Anti consumerism online

Ann Longley, Head of Social Media MEC Visiting Lecturer

6 Dec 2011

Topics for today

Anti-consumerism

Recent activity

Implications for consumer PR

Topics for today

Anti-consumerism

Case studies

Implications for consumer PR

Consumption continuum

Anti-consumerism Ethical consumerism Consumerism

CONSUMERISM - a social and economic creed that encourages us to aspire to ever more than our share of material possessions, regardless of the consequences.

Supporters of consumerist culture offer economic growth as a solution to world poverty. They propose that impoverished nations and individuals can eventually attain a standard of living similar to our own through the 'trickle down' of wealth creation.

Ethical consumerism is the intentional purchase of products and services that customers consider to be made ethically. This may mean with minimal harm to or exploitation of humans, animals and/or the natural environment. Ethical consumerism is practiced through'positive buying' in that ethical products are favoured, or 'moral boycott', that is negative purchasing and company-based purchasing.

http://www.enough.org.uk http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ShoppingEthically/Topethicaltips/WhyBuyEthically.asp

Anti-consumerism refers to the socio-political movement against the equating of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions

Topics for today

Consumer empowerment

Recent Activity

Implications for consumer PR

Anti-consumerism in action

Culture jamming Canadian-style

http://www.adbusters.org/

Canadian ‘culture jamming’

Where did Buy Nothing Day come from? Buy Nothing Day was started by Adbusters in the early 90's and has grown into an international event celebrated all over the world. What is so bad about shopping? It’s not shopping in itself that’s so harmful, it’s what we buy. The rich western countries - only 20% of the world population are consuming over 80% of the earth’s natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and unfair distribution of wealth. As consumers, we should question the products we buy and the companies who produce them. The idea is to make people stop and think about what and how much they buy effects the environment and developing countries. Increasingly large companies use labour in developing countries to produce goods because its cheap and there aren’t the systems to protect workers like there are in the west. http://buynothingday.co.uk/faq.html

Church of stop shopping

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wxjl2ERhnI

Ad busters in action

The ideology of the free market, once seemingly unassailable, lies in tatters. While the death knell of capitalism may not yet be tolling, the crisis is undoubtedly of a different order of magnitude than anything seen in decades. Crises can be openings: moments when the stanchions are kicked out from under the status quo, when the pieties of the recent past fall away and a revitalized sense of collective power takes shape. http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/99/crises-can-be-openings.html

WHAT IS OUR DEMAND? #OCCUPYWALLSTREET is a people powered movement for democracy that began in America on September 17 with an encampment in the financial district of New York City. Inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the Spanish acampadas, we vow to end the monied corruption of our democracy. http://http://www.occupywallst.org/

Manifesto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb1aXmhu44o http://http://www.occupywallst.org/

We are the 99%

http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znlOIvi9joA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW8e95ITb1Y&feature=related

The London Riots – On

Consumerism coming

Home to Roost

09/08/2011 By Zygmunt

Bauman

“These are not hunger

or bread riots. These

are riots of defective

and disqualified

consumers.” http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/08/the-london-riots-on-consumerism-coming-home-to-roost/

“There are pockets of our society that are not only broken, but frankly sick...It is a complete lack of responsibility in parts of our society, people allowed to feel that the world owes them something.” David Cameron http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn

ews/crime/8692996/London-riots-

David-Cameron-approves-water-

cannon.html

"Every time we witness an act that we feel to be unjust

and do not act we become a party to injustice."

Anonymous TV

http://www.youtube.com/user/0407Anonymous?feature=watch#p/a/u/0/99cNEOS9Gvw

Topics for today

Anti-consumerism

Recent activity

Implications for consumer PR

Sustainable development Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report:[1]

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.“ All definitions of sustainable development require that we see the world as a system—a system that connects space; and a system that connects time. http://www.iisd.org/sd/

" To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, states should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption..." (our emphasis) Principle 8, The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 1992

Businesses supporting sustainable development

´Sustainability-Driven` Innovation means the creation of new

market space, products & services or processes driven by social, environmental or sustainability issues” http://www.adl.com/reports.html?view=13

Celebrities supporting sustainable development

Strategic Philanthropy/ Social Enterprise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQo4VoLyHe0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEZ30K5dBWU

Social enterprise

Ethical businesses like Toms keep fresh with new cause marketing campaigns.

Principles of critical collaboration

Balancing power asymmetries

Acknowledging critical rights

Negotiating conflicting and converging interests

Managing relationships with key stakeholders

Jane Covey, Critical Collaboration: An alternative form of civil society -business engagement http://www.worlded.org/docs/Publications/idr/pdf/17-1.pdf

THANK YOU

a.longley@gre.ac.uk

@annmargaret