Ethical Consumerism: Challenges and Opportunities in Global Markets - Coursework Example

THIСАL СОNSUMЕRISM: СHАLLЕNGЕS АND ОРРОRTUNITIЕS IN GLОBАL Introduction Ethical consumerism refers to the act of buying products are founded on the foundations of ethics in production and distribution. It refers to the act of doing what is right indirectly. For instance, when one buys a product that comes from people who are honest and hardworking, it feels good to continue purchasing the product since it is founded under the principles of honesty and hard work. However, when one buys a product from producers who do not observe the “morals and ethics”, it obvious that one encourages them to continue doing the same actions which is not right. Various authors have tackled the issue of ethical consumerism differently but in the end, the point is taken home. Thompson (2012), is among the writers who strongly advocated for observation of ethics whenever one is purchasing a product. He affirms that ethics goes hand in hand with sustainability. She points out that capitalism is on of the pillars that promote unethical consumerism. In her article, she discusses her visit to the superstore and overnight stay in the hotel and purchasing a bag of coffee in the fair trade. In these areas, the corporations were instructing the consumers to use their products in an “ethical way” and obeying the instructions hence promoting the people to be “consumer activists”. She says that global capitalism has removed the logic behind many people and people today are going through crisis whenever they are buying what they need to consume (Thompson, 2012). The eco-capitalism, advertisements, publicity among other discourses has contributed to ineffectiveness especially when dealing with ecological depredation and exploitation of labor in the third world countries. She continues to affirm that today actions are more than what we might think. She exemplifies a case of a person drowning and thinking to help him Priesnitz,. (2010)It is ethical to help that person and eventually bringing back his hope of living. However, in today’s situation, other things are worse than that. For example, when one is strolling in a supermarket such as wall mart or Morrison’s, the first question that one asks is whether the supermarket is ethical enough (UNISON,2010.). Does it exploit the ethics in terms of employees relation and profit sharing or it is among the worst shops that are known for taking advantage of the employees. Moreover, another question that lingers is the credibility of the goods that are sold. Are these goods produced using the right means? Are they fit for human consumption among other critical questions? She adds that when one spends a night in a hotel and finds some towels on the bin while others are laminated. She ponders about the future of the earth and therefore making the assumption that ethical consumerism is not hindered (Lawrence et al, 2014). Looking at the coffee on the shop, she wonders whether the means of production of that particular coffee is fair or unfair. May be somebody in the developing country is suffering since she never got payments of her goods. This ultimately questions the ethics behind each product or service we get today. She points out that capitalism is the only way through which people violate ethical consumerism (Thompson ,2012). Panko and George 2012 are among other authors who believe that not everything is a commodity. For instance, a human being is not a commodity and using human beings for monetary gain is not lawful. The authors affirm that the current action of child sex is an act of barbarism and nothing good comes out of it. It is unethical to buy sexual favors from a needy person more especially to a child who needs food. Child sex tourism (CST) is normally a form of tourism that is motivated by the desire to victimize children sexually Gunderson R. (2013), It normally occurs when people have gone on leisure or business trips. However, CST is considered a crime and anybody who is found perpetrating the action is liable to prosecution. On the article, there is a disturbing quote which says “on this particular trip, I managed to have sex with a kid aged 14 years and that was in Mexico and another 15 year old in Colombia. I am obliged to help them financially because if they do not have sex with me, they will not get food to eat Lawrence, F., O'Kane, M., Carson, M., Hodal, K., Baqué, I., Kelly, C., et al. (2014, June 10). ) If someone feels that this is bad, let him or her call UNICEF to feed them.” (Retired schoolteacher, department of justice in Columbia 2010)These words are more than sword in the heart. It is unbelievable for a graduate and retired teacher to be producing such words. The teacher who is supposed to be the role model is caught pants down having sex with his grand children. It is one of the devastating things that are done by teachers and other reputable people in the society. World vision 2010 affirms that children who are as low as five years of age are forced to engage to trade so that they can help their families pay off the debts(Panko & George 2012). Mostly, some of these trades are barbaric since they are mainly brothels where they are required to have sex with as many as 30 men in a given day. Countries such as Asia, central and south America are the major destinations where CST is known to take place and the North Americans are the main consumers of child sex.CST is mainly a creation of the international tour operators, the hoteliers, airlines taxi drivers among other potential customers. Child trafficking for sexual consumption is another challenge but often it is hampered by the immigration rules that were put in place by the immigration act 2000. However, this has continued happening despite many measures that have been put in place. The big question is whether such actions are morally right or not (Panko & George 2012). Choo and Krasser 2011, asserts that consumerism is determined by the cultural differences. The argument is based on studies that were carried out in Austria and South Korea and it postulates that ethical consumerism is highly determined by the psychological status, media content among other motivation factors. The study has showed great cultural differences in the Australian population where they exhibit a higher motivation for the ethical consumerism compared to the South Korean counter parts. Among the issues that are taken into account are materialism and post-materialism. The individual factors are mainly the emotional beliefs, the universal benefits and self-identity and they highly influence the ethical consumerism trend. According to the authors, ethical consumerism refers to the act of showing the ethical concerns when one is using a particular product. However, the term ethics is variant across the communities and this gives another definition of ethical consumerism. What South Koreans might call ethics is not ethical to the Australians. This gap has highly influenced ethical consumerism (Choo, &Krasser, 2011). There are many challenges that are associated with ethical consumerism and more especially in the global market. Slave labor is one of the main challenges whereby people are forced to work and produce a particular product. In the case of the prawn industry, Most of the supermarkets today such as Tesco, Wal-Mart and Morrison are selling prawns that have been produced using slave labor. This is a big challenge in ensuring that ethical consumerism is taken into account (UNISON, 2010.). Many Thai slaves are seen being killed by their masters and this promotes unethical behavior. It is obvious that people will prefer to the cheap prawns, but they should know the method and labor that was used to get the products. The second challenge related to ethical consumerism is the reputation of the companies that perpetrate atrocities such as the CST. Many companies that deal with CST are known to be big corporations and therefore taking the challenge and face them becomes a problem. For instance, the commercial airlines among other big corporations are known to perpetrate this evils(Deng, 2013). Therefore, it becomes difficult for the public to believe that such companies are engaging in the child sex prostitution. However, child sex has been made illegal and whoever is caught perpetrating the evils is prosecuted. Through the initiative, the crime has been considerably reduced. Moreover, the migration process more especially in the United States has been made strict to deter cases of child trafficking. Moreover, the cases of tourists having sex with people who are under age has also been made difficult through prosecution of people who are found guilty. UNICEF and other non-governmental organizations have worked towards ensuring that the atrocities are exposed and stopped. In the case of slave labor, the human rights watchdogs have embarked on investigations that culminate in prosecution of the perpetrators. For instance, the case of Thai slave workers in fishing prawns have been investigated by the human right watch dogs and relevant actions have been taken. With this trend, it will be possible to stop ethical consumerism even in those cases where it is hidden (Gunderson, 2013). There is growing interest in the notion of the “ethical consumers” and the corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility goes hand in hand with ethical consumerism and more especially in Scotland.CSR asserts that when a company or organization acts in a responsible way it normally minimizes the external impacts that are negative and strengthens that which are positive.CRS ensures that there is an intrinsic relationship between the ethics and actions that a company or an organization . The Scottish executive has been in the forefront ensuring that ethical consumerism is enhanced and that is through cultivating the CSR values. The values under CSR are integrated to ensure that ethical consumerism is achieved by the end of the day(Priesnitz, 2010). Moreover, the Environmental justice foundation (EJF) IN 2005 went ahead and exposed the mass child forced in the cotton field of Uzbekistan. The children had stopped going to school and they embarked on forced labor on the cotton fields. In June 2011, the international labor organization took the initiative and started working on the situation. Moreover, the perpetrators were persecuted and finally the situation was solved (UNISON, 2010). The children started going to Scholl and the cotton plantation got a better reputation and therefore ethical consumerism enhanced. References Choo, S &Krasser .H (2011). The impact of cultural values, individual factors, and attention to media content on motivation for ethical consumerism/;Berkley, Michigan State university. Deng, X. (2013, November 1). Factors Influencing Ethical Purchase Intentions of Consumers in China. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 2, 17. Gunderson R. (2013) Problems with the defetishization thesis: ethical consumerism alternative food systems, and commodity fetishism: Berkley, Michigan State university Lawrence, F., O'Kane, M., Carson, M., Hodal, K., Baqué, I., Kelly, C., et al. (2014). Globalised slavery: how big supermarkets are selling prawns in supply chain fed by slave labour – video. theguardian.com. Retrieved August 28, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2014/jun/10/slavery-supermarket-supply-trail-prawns-video Panko. R & George P. (2012) Child sex tourism: exploring the issues; Mississippi :Rutledge publishers Priesnitz, W. (2010). Can ethical consumerism create a better, greener society?(Ask Natural Life: Answers to reader questions about sustainable, healthy family living)(Column). Natural Life, 2, 14. Thompson S (2012), THEMICRO-ETHICS OF EVERYDAY LIFE Ethics, ideology and anti- consumerism; Mississippi ;Rutledge UNISON, U. (2010.). UNISON Scotland Corporate Social Responsibility Ethics Briefing 44.UNISON Scotland Corporate Social Responsibility Ethics Briefing 44. Retrieved August 28, 2014, from http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/briefings/csrethicsbrief.html Read More