Summary
In theory, organized consumer initiatives may be undertaken to serve sustainability by: 1) punishing corporations for doing the “wrong thing” (consumer boycotts), or 2) rewarding them for doing the “right thing” (consumer “buycotts”). In this article, each of the two kinds of actions is examined in turn from a social scientific perspective, and suggestions are offered for increasing their effectiveness.
For German research on that field see: (1) Institut für Markt, Umwelt, Gesellschaft (Ed.), (1997). Unternehmenstest. Neue Herausforderungen für das Management der sozialen und ökologischen Verantwortung [Checking compainies. New challenges for managing social and ecological responsibility]. München: Vahlen. and (2) Schmuck, P., Eigner, S., Krapoth, & Kaufhaold, A. (1998). Psychologische Aspekte von Unternehmensbewertung [Psychological aspects in evaluating companies]. Göttingen: Koordinations- und Studienzentrum Frieden und Umwelt.
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Friedman, M. (2002). Using Organized Consumer Action to Foster Sustainability. In: Schmuck, P., Schultz, W.P. (eds) Psychology of Sustainable Development. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0995-0_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0995-0_14
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