Consumer activism (aka financial activism) includes strategies such as conscious consumption, voting with your wallet, and socially responsible investing.

It happens when you make purchasing decisions that take into consideration their social, economic, and environmental impact.  This includes choosing companies that prioritize social wellbeing, fair labor practices, environmental sustainability, transparency, accountability, and good governance, and who pay their fair share in taxes.  In other words, consumer activism occurs when you choose to support companies that prioritize people, the social good, public interest, and the environment over profit. 

Consumer activism can also mean supporting brands and companies that no longer stand on the sidelines or remain neutral on politics.  Businesses are being pushed to use their money and marketing power to promote the social good.  Whether it’s taking a stand on racial justice or voter suppression, progressive consumers are letting brands know that if they want our business, they must support values consistent with a just and equitable society. 

Here are a few ways you can hold businesses accountable.

First, let’s get real

We live in a capitalist society. Whether you think that’s a good or a bad thing doesn’t change the fact that many corporations spend vast amounts of money lobbying governments, and employing questionable tactics to avoid their social, economic, and environmental responsibilities. All too often, corporations actively cause harm by protecting their short-term interests and prioritizing profit over all else. This comes at the expense of long-term, sustainable business practices that have the highest chance of positive impact. For example, many companies knowingly pay their workers less than a living wage, dump waste in low-income communities—predominantly in communities of color—and bring strategic lawsuits against people who express concern about their practices.

In order for consumer activism to work we need:

Accountability

Don’t let brands fool you with cheap Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stunts. It’s easy for a company to issue a statement or create a tear-jerking ad.  It’s a lot harder for it to change its policies and practices to fully implement the intention behind the statement.  Hold companies accountable to putting their money where their mouths are by demanding that they live up to their responsibilities to respect human rights and provide a clear blueprint, with actionable and time-bound goals, for how they plan to institute change from within.  For example, think of all the companies who made statements about Black Lives Matter after the murder of George Floyd.  How many of those companies have since taken actionable steps to address racism internally and in their operations? 

Policies and regulations to enforce legally binding commitments

Changes in individual consumption alone will not ensure equitable access to goods and services, eliminate poverty, guarantee safety standards, create safe and dignified work, save the planet, or require corporations to pay their fair share in taxes. Governments and businesses often benefit from the systems and structures that are in place to maintain the status quo and/or increase their profits while ignoring the social good and the public interest.  When we focus only on patterns of individual consumption, it remains easy for companies to continue to evade ethical practices. 

We must create and enforce regulations and policies that require companies to meet and publicly report on legally binding commitments on a wide range of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics and ensure that they pay their fair share in taxes.  Ensuring that companies adhere to the highest standards requires laws and regulations to enforce those standards.  This can only happen if individuals take it upon themselves to stay informed about the interests and practices of governments and corporations and demand change.

The Worker-Driven Social Responsibility Network offers a model of enforcement-focused and legally binding commitments that assign responsibility for improving working conditions to the global corporations at the top of supply chains.

Buy and Boycott

Voting with your dollar includes both supporting the companies that practice what they preach and avoiding companies with problematic practices.  

For example, you may choose to buy from Certified B Corps.  They don’t always get it right, but they are a good place to start. Certified B Corps are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.

Watch out for unintended consequences

Boycotts, or even the threat of a boycott, can push corporations to quickly take a stand or change a practice to comply with consumer demands. It is a powerful tool in the activists’ toolkit. That said, we must be mindful that some boycotts can negatively affect workers and communities, even when the boycott raises awareness or achieves the desired outcome. For example, a boycott that forces a shutdown in operations or demands that a company relocate could unintentionally punish workers, particularly low-wage workers, who depend on those jobs. It could also reduce tax dollars and other economic benefits on which the broader community depends. To avoid this, we advise listening to what people with lived experience and those most affected by the issue are calling for and taking actions in solidarity with them.

Let brands know when they do something right

It’s easy to complain.  But a little positive reinforcement can go a long way.

We know that many brands use their CSR strategies to gain brownie points with consumers, but may not always follow through in practice.  However, when their intentions are genuine--and when they implement real changes in internal policies and practices in order to meet the highest standards of social, economic, and environmental performance with transparency and accountability--it’s always nice to let them know you appreciate their efforts.  

You can connect with brands on social media, through their ‘Contact Us’ page, and by filling out customer satisfaction surveys.

When brands aren’t getting it right, ask them what they are going to do about it

Companies do take notice when consumers demand that they change their practices.  And, yes, it does make a difference! Especially when a critical mass of concerned consumers calls on them to do so.  You can ask them about it on social media, letters, emails, phone calls, and through their ‘Contact Us’ page.

Here’s an example of what you could say:

Dear Company,

[issue] is important to me as a consumer. I really love your [product/service] but I am concerned about [x, y, and z.].  That’s why I can no longer purchase [product/service] from you. Can you please tell me about your plans to [fix issue] so that I can return to being a loyal customer?

Look for certification programs with demonstrated metrics of success

Many companies seek to obtain certification labels, which provide a visual seal of approval that is intended to give consumers confidence that purchases are ethical.  

However, not all certification labels are created equal.  For example, there are no standardized sets of accreditation criteria or methods to audit and measure compliance and success.  With over 400 certification seals to choose from, and depending on what industry/issue the certification focuses on, this can cause confusion for consumers trying to make ethical decisions.

Unintended consequences of certification labels

Certification labels are great in theory, but unless they thoughtfully implement programs with the intention of mitigating unintended consequences, their efforts can have a negative effect.  For example: 

• Certified products are often more expensive, meaning that many low-income consumers cannot afford them.

• Some certification processes can be onerous and expensive for small- and family-owned businesses, particularly in developing countries.  The cost of receiving and maintaining the certification can sometimes outweigh the benefit for these smaller-scale businesses.  And/or it can be too costly for the poorest to even become certified which, in turn, makes them even less competitive against bigger companies. 

• Without strict auditing, monitoring, and evaluation, the certification process can be vulnerable to corruption and falsified information. 

When looking for a seal you can trust, search for labels that clearly define their accreditation and auditing processes, and have mechanisms in place to mitigate unintended consequences. 

And remember

Certification is, by its nature, a model that focuses on consumer behavior versus the systems and structures that allow for government and corporate evasion of responsibility. For example, the trade justice movement advocates for just trade over free trade of fair trade, and calls on governments to enact trade policies that provide the best opportunities for ending poverty and protecting the planet.

Find out what corporate watchdogs are saying

Use this list of 2020’s top corporate watchdogs developed by Ethos to dig deeper on the issues you care about and to find out how companies stack up.

Explore The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre’s digital platform that stores news and allegations relating to the human rights impacts of over 10,000 companies.  Or, Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, a unique collaboration led by investors and civil society organizations to monitor corporate human rights performance. 

Visit Know the Chain. It helps you quickly research hundreds of companies’ track records on forced labor within their supply chains. Know the Chain produces benchmark reports and scorecards that allow you to see a snapshot of a company’s performance against benchmarks, a comparison with the competition, and a review of how companies have performed over time.

The supply chain includes the collection, movement, and transformation of raw materials into finished products, transportation of those products, and distribution to the end-user. It includes producers, vendors, warehouses, transportation companies, distribution centers, and retailers. Most retailers say they aren’t responsible for economic, environmental, or social standards violations in their supply chains because they can’t control the practices of their producers, vendors, etc. This isn’t true, and it’s time to hold them accountable.

Buy from women and minority-owned businesses

Shopping at Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQI+, female, veteran, and other traditionally underrepresented and minority-owned businesses is a great way to make a difference.  

WomenAndMinorityBusiness.org gives you 12 reasons why including:

• Putting cash into the community where you live, work, and play.

• Helping to create jobs and address employment inequality.

• Fighting inequality, systemic racism, sexism, and generational wealth gaps.

• Supporting your own or other cultures.

And so much more

You can use many other strategies to harness your consumer power for good, including socially responsible investing, impact investing, divestment, and shareholder activism. For example, you can learn about where and how your money is invested (think 401ks and IRAs), or investigate your banking institutions’ practices to make sure they align with your values and do something about it if they don’t. Stay tuned for future posts on these topics.

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Originally published May 15, 2021.

Posts identify both fast actions that you can take in under five minutes and more time-intensive actions that deepen your engagement.  Our fast actions tend to be time-bound, as a result, some posts in the archive may contain expired links. Not to fret, we also recommend anytime actions that never go out of date.