Consuming Modern Slavery

OUR ANALYSIS

Consumer

Perceptions

The first part of our analysis focused on the range of criteria that consumers use to categorise which individuals were slaves and those that were not. Consumers identified a range of underlying conditions that increased individuals’ vulnerability to becoming slaves. Questions of proximity versus distance, services versus products were also explored.

Consumer Neutralisations

The second part of our analysis focused on why and how consumers (do not) act upon issues of modern slavery. Questions of moral intensity and the range of accounts and justifications that consumers use in order to alleviate potential feelings of guilt and personal responsibility were explored.

Consumer Trust and Responsibility

The final part of our analysis addressed questions of consumer trust towards labels, modern slavery statements and perceived responsibilities within a multi-stakeholder environment (including NGOs, businesses, government).

CONTENT

ABOUT

Modern slavery involves: “a relationship in which one person is controlled by another through violence, the threat of violence, or psychological coercion, and has lost free will and free movement, is exploited economically, and is paid nothing beyond subsistence” (Bales et al. 2009, p. 31).

This preliminary study investigates how consumers understand modern slavery and their role in perpetuating and/or eradicating modern slavery, bringing together a unique collaboration of investigators who are at the forefront of consumer research in consumption ethics.

ABOUT

AUTHORS

Dr Michal Carrington

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Melbourne, Australia. Michal researches in consumption ethics, business ethics, and consumer culture. Her research is published in a range of international journals, including European Journal of Marketing, Marketing Theory, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Research. Michal has published a book and book chapters, as well as giving invited talks on consumer and marketing ethics. Prior to entering academia, Michal spent almost a decade working for Unilever in Australia and the UK.

Prof Andreas Chatzidakis

Professor in Marketing at Royal Holloway University of London. Andreas is a Professor at Royal Holloway University of London, which he joined in 2007, after completing his PhD at University of Nottingham. His doctoral research was focused on social psychological and attitudinal models of consumers’ “ethical” choices such as buying Fair Trade products and recycling. Since then he has become more broadly interested on the intersection of consumption with ethics and politics drawing from diverse disciplines such as sociology, human geography, gender studies and psychoanalysis.

Prof Deirdre Shaw

Professor in Marketing and Consumer Research at University of Glasgow. Deirdre is Professor Marketing and Consumer Research at University of Glasgow. Deirdre has researched the area of consumption ethics throughout her career, publishing on the subject in a range of international journals (including Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Business Ethics, European Journal of Marketing, Business History, Journal of Marketing Management, Sustainable Development), contributing to books and non-academic publications, giving invited talks, teaching and supervising PhD researchers in this area.

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Consuming Modern Slavery

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Consumer Perspectives Towards Modern Slavery: Australian Study

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Production To Consumption

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Further Information

The findings in this report represent preliminary research which is now being taken forward into the larger scale proposed study.

If you would like any further information on the current research and the work going forward, to discuss the research or to request hard copies of this report, please get in touch. Thank you.

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OUR ANALYSIS

Consumer

Perceptions

Consumer Neutralisations

Consumer Trust and Responsibility

ABOUT

AUTHORS

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CONTACT

Get In Touch

Further Information