We the People.
By: Brian Hickling
Tags: Social Impact, Consumer Behavior, Brand Strategy, Branding, Corporate Responsibility

We the People.

Consumer activism, also known as “Consuming With A Conscience”, is on the rise and an integral aspect of the New Economy. Consumers’ wants and needs for social impact will have to be factored into brand planning and embedded into a company’s DNA.

Social Impact brand attributes be a defining factor in determining the brand winners and losers in the post-pandemic marketplace. The brand landscape has changed. Here’s what brands need to consider.

The people are in control of your brand.

If you are a Chief Marketing Officer or a CEO, the first thing you need to understand is that your stakeholders are in control of your destiny. The pandemic has fundamentally shifted human behaviours and mindsets faster than at any point in history. Understandably, given the social, environmental and economic unrest, customers (and employees) are searching for new ways to influence the world. And they are taking to Consumer activism to make their purchases and their employment matter like never before.

Generally speaking, Consumer activism focuses on the market’s demand-side and includes consumers modifying their consumption, or threatening to alter it, as a means of effecting change. Tactics can include boycotts, petitioning the government, media activism, and organizing interest groups. Boycotts are especially prevalent among consumer activists within environmental and animal rights activist groups.

People using their individual and collective purchasing power is one of the fastest-growing modes of political engagement today. Exacerbated worldwide by the Covid-19 pandemic and social justice acts, Consumer activism is based on the idea that consumption is inherently a political act embedded in a dynamic system of social and economic ties. Consumer activism is on the rise through all commercial transactions. Not only is this not a fad, I believe that it will grow exponentially in the not so distant future.

As the “New Economy” of the post-pandemic era takes hold, people will increasingly see themselves as agents of reform, leveraging their consumer democratic right to “freedom to choose”.

The thing that makes Consumer activism so important for brands is it’s a relatively low-risk and easy political activity. Given such a low threshold for participation (sometimes literally buying nothing). Everybody can be a consumer activist just by choosing where and how they spend their money or not to spend it.

Consumer advocacy is becoming more common, and some of the world’s biggest corporations are exploiting the idea of consumer involvement. And you’re not going to find a better example than Nike’s support of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick became a household name in 2016 following his controversial decision to kneel in the U.S. national anthem in protest of injustice and abuse against African Americans in North America. Not only did the incident go viral-it caught fire, too. In the following months, several athletes, officials and even coaches joined Kaepernick either by kneeling or raising their fists during the anthem.

During Nike’s 2018 “Just Do It” campaign, the company unveiled an advertisement featuring Kaepernick’s face, with the slogan: “Believe in something. Even if it means losing all.”

How did taking a stand work out for Nike you are wondering? Nike’s stock initially dipped due to a backlash from fans who were offended by their stance, but after a few days, the campaign’s positive messaging resonated with consumers, who proceeded to bump Nike’s online sales up by 27 percent. On September 14, 2018, Nike’s stock closed at 83.49, their highest close ever and a four percent increase in stock value just before the campaign launched. Today Nike’s stock is valued at $137.28 US.

History of Consumer Activism.

Politicizing consumption can seem like a completely new way and modern way to accomplish change in the world, however, Consumer Activism is far older than most of us realize.

Consumer “Boycott” Activism.

Consumer “Boycott” Activism involves collectively shunning goods and services produced or sold by particular firms, industries, nation-states, or (on occasion) ethnic groups. The purpose is to either hurt or harm the revenue of a group directly or using media or other third parties to damage a company’s (or country’s) reputation thus impacting sales and ultimately affecting its revenue.

History shows us that boycotts and other forms of Consumer activism have often been central to the most important struggles for social justice, like abolitionism, anti-child labour, civil rights, trade unionism, and anti-globalization.

Consumer Activism in Canada.

The “Patriote boycott” during the unsuccess­ful Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 in Lower Canada (modern-day Quebec) asked Quebec’s french spelling population to boycott British products and to import illegal products from the United States instead.

In 1913, Hannah Elizabeth Rolinson Gale, also known as Annie Gale, established a Consumer activism organization called the Calgary Consumers League. Founded to contest wartime profiteering and the high cost of living, it helped establish a City Market (farmers market) where sellers could sell local produce. Gale and 500 fellow female citizens attended a meeting and after 4 hours of speeches and heckling the city officials decided that a local market to provide fairly priced produce directly sold from farmers to consumers was necessary and by 1914 Calgary had its first permanent local market.

Consumer activism can also have negative effects on society. In a darker chapter of Canadian consumer history, the 1920s and 1930s witnessed boycotts of Jewish businesses, driven by anti-Semitic and fascist sympathizing organizations. In Quebec, the “achat chez nous” movement, organized by French-Canadian nationalists, urged French-speaking Quebecers to boycott Jewish businesses.

On the 17th of September, 2011, The Occupy movement began. Ignited by the Canadian-based radical anti-consumerist organization Adbusters, the Occupy movement was an international progressive socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the lack of “real democracy” around the world. Its aim was primarily to advance social and economic justice and new forms of democracy. This movement brought us “Buy Nothing Day,” which since 1992 encouraged consumers around the world to reconsider the devastating impact of rampant consumerism on the planet.

Source: W.D. Cooper. Boston Tea Party in The History of North America. London: E. Newberry, 1789. Engraving. Plate opposite p. 58. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress

Consumer activism is rooted in the founding of America.

Consumer activism has a long history in the United States. “Non­ importation” and “non-consumption” boycott movements played a vital role in the American Revolution and a powerful tactic of America’s separation from British rule. The rejection of British imports by revolutionary patriots inaugurated a continuous series of consumer boycotts and efforts to make goods more broadly accessible.

The Townshend Acts, a series of measures passed by the British Parliament in 1767 that taxed goods imported to the American colonies, infuriated its citizens. American patriot leaders responded with the Boston Non-Importation Agreement, where merchants and traders agreed to boycott goods that were subject to the crown taxes on those goods were repealed. The Boston Tea Party was essentially a flashpoint event of consumer activism campaign.

The Free Produce movement

From the late 1820s through the 1850s, The Free Produce movement was an effort initially begun by northern abolitionists, primarily by free African Americans and Quakers, who used boycotting as its prime tactic, asking people to not buy products produced by slaves, such as cotton or sugar. In addition, The Free Produce movement also established a number of retail stores that sold only products made using only fairly paid labour. The movement spread across the US and to Canada and England, and at one point had more than fifty stores

An organization established in Philadelphia called the American Free Produce Association launched a “Conscience versus Cotton” awareness campaign to buy cotton or cotton products not derived from slave labour. The association, which promoted their cause by seeking non-slave alternates to products from slaveholders, and by forming non-slave distribution channels.

League of Women Shoppers

In the late 1930s the League of Women Shoppers (LWS), one of the most prominent American organizations of its time championed the phrase “Use your buying power for justice!” The LWS was a consumer activist group born out of both the Great Depression and the political climate generated by the New Deal.

The LWS emerged from benevolently intended middle-class consumer activism that began with the National Consumers’ League (NCL) during the Progressive Era in 1891. The NCL reached out to middle-class women, who did most of the shopping for their households, to improve the conditions of working girls and eliminate child labour.

The League of Women Shoppers’ membership was composed of mostly middle to upper class white American women, the organization demonstrated consciousness of the intersections of race, class and gender within an oppressive capitalist system before the proverbial “second wave” of feminism.

During the summer of 1938 Sylvia Rubin of Atlanta, Georgia took a trip to New York City to visit Russek’s Department Store on Fifth Avenue with eight of her friends. This, however, was no ordinary shopping excursion. Armed with picket signs, Sylvia and her “smartly clad” companions arrived at the department store to protest the living and working conditions of Russek’s employees.

Although the LWS emerged during a veritable golden age of countless and diverse consumer activist groups, all with separate agendas, the LWS distinguished themselves from the pack through their commitment to direct action through picket lines, publicity stunts, boycotts and their concern with the conditions under which goods were produced.

By 1939, at the height of its popularity, and just four years after its establishment in 1935, the LWS claimed 25,000 members and 14 different chapters in cities across the United States, all dedicated to the same principle of “using your buying power for justice”.

Generation Everyone.

For socially aware demographics like Millenials and Gen-Z, aligning purchases with values is nothing new. However, the pandemic has infected other generations with new ideas about work-life balance, slow food and slow fashion etc. Making a better, more sustainable world is now seeping into the mainstream. As more cohorts like Boomers and Generation X adopt these younger ideals brands should no longer see them as a niche.

Here is a link to an article I wrote about Gen-E. https://www.catalystseventeen.com/blog/the-rise-of-gen-e

As discussed previously, historically, consumer activism has been mostly used by oppressed social groups and was fairly niche, however, today it is gaining more broad participation due to social media, the impacts of the recent Covid-19 pandemic, increased concern for the environmental crisis, and social injustice.

People have a sense of urgency and a commitment to change things. Today, people in all demographics are starting to realize that they have the ability to make purchasing decisions that can hurt brands by denying profit but also reward brands that align with their values and ideals.

Consumer’s right to choose.

The freedom to choose one’s purchase is foundational to capitalism. While we could easily think of shopping as disconnected from the rest of our economic and political lives, the freedom of choice is inextricably connected to the lack of choice we experience in the other areas of our lives, like the workplace and, increas­ingly, in politics. Consumer choice, a seemingly benign and apoliti­cal concept, is deeply embedded in the heart of capitalism and democracy. The right to buy or not to buy is a core to our sense of freedom and as important as our right to vote.

Recognizing the connections between consumer choice and other issues (labour rights, civil rights, cor­porate behaviour, the environment, and human rights) is an important step in moving your brand and company forward.

Even without formal assembly, memberships or meeting in person, consumer like-minded groups are forming and they have collective power like never before.

How people make purchase decisions.

Every day we make decisions about how to spend our money. In making these cerebral economic evaluations, we perform value calculations using a number of rational and emotional criteria. Understanding the consumer buying processes, and their stages can help brands better understand the New Economy consumer. We are seeing this with Millennials, who have specific issues and “values” that shape their purchase decisions.

These buying process stages sometimes happen slowly over months, like purchasing a new car, or in seconds at the shelf in a retail store when buying hair shampoo. However, no matter what the timeline, the stages are basically the all same.

Step one, The problem recognition, (ie: I am out of laundry detergent and my clothes need cleaning), where the buyer decision process begins with the problem to be solved and identifies a need or want and action (ie: I need to go to the store).

Step two, the information search stage. (ie: what laundry soap has the best value? Should I get scented or non-scent?) This phase is where we identify a list of buying options available to us.

Step three. The evaluation of alternatives. (ie: which laundry soap should I buy today?.) Here people engage in “consumer math” to evaluate alternative options available to them. I call these “Small V” valuations, as they are based on intrinsic motivations and are mostly driven by the product itself. Rational values tend to be things like price, volume, quality. The emotional values are things like risk (known brand or unknown brand, what does this brand say about me?). We combine these criteria in our consumer math value equation.

Step four. The purchase decision. Once alternatives have been evaluated and a decision is made, a purchase is triggered.

Step five. The post-purchase evaluation/rationalization. Once an item is purchased and used, there is a post-purchase evaluation — confirming or disproving the value.

While many of our purchases have different ratios of rational and emotional evaluation components, there is a new criterion emerging into customer brand math algorithms. One based on the value for the “greater good”. I call these extrinsic motivations or “Big V” Valuations.

Understanding these “Big V” motivations can help brands to develop products and brand experiences that address core consumer needs. Just as we’re seeing with Millennials, each generation has specific issues, needs and “values” that shape their purchase decisions.

When it comes to customer loyalty, a shared belief system (“Big V” motivations) is important. Consumers that share similar values with a brand are less likely to switch. A recent study showed that 85 percent of consumers buy from brands that share their beliefs.

Consumer “Big V” Activism

The rise of the internet and social media has greatly influenced consumer activism in the twenty-first century. Digital transformations and now working from home lifestyles, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, makes it easier to share product information and begin advocacy campaigns. Today new boycotts and buycotts are introduced seemingly nonstop. Ethical shopping campaigns have grown in popularity and they don’t look to be slowing down.

Consumer “Big V” activism challenges old branding assumptions about a brand’s role helping to tackle society’s big challenges. For centuries brands have operated on the premise that fixing societal issues were the purview of government, academics, Not-For-Profits and charities to fix. A business’s role was simply to employ people, make products, sell products, and make a profit.

Companies operated under the protection of the state, its laws and had free access to the public marketplace. Companies only needed to provide a portion of their profits in the form of taxes or in the form of donations to charities. However, this arrangement is coming under pressure. Like it or not, today’s consumers, and their governments are looking to corporations and their brands to contribute and do more. To be part of the solution.

Earlier this year, a study revealed that 84 percent of consumers said they think companies should play a significant role in addressing climate change. The reality is, that the majority of brands do already, but not in a way that gets the public engaged and buying. In fact, 73 percent of consumers say they are more likely to engage with brands that are creating solutions for a global challenge, but 69 percent have no real sense of which brands are taking action.

Brands can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines. The good news is that brands that embrace Social Impact stand to benefit from the reward of increased customer interest and employee loyalty.

The Brand Renaissance

The first step is to accept, and even embrace, that your stakeholders are in control of your brand. You need to understand their new motivations and drivers. Embrace consumer “Big V” activism.

Next, you need to articulate your brand’s values and then demonstrate them. It’s not enough to paint them on the cafeteria wall or on your About Us webpage. You need to launch “Doing” campaigns with what your customers and employees care about in the center.

Understand The New Economy drivers. Develop “New Economy” marketing plans, review or refresh your corporate purpose statements, and update your employee programs. Develop your Social Impact brand goals.

Think of this as a Brand Renaissance. Enlighted Chief Marketing Officers, HR Directors and CEOs are gathering online right now and they are looking to shake things up. They are seeing these new consumer dynamics as a competitive advantage opportunity. By embracing that their customers and employees want to make a positive change in the world leaders can see this as a fantastic chance to re-energize their tired brands, invigorate their corporate cultures, and most of all to gain market share. The brands that embrace Social Impact will be rewarded by their customer's loyalty, and their employees having a sense of greater meaning from their work. For the brands that choose to stay static, it could mean disaster.

If you would like to understand more about consumer activism, Social Impact Branding, or how our company could help you get prepared for The New Economy — please don’t hesitate to reach out to us — we would be pleased to help.