Buying for good

Altruism, ethical consumerism and social policy

Bibliographic Data

ID11197654
AuthorsJulian Le Grand (0000-0002-7864-0118, Marshall Institute London School of Economics London UK, corresponding author), Jonathan Roberts (0000-0003-0410-5777, Marshall Institute London School of Economics London UK), Gauri Chandra (0000-0001-5190-119X, Blavatnik School of Government University of Oxford Oxford UK)
Year2021
Volume55
Issue7
Pages1341-1355
Publication date2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Policy and Administration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0144-5596 • E-ISSN: 1467-9515
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/spol.12729
OpenAlexW3162035470
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited23

The extent of altruistic behaviour and its relationship to the market has been a major interest of social policy analysts since the pioneering work of Richard Titmuss. Here we report on empirical research into such behaviour in consumer markets where self‐interest might be expected to dominate but whose participants are increasingly demonstrating more ethical concerns. We discuss three factors that have been hypothesized to affect the extent and depth of altruistic behaviour by individuals in such markets: the degree of personal sacrifice involved in the purchase, the reputation of individuals with their family and friends and individuals' sense of self‐identity. Using an online survey method, we measure consumers' motivations for real purchases in two different ethical consumerism settings: (RED) and Fairtrade. We find evidence to support all three hypotheses and conclude with some of the implications for social policy

Affect (linguistics · Altruism (biology · Business · Consumerism · Economics · Identity (music · Market economy · Positive economics · Reputation · Sacrifice · Self-interest · Social policy · Social science · Sociology · Ethics in Business and Education · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Marketing · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access