcompdfsk9LRaghavan_25Jul08pdf [Cited 29 Sept 08]
Uusitalo O amp Oksanen (2004) Ethical Consumerism a view from Finland
[Online] httpwww3intersciencewileycomcgi-
binfulltext118813782PDFSTART [Cited 8 Oct 08]
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
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Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
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Beyond By the Dryden Press
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European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
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By MacMillan Press Ltd
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Cooperative Bank
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The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
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September]
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The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
50
Lomborg B (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist By Cambridge
University Press
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Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
51
Sainsburycouk (2008) Freedom Food [Online]
httpwwwsainsburyscoukfoodfoodandfeaturessafety_qualityarticleseg
gshtm [cited 2 Oct 08]j
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for
Business Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education
Shaw D Newholm T amp Dickinson R (2006) Consumption as voting an
exploration of consumer empowerment [Online]
httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutput
PublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0070400908pdf [Cited on 29 Sept 08]
Sheth J N Mittal B amp Newman B I (1999) Consumer Behaviour and
Beyond By the Dryden Press
Solomon M Bamossy G amp Askegaard (2002) Consumer Behaviour A
European Perspective 2nd Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Statt D (1997) A Understanding the Consumer A Psychological Approach
By MacMillan Press Ltd
Strong C (1997) The problems of translating fair trade principles into
consumer purchase behaviour [Online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200150105pdf [cited 29 sept 08]
Strong C (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism ndash a preliminary investigation [online] httpwwwemeraldinsightcomInsightviewPDFjspFilename=htmlOutputPublishedEmeraldFullTextArticlePdf0200140501pdf [cited 19 Nov 08] Spurr B (2006) Body Shop to be added to Nestleacute Boycott list INFACT Canada [Online] httpwwwinfactcanadacanestle_boycott_updates_Apr3_2006htm [Cited 12 sept 08] Terrachoice(2008) The 6 sins of green washing [Online] httpwwwterrachoicecomfiles6_sinspdf [cited 20 November] Tallontire A Rentsendorj E amp Blowfield M (2001) Ethical consumers and ethical trade A review of current literature University of Greenwich [Online] httpwwwnriorgpublicationspolicyseriesPolicySeriesNo12pdf [Cited 6 oct 08] The Cooperative Bank (2007) The Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 The
Cooperative Bank
The Economist (2007) Food Politics Voting with your trolley [Online]
httpwwweconomistcombusinessdisplaystorycfmstory_id=8380592
[As cited 7 Oct 08]
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc
52
The Guardian (2008) Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism
[Online] httpweblogshitwisecomrobin-
goad200809has_the_credit_crunch_killed_ethical_consumerismhtml
[Cited 12 Oct 08]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Shoppers vote Primark the least ethical clothing
retailer [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5034065ece [Cited 18 Nov 2008]
Timesonlinecouk (2008) Primark defies gloom with 17 profits jump [Online]
httpbusinesstimesonlinecouktolbusinessindustry_sectorsretailingartic
le5079250ece [cited 20 Nov 2008]
TNS Global (2008) DISCOUNTERS MARCH ON (PLUS AN UPDATE ON
GROCERY PRICE INFLATION) httpwwwtnsglobalcomnewsnews-
18C52E650AB942DFAA5959DA8284BDB4aspx
UNICEF (2008) Child Labour [Online]
httpwwwuniceforgprotectionindex_childlabourhtml [Cited on 30
September]
Wright R (2006) Consumer Behaviour By Thomson Learning
The Journal of Consumer Behaviour (2007) Editorial studying the ethical
consumer A review of research [Online]
Zikmund W G (2003) Business Research Methods 7th Edition By South-
Western a division of Thomson Learning
Saunders M Lewis P amp Thornhill A (2007) Research Methods for Business
Students 4th Edition By Pearson Education Ltd
Mowen J C Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition By Prentice-Hall Inc