Consumer concerns over how designer products are made can have an important effect on globalization, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin told a conference this week that consumer concerns over how products are made can have an important impact on globalization.
"When consumers begin to tell us that they are not just concerned with the designer label on their sports shirt, but also the labor conditions within which it was made, then the business community will respond more rapidly" to fix those working conditions, the archbishop said. He added that the church has a role to play in educating and enlightening public opinion in the area of social responsibility and in creating "new forms of international cooperation to provide realistic, but robust, norms for worker protection"
Certainly the concept of ethical consumerism is getting more attention these days in response to recent and ongoing corporate scandals, environmental disasters, child labor violations, and dangerous work environments throughout the world. But the question remains - how relevant is ethical consumerism really. Very few rigourous studies have been carried out on this subject in North America and certainly not in Canada but a recent study in the UK suggests that direct spending by consumers on "ethical products" amounts to some CDN$18 billion a year. but still this is only amounts to 4 percent of the consumer spending and one would expect the amount to be much lower in Canada where ethical consumerism is not as advanced.
So it may be a niche for now but what about in the future? What will happen to consumer behaviour when more information is available to consumers about the social responsibility of the producer and the conditions under which a product was made. Already there is technology that would allow us to access instant ratings from our cell phones. Some organizations have also envisioned embedding radio frequency chips in the actual products themselves which will tell you more about the product, how it was produced (maybe an interview by the person who made it or a testimonial from a previous buyer) and this may offer some assurance to conusmers and give them important information to better inform their purchasing decisions. Brave new future? It's already here...
The purpose of this blog is to engage with consumer stakeholders (particularly those in Canada) on the development of the ISO guidance standard on social responsibility (ISO 26000) as it evolves.
Special thanks to the contributors below who are contributing to the development of the guidance standard.
*Disclaimer: Sponsorship does not imply endorsement acceptance or recognition of the eventual guidance standard on social responsibility (ISO 26000). The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the sponsoring organizations.
Consumers and SR
Globally, consumers appear to be increasingly interested and concerned about social and environmental issues in addition to the more traditional concerns surrounding quality, availability of choice and price of products and service. It is within this context that ISO has decided to launch the development of a guidance standard on social responsibility.
The guidance standard will be published in 2008 as ISO 26000 and be voluntary to use. The standard will be applicable to all types of organizations, including business, NGOs, government, etc. It will provide guidance on how to operationalize social responsibility and, as such, will not be a standard for certification purposes.
There is a range of many different opinions among the various stakeholders on how the guidance standard should be operationalized. The purpose of this blog is to engage in a dialogue with consumers (particularly those in Canada) and invite their input in the development of the standard as it evolves over the next two years.
