Michal Carrington

The ideology of the ethical consumption gap

The growth of contemporary capitalism is producing a broad sweep of environmental and social ills, such as environmental degradation, exploitative labor conditions, social and economic inequity, and mental and physical illness. A growing awareness of these significant consequences by an “ethical” consumer segment has catalyzed a field of research dedicated to investigating ethical consumerism. Of particular academic and practitioner focus is the general failure of this ethical consumer segment to “walk their talk”—the ethical consumption attitude–behavior ‘gap’. In this article, we draw on Althusser and Žižek to critically analyze the ideological functioning of the ethical consumption gap. We argue that this focus inadvertently promotes erroneous notions of consumer sovereignty and responsibilization. We conclude with a call to reimagine the gap as a construct that paradoxically preserves—rather than undermines—dominant and destructive consumerist capitalism. We redirect research toward the underlying capitalist structures that predicate and benefit from the gap.

Transformative Ethical/Sustainable Consumption Research

Ethical and sustainable consumption has burgeoned as a research topic for over four decades, with early work in the 1970s considering the profile and consumption behaviors of the “socially conscious” consumer niche (e.g., Anderson & Cunningham, 1972; Webster, 1975; Brooker, 1976; Mayer, 1976; Scott, 1977). Yet, it can be argued that these decades of research effort have done little to shift the consumption patterns of the mainstream. Overall levels of consumption and the disposable society continue to rise, while market shares of ethical and sustainable products and services remain low (Bray, Johns, & Kilburn, 2011). These consumption trends continue despite the backdrop of climate change, increased visibility of labor practices in developing countries, and global economic crisis. In response to this, we argue that the time to simply describe the phenomenon has passed, and we must now focus our attention on the practical actions that can be taken to bridge this gap. In this special section of the Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, we draw upon the lens of transformational research that “benefits consumer welfare and quality of life for all beings affected by consumption across the world” (Association for Consumer Research, 2012), to help achieve this and to provide actionable insights for managers and policymakers. Recent literature reveals the divide between the production of academic marketing research and the activities of marketing practitioners (Ankers &

The effectiveness of a single intervention of computer-aided argument mapping in a marketing and a financial accounting subject

An argument map visually represents the structure of an argument, outlining its informal logical connections and informing judgments as to its worthiness. Argument mapping can be augmented with dedicated software that aids the mapping process. Empirical evidence suggests that semester‐length subjects using argument mapping along with dedicated software can produce remarkable increases in students’ critical thinking abilities. Introducing such specialised subjects, however, is often practically and politically difficult. This study ascertains student perceptions of the use of argument mapping in two large, regular, semester‐length classes in a Business and Economics Faculty at the University of Melbourne. Unlike the semester‐length expert‐led trials in prior research, in our study only one expert‐led session was conducted at the beginning of the semester and followed by class practice. Survey results conducted at the end of the semester, show that, with reservations, even this minimalist, ‘one‐shot inoculation’ of argument mapping is effective in terms of students’ perceptions of improvements in their critical thinking skills.

Unmanageable multiplicity: consumer transformation towards moral self coherence

Purpose – This study aims to explore: consumer experiences of intense moral dilemma arising from identity multiplicity conflict, expressed in the marketplace, which demand stark moral choices and consumer response to intensely felt moral tension where their sense of coherent moral self is at stake. Design/methodology/approach – The authors gathered ethnographic data from amongst ethical consumers, and theorised the data through theory of life projects and life themes to explain how multiplicity can become an unmanageable problem in the midst of moral dilemma. Findings – The authors reveal that in contrast to notions of liberating or manageable multiplicity conflict, some consumers experience intense moral anxiety that is unmanageable. The authors find that this unmanageable moral tension can provoke consumers to transform self and consumption choices to construct a coherent moral self. The authors identify this transformation as the meta life project. Research limitations/implications – This work contribu...

Marketers are consumers too: integrating consumer-self in potential value creation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which a marketer’s own priorities as a consumer infiltrate workplace decision-making and how this contamination influences the creation of potential value for the end consumer. The “black box” of the organisation is opened to investigate potential value creation at an individual/manager level of analysis. Design/methodology/approach The authors gathered in-depth qualitative data from amongst marketing managers and directors in the UK, Australia and the USA. The authors theorised these data through boundary theory to develop an integrated producer-as-consumer potential value creation model. Findings The paper reveals the dynamic interplay in marketing/production decision-making between the individual’s consumer-self, manager-self and the external interface with the organisation. Research limitations/implications The producer-as-consumer potential value creation model illuminates the complex role of the firm and its individual managers in the creation of potential value and identifies contingencies that result in a spectrum of possible potential value creation outcomes. These contributions are positioned within the marketing value creation and co-creation literatures. Practical implications Marketing organisations/managers may find this research useful when considering the benefits and drawbacks of integrating managers’ consumer-self insights into workplace decision-making and the creation of potential value for the end consumer. Originality/value This paper moves value creation/co-creation theory forward by revealing the dynamic potential value creation process and presenting a fluid representation of producers-as-consumers, at individual manager level. This paper is of interest to academic and marketing practitioner audiences.

Reframing The Ethical Consumption ‘Gap’

Mainstream consumers are increasingly expressing concerns about the ethicality of their consumption choices upon the environment, animals and/or society (De Pelsmacker, Driesen, & Rayp, 2005; Shaw & Shui, 2002). Yet, the reality is that there is a ‘gap’ between ethically-minded consumers’ intentions and the extent to which these are expressed at the cash register (Auger & Devinney, 2007; Szmigin, Carrigan, & McEachern, 2009). A growing body of research attempts to understand ethical purchase decision-making (e.g De Pelsmaker et al., 2005; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2008), but focuses mainly on the formation of ethical purchase intentions. A handful of studies do go beyond ethical consumer intentions to explore the ethical consumption intention-behaviour ‘gap’, but these focus solely on the role of the consumer in the creation of this gap – such as social desirability bias (Auger and Devinney, 2007), rationalisation and neutralisation (Chatzidakis, Hibbert, & Smith, 2007; Szmigin et al., 2009), and cognitive and situational factors (Carrington et al., 2010). A significant dimension of the ethical consumption ‘gap’ that is yet to be explored, however, in the role of firms and their marketing managers in the co-creation of this gap.

Marketer Commentary on “Sustainability in Practice: Exploring the Objective and Subjective Aspects of Personhood” by Hélène Cherrier

Hélène Cherrier’s voice joins a growing chorus within the ethical/sustainable literature that questions the dominant focus on the individual as the key location of contradictory consumption practices (e.g., Newholm & Shaw, 2007), and illustrates the connectivity of the individual with their social life worlds as a source of consumer struggle. Putting on my marketing practitioner hat, this article illustrates to me the significant role that mainstream marketing plays in the daily hardship and contradictions faced by would-be sustainable consumers, and indeed the normalizing role that marketing could play in integrating sustainability into daily consumption practice. The central insight I garnered from Hélène Cherrier’s article was that while some consumers find sustainable practices a daily burden when these practices are at odds with the norms of their social contexts, others were able to integrate sustainability into their consumption naturally in the absence of resistance from their social worlds. In practical terms, the marketing function expressed through the medium of advertising plays a determinate role in the creation of mainstream cultural norms (McCracken, 1986). Currently, while some advertising messages communicate the concept of sustainability within consumption, many other advertising messages promote non-sustainable practices. These mixed messages create conflicting consumption desires (sustainable and nonsustainable) that manifest in the sense of hardship and burden identified in Cherrier’s article, and fuel the continuation of unsustainable mainstream consumer culture. In contrast, however, when sustainable consumption practices are integrated into the tacit cultural norms of a society, then consuming sustainably/ethically becomes natural and easy. Thus, in consumer society, the marketing function plays a critical role in facilitating sustainable/ethical