Articulating the Meanings of Collective Experiences of Ethical Consumption

In the context of the growing popularity of the ethical consumer movement and the appearance of different types of ethical collective communities, the current article explores the meanings drawn from the participation in Responsible Consumption Cooperatives. In existing research, the overriding focu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Papaoikonomou, Eleni (Author)
Contributors: Valverde, Mireia ; Ryan, Gerard
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2012
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 2012, Volume: 110, Issue: 1, Pages: 15-32
Further subjects:B Ethical space
B Responsible consumption
B Ethical consumption
B Consumer empowerment
B Collective consumption
B Meanings of consumption
B Cooperatives
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Summary:In the context of the growing popularity of the ethical consumer movement and the appearance of different types of ethical collective communities, the current article explores the meanings drawn from the participation in Responsible Consumption Cooperatives. In existing research, the overriding focus has been on examining individual ethical consumer behaviour at the expense of advancing our understanding of how ethical consumers behave collectively. Hence, this article examines the meanings derived from participating in ethical consumer groups. A qualitative multi-method approach is adopted to increase the validity of findings. This includes focus groups, in-depth interviews, observation and document analysis. Results show that ethical consumption in a group project offers a greater sense of effectiveness and control when compared to individual actions. Furthermore, these groups facilitate the creation of a social circle and encourage new learning as a result of the social interaction that takes place in the ethical community of the cooperative.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-011-1144-y