Consumer activism

See also: Brand activism
Apple store in Central Park, a symbol of consumerism.

Consumer activism is a process by which activists seek to influence the way in which goods or services are produced or delivered. Kozinets and Handelman define it as any social movement that uses society's drive for consumption to the detriment of business interests.[clarification needed][1] For Eleftheria Lekakis, author of Consumer Activism: Promotional Culture and Resistance,[2] it includes a variety of consumer practices that range from boycotting and ‘buycotting’ to alternative economic practices, lobbying businesses or governments, practising minimal or mindful consumption, or addressing the complicity of advertising in climate change. Consumer activism includes both activism on behalf of consumers for consumer protection and activism by consumers themselves.[3] Consumerism is made up of the behaviors, institutions, and ideologies created from the interaction between people and the materials and services they consume.[4] Consumer activism has several aims:

  • Change the social structure of consumption[5]
  • Protect the social welfare of stakeholders
  • Satisfy perceived slights to the ego[6]
  • Seek justice for the consumer and environment in the relationships of consumerism
  1. ^ Kozinet, Robert (2004). "Adversaries of Consumption: Consumer Movements, Activism, and Ideology". Journal of Consumer Research. 31 (3): 691–704. doi:10.1086/425104.
  2. ^ Lekakis, Eleftheria (2022) Consumer Activism: Promotional Culture and Resistance, London: Sage.
  3. ^ Glickman, Lawrence B. (2004). "'Buy for the Sake of the Slave': Abolitionism and the Origins of American Consumer Activism". American Quarterly. 56 (4): 905–906. doi:10.1353/aq.2004.0056. S2CID 143192356.
  4. ^ Martin, Ann Smart (1993-07-01). "Makers, Buyers, and Users: Consumerism as a Material Culture Framework". Winterthur Portfolio. 28 (2/3): 141–157. doi:10.1086/496612. ISSN 0084-0416. S2CID 162370613.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Jayasimha, K.R.; Billore, Aditya (2016). "I complain for your good? Re-examining consumer advocacy". Journal of Strategic Marketing. 24 (5): 360–376. doi:10.1080/0965254X.2015.1011204. S2CID 168075971.