Ethical Consumerism and Oxfam: A Detailed Analysis Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of ethical consumerism, examining its impact on consumer behavior and business practices. The report begins with an introduction to ethical consumerism, defining its core principles and significance. It then focuses on Oxfam as a case study, evaluating its claim to operate ethically and its approaches to social responsibility. The report explores the factors influencing consumer buying behavior, including personal and social influences, based on research conducted on GSM London students. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of ethical consumerism for businesses, highlighting the need for transparency and sustainability. Recommendations are provided for Oxfam to further enhance its ethical practices. The report also includes a final reflection on the learning experience and personal development throughout the semester.

STUDY SKILLS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In the current research, it can be analyzed that Ethical Consumerism helps in motivating
people to think that the products that they purchase should be produced and sourced without
damaging the society and environment. Also, it has been assessed that consumers are taught that
they should buy the goods of companies which believe that child labor and ineffective working
conditions is a crime. Moreover, the study also describes individual behavior that focuses on
positive buying and considers customers to purchase the goods that are produced through ethical
investment. Also, research focuses on the top management of firm that needs to provide good
working conditions to employees so that they can be satisfied and promote business in order to
enhance the sales of firm.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
BRIEF OVERVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF ETHICAL CONSUMERISM...................................1
DETAILED OVERVIEW OF OXFAM CLAIMING TO OPERATE ETHICALLY....................2
FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR..............................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................5
FINAL REFLECTION AND PDP..................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

ILLUSTRATION INDEX
Illustration 1: Ethical consumerism.................................................................................................2
Illustration 2: Oxfam bank...............................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
Ethical consumerism helps in motivating people to think that the products that they
purchase should be produced and sourced without damaging the society and environment. For
instance, consumers are taught that should buy the goods of companies which believe that child
labor and ineffective working conditions are a crime. However, through such type of practice, it
helps in overcoming the negative impact on society and environment (Cottrell and Morris, 2012).
In the present study, Oxfam has been undertaken which is working as a NGO for the welfare of
community in order to provide a better living standard to people. Moreover, the research
analyzes different areas that claim to operate ethically in the market. It also aims on focusing that
there are varied factors that influence the purchasing behavior of consumers by carrying out
primary research (Segers and et.al., 2013).
BRIEF OVERVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF ETHICAL CONSUMERISM
Ethical consumerism can be stated as the moral purchasing which is practiced by
consumers through positive buying of ethical products and boycotting the negative purchasing
that harms or damages the environment or society (Ethical consumerism meaning, 2014). Ethical
consumerism is a behavior that is adopted by people nowadays in order to promote the buying
behavior of ethical products and services. The individual behavior focuses on positive buying
that considers customers to purchase the goods that are produced through ethical investment
(Edwards and et.al., 2014). Thus, in order to attract ethical buyers, businesses need to promote
their products with focusing on the labels and standards which state that the purchased product is
ethical in nature.
Businesses are also required to focus on eliminating child labor and ineffective working
conditions to labor. It is because; if business carries out such activity then ethical buyers would
not move towards purchasing the product and thus, it decreases the sale of companies. Therefore,
it is essential for the firm to maintain quality standards and labels so that it does not affect the
decision of consumers and profitability of firm (Griffiths, 2012). Organizations nowadays
promote ethical consumerism so that they can attract customers and would earn high revenues.
Thus, top management of firm needs to provide good working conditions to employees so that
they can be satisfied and promote the business in order to enhance the sales of firm. In the
present era, ethical consumerism is a emerging market that provides consumers a different
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standard of living in society (Cox and et.al., 2007). It involves different merchandise such as
banking, finance, energy, food, drinks and fashion etc.
Illustration 1: Ethical consumerism
(Source: Kneale, 2014)
DETAILED OVERVIEW OF OXFAM CLAIMING TO OPERATE
ETHICALLY
Oxfam is directly working with different communities in order to influence the people to
become powerful. Main aim of business is to provide individual the right to carry out their rights
and also, to empower them for managing their own lives. Also, it ensures that people living
below poverty line should enhance their living standard (Moreira and et.al., 2013). Oxfam is an
international association that involves around 17 businesses working in approximately 94
countries worldwide in order to overcome and find a solution to poverty. Its main program has
three motives to improve the upliftment of community that is living in poverty for long time,
carrying out humanitarian work and providing assistance to people affected from natural disaster.
Business also obtains specific vision to create the world free from poverty (Koprowska, 2010).
Thus, in order to fulfill such aim, it organizes varied development programs, workshops,
campaigns and so on. However, it also helps business to maintain the transparency and
accountability in order to achieve the desired results. Hence, through carrying out such
humanitarian activities, business claims to operate its business ethically.
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Illustration 2: Oxfam bank
(Source: Wong, 2014)
There are different approaches identified and evaluated by Oxfam with regard to become
social and ethical. It is as follows-
 Equality act- It is an effective legislation passed in 2010 by UK government. The main
aim of such act is to provide equality to workers at the workplace by providing equal
rights and opportunities in order to improve their skills and quality. Thus, Oxfam also
involves this act in order to develop proper functioning and to execute the best practices
with attaining the desired results (White, MacDonnell and Ellard, 2012). Business
provides equality among workers so that they can be satisfied from their job and would
provide the best results in terms of profitability.
 Not for profit approach- Here, it can be stated that Oxfam operates its business not for
profit and provides community a better chance of improving their living standard. Thus,
working as a not for profit approach, it relays on donations and grants from big corporate
houses in order to support the community as a social cause. Hence, company uses such
amount in order to support the poor people to overcome poverty and to enhance their
standard of living (Singh, Iglesias and Batista-Foguet, 2012).
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FACTORS INFLUENCE CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
There are varied factors that affect the individual's buying behavior at the time of
purchasing merchandise. Thus, in the present study, research has been carried out on students of
GSM London. The main purpose of carrying out this research is to identify the buying behavior
of individual (Solomon, Russell-Bennett and Previte, 2012). In relation to this, there are three
major factors that influence the buying behavior of GSM students. It is as follows-
 Personal factors- It involves different personal factors that affect the purchasing
behavior of individual such as age, religion and sex. For example, it can be evaluated that
the needs and wants of purchasing ethical products differs as per their age. It is a crucial
factor that influences the tastes and preferences of consumers. Likewise, the aged people
will prefer to consume food which is not so spicy as compared to young people who
prefer to try something chilly and spicy. Thus, carrying out survey on the taste and
preference of GSM students analyzed that they prefer to consume different products but
which are sold ethically in the market (Davies, Lee and Ahonkhai, 2012).
 Social factors- It is another critical factor that affects the purchasing decision of buyers.
The families of GSM students are also involved in survey and by analyzing their
responses; it has been found that they are loyal towards purchasing ethical goods so that
poor people can be safeguarded (Bucic, Harris and Arli, 2012). Thus, buying behavior of
people is changing and focusing on adopting ethical goods and services as their main aim
is to promote poor people to enhance their living standard.
CONCLUSION
From the above study, it can be articulated that each and every business is required to
develop ethical consumerism concept in order to produce products or services. Further, the main
purpose of adopting such concept by Oxfam is to overcome the poor people from poverty and to
improve their standard of living. Thus, Oxfam carries out its business which is totally based on
fair practices that helps in serving the clients well and attains the best results. Business also
undertakes varied approaches such as unethical practices; equality act etc. in order to serve the
people better and also, to improve the overall image of enterprise. At last, business carries out
research on GSM students in order to analyze buying behavior of consumers.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
It has been suggested that Oxfam is required to generate more transparency and
sustainability in the firm with an aim that individual is required to be aware about the ethical
morality concept. Also, business is required to differentiate its corporate brand image from its
rivals. Through following ethical consumerism, it reflects that business is trying to provide
ethical products and services to consumers and overcome the poverty. Enterprise should also
follow ethical culture within corporation and provide equal opportunities to employees so that
they can enhance their standard of living and would enhance productivity of firm. Oxfam needs
to improve its awareness of corporate ethics and should recognize themselves among consumers
which would help them to build trust among stakeholders.
FINAL REFLECTION AND PDP
Through carrying out this particular research, it helped in reflecting my own performance
and development during the whole semester. Further, there is a lot of learning to be gained by me
during the complete semester regarding performance (Leonidou and et.al., 2013). It also
supported me to improve my knowledge and skills so that ethical consumerism concept can be
effectively understood by me during the whole semester. Further, I have also tried to find
company that follows ethical morality concept so that it would in improving my knowledge. It
also developed my communication and analytical skills. Through enhancing such skills, it helped
me in improving my presentation skill that assisted me to effectively present my views in front of
them so that they could understand my view point towards ethical consumerism (Carrington,
Neville and Whitwell, 2010). However, at the time of starting semester, I was not able to find
myself competent enough to understand the term related to ethical consumerism. But later, after
the completion of semester I was skilled enough to analyze the importance of such concept.
With the help of such study, my communication skills were enhanced. During the
semester, I found a lot of enhancement in my knowledge regarding ethical consumerism. This
particular semester supported me in improving my communication skills and helping other
people to understand the same. Thus, through carrying out this report, it guided me to effectively
analyze the concept and identify its importance in order to implement it within businesses. In this
particular semester, my research skills were improved as I searched varied companies that
implement ethical consumerism in different sectors such as finance, food, fashion etc. It is
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essential for business to follow such concept in order to attract the consumers and to satisfy their
needs. Furthermore, through carrying out the research, I was able to understand the concept of
producing ethical merchandise and deliver it to poor people so that they can improve their
standard of living.
Further, in order to carry out the selected topic, it helped me to direct my efforts towards
selecting Oxfam which is a nonprofit enterprise that promotes ethical consumerism concept.
Thus, such research supported me to improve my analytical and communication skills. It helped
me to become competent and take decision in order to implement different practices such as
equality act so that I can effectively overcome the issues faced by individuals working within
firm. Through attending such session, it also helped me to develop my skills and knowledge and
attain desired goals and objectives. I also analyzed that I need to enhance my conflict
management skill so that it would guide me to improve my coordination among team members
and provide them proper responsibilities in order to achieve the desired results. I also found
issues at the time of selecting enterprise which claims to run ethically. From the list of ethically
operating companies, I adopted Oxfam which is a NGO that works ethically in order to serve
poor people and achieve objectives.
Through carrying out above practices, it helped me to enhance my performance skills and
thus, I obtained the best outcomes. Also, this semester helped me to enhance my presentation
skills as I was needed to prepare an oral presentation which is likely to be given in front of
colleagues. Thus, I made sincere efforts to develop such skills and thus, become competent
enough to overcome the problems faced in order to attain the desired results. Hence, it can be
assessed that this whole semester helped me to learn different things so that I can improve my
skills and knowledge in order to build my future endeavor. Moreover, it also helped me to work
excessively on my inefficiencies so that I can improve them in future and would attain the
desired goals. It helped me to understand ethical consumerism concept and its importance by
adopting within enterprises to improve the living standard of poor people. Following are the
different areas in which I need to enhance my skills. Thus, for that, I need to develop personal
development plan in order to attain the desired goals. Following is the personal development
plan-
Skills to be
developed
Current
situation
Desired results Activities
undertake to
Time required
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enhance
Communication
skills
I need to improve
my
communication
skill so that I can
effectively
communicate
with my top
management.
It can be
enhanced through
regular learning.
Attending
seminars and
conferences.
It requires around
12 months.
Impatience
behavior
It is essential for
me to overcome
my impatient
behavior so that I
can effectively
work with my
colleagues.
For this, I need to
develop my
listening skills
and thus, required
to analyze the
critical situations
so that results can
be obtained.
For this, I need to
undertake
different sessions
for improving my
skills such as
attending
motivational
speaker’s
sessions.
Requires 7-8
months.
Time
management
skills
It is crucial for
me to develop my
time management
skills so that as
per the important
work, I can
manage my time
accordingly and
accomplish it
first.
Thus, managing
the time properly
helps the firm to
attain results.
I need to attend
workshops and
lectures to
manage my time.
It needs 4-5
months.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bucic, T., Harris, J. and Arli, D., 2012. Ethical consumers among the millennials: A cross-
national study. Journal of Business Ethics. 110(1). pp. 113-131.
Carrington, M. J., Neville, B. A. and Whitwell, G. J., 2010. Why ethical consumers don’t walk
their talk: Towards a framework for understanding the gap between the ethical purchase
intentions and actual buying behaviour of ethically minded consumers. Journal of
Business Ethics. 97(1). pp.139-158.
Cottrell, S. and Morris, N., 2012. Study skills connected: using technology to support your
studies. Palgrave Macmillan.
Cox, D. B. and et.al., 2007. A study of managerial derailment characteristics and personality
preferences. Journal of Management Development. 26(9). pp.857 – 873.
Davies, I. A., Lee, Z. and Ahonkhai, I., 2012. Do consumers care about ethical-luxury?. Journal
of Business Ethics. 106(1). pp.37-51.
Edwards, A. J. and et. al., 2014. Learning and study strategies: Issues in assessment, instruction,
and evaluation. Elsevier.
Griffiths, M., 2012. Study skills and dyslexia in the secondary school: a practical approach.
Routledge.
Kneale, P. E., 2014. Study Skills for Geography Students: A Practical Guide 2nd Edition.
Routledge.
Koprowska, J., 2010. Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Social Work. 3rd. ed. SAGE.
Leonidou, L. C. and et. al., 2013. Business unethicality as an impediment to consumer trust: The
moderating role of demographic and cultural characteristics. Journal of business ethics.
112(3). pp. 397-415.
Moreira, P. A. and et. al., 2013. Predictors of academic performance and school engagement—
Integrating persistence, motivation and study skills perspectives using person-centered
and variable-centered approaches. Learning and Individual Differences. 24. pp. 117-125.
Segers, M. and et. al., 2013. Employee Motivation for Personal Development Plan Effectiveness.
European Journal of Training and Development. 37(6).
Singh, J. J., Iglesias, O. and Batista-Foguet, J. M., 2012. Does having an ethical brand matter?
The influence of consumer perceived ethicality on trust, affect and loyalty. Journal of
Business Ethics. 111(4). pp. 541-549.
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