Environment and development - Essay Example

What is perceived of the term ‘Ethical Consumption’, at the very basic level, is the buying, purchasing, consuming or to obtain something for one’s own personal or (at least related) use; keeping in mind the ethical values one has established for one’s own sake. Now different people may have different ethical values but beings with similar ethical values tend to form groups and societies as illustrated by Stuart Hall: “…the word can be used to describe the ‘shared values’ of a group or of a society” (Hall , p.2). These groups tend to act as mass ‘effectors’ and can really bring change in lieu of what they consider ethically right or wrong.

However, the correctness of their own ethical views does not matter in this regard since most people form almost the same ethical values concerning certain aspects of our planet, the humanity and the environment. Now people who buy, with reference to their own established ‘ethical standards’ of shopping or consuming to be more precise may consider a certain product to be ethically wrong or being produced in a manner which is ethically wrong or its very production effects certain aspects which the consumer tends to care about, and hence considers the production ethically wrong; now this consumer, who considers a product to be immoral may boycott its purchase or avoid it at all possible costs, at least that’s the general perceived reaction from a consumer who buys in accordance to his ethical standards.

And the same can be expected off a certain group formed due to similar ethical standards concerning a certain product, and it is quite evident that the group and even the individual alone can affect the market value of that certain product in a positive (if the product meets their ethical standards) or negative (if the product does not meet their ethical standards) manner. But it is not always the case that the consumer considers buying with respect to his/ her