The previous four chapters have established the persistence of ethical problems and dilemmas in the clothing industry, the nature and role of ethical consumption in addressing these problems, and the major themes and debates within the ethical consumption literature to date, along with consideration of how ethics should be
conceptualised in relation to consumption. The pluralist and pragmatic perspectives, and literature examining problems of ethical consumption have largely discredited the
‘marketing’ perspectives on ethical consumption (here referred to as the studies analysing segmentation and attitudes towards ethical products and services), found a ‘pure’
psychological perspective potentially limiting, but has recognised the sociological perspectives of identity and practice as being relevant. Throughout the literature is the central theme of trade-offs, and it has been argued that trade-offs might best be
understood through the concept of value, and in particular chapter four made the case for
‘aggregate value for the customer’ (or perhaps more simply, personal advantage) as the theoretical lens through which the trade-offs might be explored. In service of this, it is proposed that Woodall’s (2003) concept of net value for the customer (resulting in an aggregate VC) is the most appropriate analytic device to understand these trade-offs; to explore the nature of the benefits and sacrifices which may traded off (and if this is indeed the case), but recognises the pluralist, phenomenological and contextual
dimensions inherent in consumer thought and action, but also by adopting the pragmatist perspective in order to reflect new insights about valuation and habituation.
The study therefore aims to explore the issues involved in navigating the trade-offs inherent in ethical consumption, with aggregate value, or personal advantage, as the output. In service of understanding these trade-offs, it is recognised that identity is one of
the things which constantly shifts in relation to ends in view, and practice will also have an impact; chapter three established that there is significant emerging evidence that identity is important in determining ethical consumption, and consumption is carried out through a set of practices. However, whilst identity is continuously negotiated, there is an end point to strive for (here classified as personal advantage), which may be related to an individual’s values. This ‘teleoaffectivity’, or orientation towards ends and the ways in which things matter to individuals, is argued to be the predominant influence in the organisation of activity in practice theory (Schatzki, 1997), but also as previously discussed, a key driver of value and connected to identity, whilst recognising that these are likely ‘ends in sight’, rather than ‘absolute’ end states. This connects with pragmatist theory, but raises key questions around whether consumers seek to maximise value (or personal advantage) in the pursuit of establishing particular identities or the maintenance of their practices, or whether the achievement of these identities and practices provide value within the particular temporal, cultural and social context of consumers’ lived experience.
The overall aim of this study is therefore to explore the trade-offs ethically-principled consumers make in clothing consumption. As noted in chapter two, a discussion of
‘ethical consumption’ may involve the consumption practices of ethically engaged or committed consumers, and the consumption of definably ethically produced products and services. The central recognition of the trade-offs it is claimed are inherent in ethical consumption would imply an acknowledgement that the focus of such debates is on those ethically committed individuals who may or may not necessarily be constantly engaged in ethical clothing consumption, and this is also therefore the focus of this research, rather than the consumption of ethically produced clothing in and of itself.
Following from the concepts presented as being relevant in the review of the literature, as highlighted throughout the previous chapters, the specific objectives for the research are:
• To understand the role of moral evaluation in clothing consumption practices.
• To explore the role of values in consumer trade-offs and their relationship to practice.
• To explore the roles of identity and practice in the clothing consumption practices of ethically-motivated consumers, and the implications for value evaluation.
• To investigate how ethically-committed consumers experience value in clothing consumption and to consider the implications for ethical consumption.
The resulting conceptual framework which demonstrates the connections between these key concepts as they apply to the study is shown in figure 16 overleaf. Following from the previous discussion, the framework shows the consummatory experiences which can be characterised as a unification of a multiplicity of moral standards and inconsistent attitudes and behaviours (Dewey, in Gouinlock, 1994), or the ‘messy’ pluralistic moral decision making (Bauman, 1993) facing individuals which are based on inconsistent and often contradictory values (Hinman, 2003). This consummation may also lead to an aggregation of the concept of Net VC (Woodall, 2003), which is not necessarily a cognitive or conscious balancing of benefit and sacrifice. This occurs within a series of overarching consumption (and other) practices in which individuals are engaged (Warde, 2005). These experiences and practices are inherently tied to self-identity, values and the personal histories that underpin them (Bourdieu, 1992). The practices also include the trade-offs that characterise much ethical consumption, here again characterised by a form of
‘aggregate VC’ (Woodall, 2003); a conception of the value which is enacted, that is, phenomenologically integrated into the individual’s social and cultural practices (Ng and Smith. 2012). This also recognises that at the heart of much of the value and practice theory lies the notion of end states as being teleoaffective (Schatzki, 1997), which could be compared to Dewey’s (in Anderson, 2014) notion of ‘ends in view’. The
multidirectionality of the relationships between aggregate VC, identity and practice acknowledges whether consumers seek to maximise personal advantage in the pursuit of identity establishment or the maintenance of practices, or whether the achievement of these identities and practices provide value within a particular context. Thus, the key dimensions of practice, value and identity with the trade offs at their centre are reflected within the overall domain of moral decision making in consumption.
Figure 16: Conceptual framework
Series of Overarching Practices
Self identity and values
Perception of Aggregate
VC:
Personal Advantage
Pluralistic Moral Decision Making Consummatory
experiences: