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Buying In to Social Change

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  • Lucy Atkinson

Abstract

Drawing on depth interviews with eight socially conscious consumers, this study explores the way socially conscious consumer orientations can help to foster the kinds of prosocial orientations, such as a concern for others, that facilitate civic and political engagement. The data suggest that these consumers reap several private benefits from their socially conscious choices (authenticity, social embeddedness, empowerment, and self-actualization) while also helping to secure broader public virtues, such as a clean environment or workers’ rights. In so doing, they face certain costs (such as inconvenience and limited choice), but these sacrifices are reframed as pleasurable. This perspective challenges conventional, republican views of citizenship that see individuals as selfless and sacrificing for the sake of a common, greater good. Instead, these socially conscious consumers embody an alternative kind of citizenship in which the acquisition of private, self-serving benefits is inextricably linked to the pursuit of broader, collective virtues.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucy Atkinson, 2012. "Buying In to Social Change," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 644(1), pages 191-206, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:644:y:2012:i:1:p:191-206
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716212448366
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Young Min Baek, 2010. "To Buy or Not to Buy: Who are Political Consumers? What do they Think and How Do they Participate?," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58, pages 1065-1086, December.
    2. Webster, Frederick E, Jr, 1975. "Determining the Characteristics of the Socially Conscious Consumer," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 2(3), pages 188-196, December.
    3. Russell J. Dalton, 2008. "Citizenship Norms and the Expansion of Political Participation," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 56(1), pages 76-98, March.
    4. Craig J. Thompson, 2007. "A Carnivalesque Approach to the Politics of Consumption (or) Grotesque Realism and the Analytics of the Excretory Economy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 611(1), pages 112-125, May.
    5. Brooker, George, 1976. "The Self-Actualizing Socially Conscious Consumer," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 3(2), pages 107-112, Se.
    6. Thompson, Craig J & Locander, William B & Pollio, Howard R, 1989. "Putting Consumer Experience Back into Consumer Research: The Philosophy and Method of Existential-Phenomenology," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(2), pages 133-146, September.
    7. Michele Micheletti & Andreas Follesdal, 2007. "Shopping for Human Rights. An Introduction to the Special Issue," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 167-175, September.
    8. Russell J. Dalton, 2008. "Citizenship Norms and the Expansion of Political Participation," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 56, pages 76-98, March.
    9. Young Min Baek, 2010. "To Buy or Not to Buy: Who are Political Consumers? What do they Think and How Do they Participate?," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58(5), pages 1065-1086, December.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Reason Masengu & Patson Chawuruka & Chenjerai Muchenje, 2025. "Environment attitudes and social influence of sustainable practices: a study on consumer behaviour in Zimbabwe," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.

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