Ethics and the Consumer
Ethics and the Consumer
Introduction
The objective of this paper is to identify and analyse the policies specified by government and organisations for the protection of consumer interests and the role of ethics in consumer choice. It also analyses the role of ethics in consumer culture and give examples of how the service sector reacts to it.
The aim of this paper is to understand the movement for ethical consumption and reflect on its scope on the constitution of a new consumer culture, and its role in the “public space”.
It is important to consider, as a starting point to study the importance of ethics in business and the involvement of government in consumer policy, to make a short approach to moral and social responsibility which are the pillars for our work and for all society.
Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed. Crane and Matten (2010)
Ethics is set of moral values and principles that guide human conduct in society. All ethics are relative; there is no right or wrong answer. Ethics serves to balance and there is a good social functioning, allowing nobody gets hurt. In this sense, ethics, although it cannot be confused with the laws, is related to the sense of social justice.
Every society and every group have their own codes of ethics. In a certain country for example, sacrificing animals for scientific research can be ethical. In another country, this approach may circumvent the ethical principles.
According to Singer the “justification of an ethical principle cannot be in terms of any partial or sectional group. Ethics requires us to go beyond ‘I’ and ‘you’ to the universal law, the universalised judgement, the standpoint of the impartial spectator or idea observer, or whatever we choose to call it”. (Singer 1993 p.11)
Consumer Policy
Consumer policy aimed at defending the specific interests of consumers by recognising their fundamental
Introduction
The objective of this paper is to identify and analyse the policies specified by government and organisations for the protection of consumer interests and the role of ethics in consumer choice. It also analyses the role of ethics in consumer culture and give examples of how the service sector reacts to it.
The aim of this paper is to understand the movement for ethical consumption and reflect on its scope on the constitution of a new consumer culture, and its role in the “public space”.
It is important to consider, as a starting point to study the importance of ethics in business and the involvement of government in consumer policy, to make a short approach to moral and social responsibility which are the pillars for our work and for all society.
Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed. Crane and Matten (2010)
Ethics is set of moral values and principles that guide human conduct in society. All ethics are relative; there is no right or wrong answer. Ethics serves to balance and there is a good social functioning, allowing nobody gets hurt. In this sense, ethics, although it cannot be confused with the laws, is related to the sense of social justice.
Every society and every group have their own codes of ethics. In a certain country for example, sacrificing animals for scientific research can be ethical. In another country, this approach may circumvent the ethical principles.
According to Singer the “justification of an ethical principle cannot be in terms of any partial or sectional group. Ethics requires us to go beyond ‘I’ and ‘you’ to the universal law, the universalised judgement, the standpoint of the impartial spectator or idea observer, or whatever we choose to call it”. (Singer 1993 p.11)
Consumer Policy
Consumer policy aimed at defending the specific interests of consumers by recognising their fundamental
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