Blackwell Science, LtdOxford, UKIJCInternational Journal of Consumer Studies1470-6431Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2003283214221Original ArticleEthical consumerismO.

Uusitalo and R. Oksanen

Ethical consumerism: a view from Finland

Outi Uusitalo and Reetta Oksanen
School of Business and Economics, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

responsibility for how they do business, so that consum-

Abstract
ers can make ethically sustainable decisions. Today con-
Business ethics and corporate social responsibility have sumers can choose from a wide variety of products and
gained more attention in recent years. However, the consum- manufacturers. An active and knowledgeable consumer
ers’ perspective on ethics is still a little researched area. This can effectively make use of goods and services accord-
study reports a survey (n = 713) on the views of Finnish ing to her or his own interests. As a result of global
consumers about ethics in trade. Consumers’ willingness to competition, consumers may prefer also locally manu-
promote business ethics as well as the obstacles to ethical factured or traditional products because of their safety
consumption are investigated. The results of the study show and familiarity. Ethical and sustainable business prac-
that while the majority of the respondents regard business tices are an important competitive advantage where
ethics as important, this attitude does not translate into their consumers value and rely on them.
choice behaviour. Consumers are uncertain about which Interest in ethical trade is on the increase as this issue
products and firms follow ethical rules and which do not. has recently been discussed and debated widely in the
The most important obstacles to ethical consumption were Finnish media. At the same time, ethical consumption
difficulties in obtaining information, problems in product and the purchase of ethical products has not become a
availability and high prices of ethical products. common practice. The purpose of this paper is to inves-
tigate ethical consumerism from the perspective of
Keywords Ethical consumerism, ethics in trade, consumer Finnish consumers. We focus on the problems that con-
behaviour, information processing. sumers might encounter when they are pursuing ethical
choices. The research question is:
Introduction • How do Finnish consumers perceive ethical trade?
Social responsibility has become an important corpo- This can be subdivided into:
rate goal. It is no longer enough that shareholders’ goals
are attained; corporations are also increasingly being • How well do the different information sources per-
evaluated on the basis of how they meet society’s ethical form in transmitting information about ethical
and moral values.1 The trend towards globalization trade?
places a new emphasis on the responsibility of the indi- • What is the role of ethics in consumer decision mak-
vidual consumer. Consumers require social responsibil- ing?
ity from corporations. Ethical consumerism addresses • What are the obstacles to ethical consumption and
the social and environmental consequences of global purchasing?
trade. Ethical consumer choices are also becoming a
This paper focuses on examining consumer percep-
factor in consumers’ lifestyles.
tions and decision-making processes as well as purchas-
Ethical and sustainable business practices imply that
ing intentions rather than actual ethical purchasing
neither consumers nor corporations can ignore the con-
behaviour. In order to understand ethical consumerism,
sequences of their actions. Corporations have to accept
we have to get deep insights into the antecedents to
ethical purchasing. By studying consumer perceptions
of and attitudes towards ethical trade, the concerns and
Correspondence
Outi Uusitalo, School of Business and Economics, PO Box 35, FIN – difficulties that consumers face when trying to make
40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland. E-mail: uusitalo@econ.jyu.fi ethical choices will be highlighted.

214 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28, 3, June 2004, pp214–221 © 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

The ethical consumer
The concept of green consumption is already established
in the field of consumer behaviour.2,3 The ethical con-
sumption concept broadens this view by including the
ethical and moral aspects present in production and
delivery of goods, for example, the use of child labour,
suppressing or preventing labour unions, and testing on
animals. Ethical consumer practices aim at the fulfilment
of the objectives of socially responsible trade. The eth-
ical consumer ideal implies that individual consumers
can have a significant role, through their daily purchas-
ing decisions, in promoting ethical corporate practices.
Correspondingly, ethical trade refers to international
trade that aims at preventing the injustices of global
trade, such as child and low-paid labour, pollution of the
environment, infringement of human rights and the ine-
qualities in development caused by globalization.
A visible aspect of ethical consumerism is that the
consumer considers not only individual but also social
goals, ideals and ideologies. Sometimes a conflict may
be perceived between personal and collective benefits;4
On the other hand, consumers may gain personal ben-
efits from the fulfilment of collective goals. Ethical con-
sumption is thus also a form of symbolic consumption.
In this view, a consumer pursues an ethical lifestyle or
identity or other social values.3
The previous studies in this field indicate that con-
sumers’ attitudes towards ethical consumption have
become more positive, but that this attitude shift has not
been reflected in behaviour. The attitude–behaviour
gap5,6 is visible in many purchasing situations. Although
consumers are concerned with the surrounding society
and they feel they should act in a socially responsible
way, other issues such as price, value, quality and brand
are often more important choice criteria than ethics.7,8
This discrepancy may be owing to variety seeking, or
economic and social factors that intervene in the choice
situation.2 Especially in conducting daily purchases
where involvement is low, consumers are not willing to
devote additional effort in order to make a pro-ethical
choice.7 Consumers take ethical considerations into
account provided that they do not have to compromise
their other choice criteria or principles. It is for this
reason that the role of the store is critical. Retail stores
could better assist consumers and source their supply of
© 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28, 3, June 2004, pp214–221
O. Uusitalo and R. Oksanen • Ethical consumerism
goods as well as design their displays so that ethical
choices are quick and easy to make.
Today consumers are more informed and educated,
and aware of what is required of products as well as
their rights and responsibilities as consumers. However,
this awareness does not necessarily imply better con-
sumption decisions or more ethical choices.7 Many con-
sumers are uncertain about which firms conduct ethical
practices and which do not.8 Moreover, consumers may
not know which products are ethically produced and
which are not and why.9
Consumers seem to prefer to follow a selective rather
than totally ethical pattern of the consumption. The
selective ethical consumer aims at opposing specific
ethical injustices, such as child labour, environmental
pollution or testing on animals.7 Consumers may find
it difficult to consider several ethical aspects simulta-
neously. Interest in ethical consumption is highest when
consumers find they can influence their own lives
through their choices.7
In order to make ethical choices, consumers need
information. Currently, because of the proliferation of
brands and images, consumers may find it difficult to
form an accurate picture of the ethical conduct of cor-
porations. Of crucial importance here will be the devel-
opment of governmental regulation of corporate
disclosure, environmental claims and general informa-
tion availability.10 Consumer opportunities to support
ethical world trade have improved over the last few
years. For example, the Association for Fair Trade,
which was founded in Finland in 1998, imported the Fair
Trade label into Finland. This label is granted to prod-
ucts whose raw materials and production processes are
in accordance with certain ethical principles.11
Consumer decision making and choice: is ethical
consumerism possible?
The purchase and consumption of ethical products
require that a large amount of effort be invested in
information acquisition and decision making. In addi-
tion, consumers have to be willing to pay higher prices
for these products. Some of the obstacles to making
ethical choices may lie in the consumer decision-making
process. In their daily shopping, consumers engage in
routine problem solving.12 In this situation, consumers
215
Ethical consumerism • O. Uusitalo and R. Oksanen
do not devote time to searching external information or
evaluating the alternatives. Instead, purchase intention
and choice remain unchanged. However, consumers
may conduct more complicated choice processes, espe-
cially when they buy a given product category for the
first time. For example, consumers buying Fair Trade
products for the first time may engage in extended prob-
lem solving. She or he is motivated to take the trouble
to select an ethical product and pay a premium for it.
Over time, this ethical decision will become routine, and
satisfaction can reinforce intentions and strengthen the
likelihood of continued response.12
Consumers need up-to-date and accurate information
in order to make ethical choices. Information about
firms’ ethics should be conveyed to consumers in such
a form that it easily reaches them and does not cause
them any inconvenience.13,14 Seeking information will
bring benefits, but it also causes costs to consumers. The
possible costs include time, money, effort and delaying
the decision; benefits of information include satisfaction
with the choice, cost savings and the feeling that the
choice was worthwhile.12,15 Consumers often use several
information sources simultaneously; the different
sources complement each other, varying in significance
according to the choice situation.16 Some consumers
look for comprehensive information while others make
their choices on the basis of rather scanty information.12
Scanty information seeking may be explained by the
tendency of consumers to reduce the effort involved in
making judgements.17 According to this theory, consum-
ers are not maximizing their utility, but make a choice
as soon as they find a satisfactory alternative. Consum-
ers’ information gathering resources of time, money and
effort tend to be restricted. An ethical decision does not
always entail that the consumer is completely informed
about all the aspects that affect purchasing and consum-
ing the product.
Publicity about unethical conduct is noticed more
often than publicity concerning ethical conduct.7 Con-
sumers tend to impose a sanction on an unethical firm
by refusing to buy its products, but will not reward an
ethical firm by buying its products. Even though acquir-
ing information helps some consumers make an ethical
choice, others may feel that this additional information
is confusing and it increases their sense of uncertainty.
Thus, making decisions becomes even more difficult
216 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28, 3, June 2004, pp214–221
when ethical issues have to be considered in addition to
price, quality and other criteria.
Today’s informed and aware consumer may, then, be
confused about the information circulating on ethical
trading and ethical product alternatives.18 Too much of
this information may be false, or not enough of it accu-
rate. Such confusion may be increased by the fact that
some of a given firm’s products are ethically produced
whereas other products made by the same firm are not
produced according to ethical criteria.19 Moreover, the
globalization of retail trade has led to wide ranges of
new products. Country-of-origin labels are not compul-
sory. The ethical consumer is forced to make her or his
decisions on the basis of guesswork and fragmented
information.
Methods and data
A postal survey was carried out in spring 2002 in order
to find out how Finnish consumers view a number of
important issues concerning ethical consumerism. The
survey method was selected because the aim of the
study was to obtain insights about the obstacles and
difficulties that Finnish consumers currently face. The
sample of 2000 individuals representing the Finnish
population over 18 years of age was randomly selected
from the national Population Register. Participants
were selected proportionally to the population densities
of the six administrative regions in Finland.
The questionnaire consisted of three sections: respon-
dents’ background information, perceptions of and atti-
tudes towards ethical trade, and opinions about Fair
Trade products. This article reports the results of the
first two parts. Almost all the questions were structured,
only few open-ended questions were included. A fol-
low-up letter explaining the purpose of the survey was
attached to the questionnaire. The addressee of the let-
ter was asked to respond. The concept of ethical trade
was defined in the questionnaire as follows: ‘In this con-
text ethical trade means that a firm follows the princi-
ples of social responsibility in all activities, from the
supplying of raw-materials to production. These princi-
ples include avoiding child labour, protection of envi-
ronment and fair play for workers.’
The response rate was 35.7% (n = 713). Table 1 sum-
marizes the demographic profile of the respondents.
© 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
 O. Uusitalo and R. Oksanen • Ethical consumerism

Table 1 Demographic profile of the sample Table 2 Ethics and consumer decision making

Variable n % ‘How important do you think is that firms follow an ethical

code of practice?’
Gender Very important 44.3%
Female 398 56.1 Rather important 46.8%
Male 312 43.9 Rather unimportant 8.1%
Total 710 100.0 Very unimportant 0.8%
Age (years) ‘How reliable do you think is the information that firms give
18–25 115 16.2 about their business ethics?’
26–35 153 21.6 Very reliable 2.1%
36–45 153 21.6 Rather reliable 60.6%
46–55 166 23.4 Rather unreliable 35.3%
56–65 122 17.2 Very unreliable 2.0%
Total 709 100.0
‘How much influence does a firm’s business ethics have
Education
on your purchasing decisions?’
Elementary/comprehensive school 147 20.7
Significant influence 17.0%
Vocational/technical school 169 23.7
Some influence 52.5%
High school graduate 92 12.9
Little influence 23.2%
College graduate 168 23.6
No influence at all 7.3%
Polytechnic 49 6.9
University graduate 87 12.2
Total 712 100.0
Income (€) ers need reliable and accurate information about the
Under 8500 85 12.3 business-related ethical issues in order to make deci-
8501–21 000 142 20.5
sions. While 60.6% of the respondents regarded the
21 001–42 000 287 41.5
42 001–67 500 153 22.1
information given by firms as rather reliable, only 2.1%
Over 67 500 25 3.6 of them viewed it as highly reliable. Moreover, more
Total 692 100.0 than one-third of them viewed this information as
Region rather unreliable (35.3%) or very unreliable (2.0%).
The capital region 155 22.0
This suggests that one important condition of ethical
A city of over 100 000 inhabitants 89 12.6
A city of over 30 000 inhabitants 143 20.3
consumerism – availability of accurate information – is
A city of under 30 000 inhabitants 117 16.6 still insufficient.
A rural region 202 28.5 The perceived importance of ethics does not auto-
Total 706 100.0 matically translate into consumers’ decision making.
The majority of the respondents stated that a firm’s
business ethics influence their purchasing behaviour;
They represent the demographic and geographical dis- 17% said that ethics have a strong influence and 52.5%
tribution of the whole population in most respects.20 said that ethics have some influence on their choices.
However, women as well as those with higher education The remainder of the respondents (30%) reported that
and income are slightly over-represented. ethics have either a small influence (23.2%) or no influ-
ence at all (7.3%).
Results
Consumers’ ability to promote ethical trade
The influence of ethics in consumer choice
The majority of the respondents (61.8%) were of the
Table 2 displays the results of the questions concerning opinion that consumers’ ability to promote ethical trade
ethics and consumer decision making. Finnish consum- were poor. Only 38.2% of the respondents stated that
ers seem to consider ethics to be important in business: consumers have enough opportunities for ethical
91.1% of the respondents shared this opinion. Consum- consumerism.

© 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28, 3, June 2004, pp214–221 217
Ethical consumerism • O. Uusitalo and R. Oksanen

Table 3 Respondents’ opinions of consumers’ ability to promote ethical trade

Strongly agree (%) Agree (%) Don’t know (%) Disagree (%) Strongly disagree (%)

There are not enough ethical product alternatives 23.9 42.7 22.8 8.8 1.8
There is no guarantee of ethics 22.7 50.5 17.0 8.8 1.0
I feel that my choices do not matter 14.5 37.1 14.5 29.1 4.8
Information gathering about ethics is difficult 28.5 45.8 15.6 9.1 1.0
Ethical choices are expensive 17.4 36.1 25.4 17.0 4.1
Ethical products are available in very few stores 27.4 42.2 20.3 9.1 1.0

The respondents were asked to give their views about Table 4 The performance of various sources in conveying
various obstacles to ethical consumerism. Table 3 shows information about firms’ ethics
how consumers perceived the various aspects of their
Good Don’t Poor
ability to promote ethical trade.
source (%) know (%) source (%)
The most important obstacles to increasing ethical
consumption are the difficulty of finding information Trademark/label 61.4 20.2 18.4
about ethical products, the lack of any guarantee, the Stores/in-store staff 31.9 36.6 31.5
lack of ethical product alternatives, and too few retail Magazines/literature 70.9 21.9 7.2
Internet 39.6 51.8 8.6
outlets selling ethical products. The high price of ethical
Other people/friends 43.7 34.4 21.9
products is an obstacle for some consumers. With regard Brochures 56.1 29.4 14.5
to the question that consumers feel that they cannot Television 45.6 32.8 21.6
affect business ethics by their purchasing decisions, the Consumer authorities 62.5 29.3 8.2
respondents were divided, one half feeling that their Importers 25.6 51.7 22.7

decisions do not matter, and one-third feeling that their

opinions do have an impact.
Information sources
We wanted to know how consumers viewed the various
information sources, in particular, how various sources
perform in conveying information about firms’ ethical
conduct. Table 4 displays the results.
The respondents regarded magazines/literature, con-
sumer authorities, trade mark/label and brochures as
good sources of information about the ethical aspects
of trade. Stores/in-store staff, importers, other people/
friends and television were considered the worst sources
of ethical information. It is also noteworthy that the
share of ‘don’t know’ answers is quite high for all of the
sources. This indicates that many consumers are con-
fused and unaware of which sources they should use
when searching information about ethical products. A
notice that a product has been ethically produced could
be visibly displayed on the label, which 61.4% of the
respondents viewed as good information sources. How-
ever, 18.4% of the respondents viewed labels as poor
sources, and 20.2% of them stated that they do not
know if labels are good or bad sources.
We also asked the respondents’ opinion about who
should supply information about firms’ ethical conduct.
This duty seems to devolve upon stores (59.6% of the
respondents were of that opinion), manufacturers
(51.9%) and the media (43.9%).
Ethical and unethical firms
The respondents were asked to list separately firms that
they consider ethical and those that they consider uneth-
ical. This proved to be a difficult task: about one half of
the respondents skipped it. Those who responded men-
tioned more examples of unethical firms than ethical
ones. The lists of unethical firms included more names
of companies, while ethical firms were named at a more
general level. Of the respondents who listed unethical
firms (n = 360), 19.2% mentioned Hennes & Mauritz.

218 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28, 3, June 2004, pp214–221 © 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Other firms viewed as unethical were Nike (8.1%), Ikea
(7.8%), Nestle (7.5%), Shell (6.1%) and McDonald’s
(5.6%). Clothing and textile industry was considered
unethical by 8.1% of those who listed unethical firms.
The lists of ethical firms included Finnish grocery retail
groups, methods of production and industry sectors. Two
leading Finnish grocery retail groups were most often
mentioned as ethical firms. Of those who listed ethical
firms (n = 325), 10.8% mentioned K-group as ethical
and 7.3% of them mentioned S-group as ethical. Domes-
tic production was regarded as ethical by 8.3% of those
who mentioned ethical firms. Organic products (7.1%)
as well as regional and local production (5.5%) were
also considered ethical. Few names of firms were men-
tioned, among them the Body Shop (6.5%) and Nokia
(2.8%). Moreover, some respondents viewed the major-
ity of firms as unethical, and some took the view that
ethical firms do not exist at all.
Discussion
The results of this study indicate that Finnish consumers
regard ethical practices in production and trade as
important. The majority of respondents state that a
firm’s business ethics influence their decision making.
While the overall attitude seems extremely positive with
regard to the importance of ethics, this does not always
translate into actual behaviour. The attitude–behaviour
gap refers to a difference between supporting the idea
of making ethical purchases and actually carrying it out
in practice.7,8 This study could not identify the gap
because actual purchasing behaviour was not studied.
However, it is likely that the lack of reliable information
about ethical products and ethical trade is one factor
behind the gap.
Only a minority of the respondents (38.2%) felt that
they have an opportunity to promote ethics in trade. In
order to decrease consumers’ uncertainty, more guaran-
tees about the ethics of products are needed. Consum-
ers are often critical of the claims that firms make
concerning their ethical conduct. The guarantees such
as the Fair Trade label are important means in assuring
consumers that the claims about trade ethics can be
trusted.
The respondents considered stores, manufacturers
and importers to have a very important role in inform-
© 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28, 3, June 2004, pp214–221
O. Uusitalo and R. Oksanen • Ethical consumerism
ing the public about the ethics of firms and products.
Stores can affect consumers’ decisions at the moment
of purchase. They can also supply the stimuli that
encourage consumers to make impulse purchases and
try new products. Manufacturers and importers can pro-
vide consumers with important information in product
labels at the point of purchase. Manufacturers who
refine raw materials imported from developing coun-
tries should be responsible and aware of the conditions
under which raw materials are produced. Magazines
and the media provide information to consumers before
they go shopping, and provided that the message is
strong enough, consumers recall that information at the
moment of purchase.
There seems to be a discrepancy between consumers’
views of the sources that they regard as performing well
in providing ethical information and the parties that
have a duty to convey that information. One-third of
the respondents regarded store and sales staff as poor
sources of information. Stores are expected to do more
to provide reliable information about the origin and
production conditions of the goods they sell. In order
to achieve this, sales staff need educating so that they
are able to inform consumers.
Consumers are often uncertain about which firms act
ethically and which act unethically. Nike, Hennes &
Mauritz as well as the textile and clothing industry in
general were mentioned as unethical. They are almost
stereotypically unethical firms. It may be difficult for
such firms to change consumers’ attitudes. Conversely,
the Body Shop is stereotypically ethical. The earlier
studies suggest that negative information about unethi-
cal actions has a stronger effect on consumers’ attitudes
than positive information about ethical actions.7,18 The
attention of media towards unethical incidents may fur-
ther strengthen consumers’ attitudes. Consumers tend
to be sceptical and cynical of ethical claims, and find it
easier to believe that firms are unethical rather than that
they are ethical. The role of image is important. An
ethical image seems to polarize: a firm is viewed as
either ethical or unethical. A firm seeking to convey an
image of ethical conduct thus needs to invest heavily in
building this image, whereas images of unethical firms
may arise merely on the basis of occasional rumours.
Furthermore, many firms do not have any ethical image
at all. Some consumers perceive business as an amoral
219
Ethical consumerism • O. Uusitalo and R. Oksanen
activity, they consider business beyond moral judge-
ments and judge it only based on the profit it makes.
Conclusion
Ethical consumerism has recently become an ideal
which is pursued by groups of consumers especially in
the Western countries. Both firms and consumers have
a significant role in promoting ethics in production and
trade. The most important barriers to ethical consumer-
ism appear to be difficulties in obtaining information,
the availability of ethical products and the high prices
of these products.
Consumers’ consciousness about ethics should be
enhanced by educating them and providing them with
reliable information. Ethics in consumption should
become a norm in society, which is followed in the same
way as other moral principles, or invisible rules.4 Con-
sumers may find it difficult to make a trade-off between
convenience or low prices and ethics, even when they
regard ethics as important. But if neglecting ethics was
to become unacceptable and immoral behaviour, posi-
tive attitudes towards ethics might be realized in pur-
chasing decisions.
Public policy makers and firms interested in ethical
consumerism should pay attention to consumers’ con-
fusion and uncertainty. Consumers find it problematic
that firms carry both unethical and ethical products in
their ranges. It remains a future challenge for firms to
find ways to present ethical product alternatives visibly
and convey reliable information about ethics in order
to justify why a given product meets ethical standards,
and why that product may cost more than other
products.
One future opportunity open to firms in marketing
ethical products is the practice of selective ethics. For
example, the Body Shop concept is famous for a single
ethical claim: no products are tested on animals. While
consumers find it difficult to consider several ethical
criteria simultaneously, selective ethics only require that
they take into account one or two important ethical
issues.
Opportunities for socially responsible and ethical
consumerism continue to be little known among con-
sumers. Firms need to show more clearly that they are
pursuing ethical codes of conduct. They could develop
220 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28, 3, June 2004, pp214–221
greater competence in using ethics as a resource, or the
basis for differentiation and competitive advantage.
However, there is a danger that ethics will be used only
as a marketing trick or image, which has no substance
in the firm’s actions. Firms using ethics in this way not
only damage their own business, but also affect the
trustworthiness of other firms that pursue ethics as a
goal in itself.
The role of consumers as promoters of ethical trade
should also be stressed. If consumers do not demand
firms to provide ethical products, firms are likely to
remove ethical products from their ranges. Social
responsibility cannot exclude profit making. If social
responsibility turns out to be unprofitable, it will be
difficult for firms to contribute to reducing ethical injus-
tices in global trade.
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