Does 'Local' Mean Ethical? The U.S. 'Buy Local' Movement and CSR in SMEs

Autor:	Nancy B. Kurland, Sara Jane McCaffrey
Rok vydání:	2015
Předmět:	Community cohesion Consumption (economics) Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management business.industry Social change Public relations Ethical marketing Sustainability Economics Corporate social responsibility Localism business Social responsibility General Environmental Science
Zdroj:	Organization & Environment. 28:286-306
ISSN:	1552-7417 1086-0266
DOI:	10.1177/1086026615586795
Popis:	“Buy Local” campaigns argue that consumers who patronize local firms instead of national chains reap broad economic, social, and ecological benefits for their home communities. These campaigns, which seek to create social change through market forces, imply that “local” means ethical. What ethical claims do localism advocates make for the benefits of local consumption, and how do they verify those claims? And how does the buy-local case inform broader debates on ethical markets? We find that U.S. buy-local organizations routinely focused on marketing concerns and failed to police members’ socially responsible bona fides. We also find that prolocal organizations promoted community cohesion and served an important role in disseminating sustainability information through new networks. We suggest that small- and medium-sized enterprises, which face particular challenges in authenticating claims for their economic and ecological impact, should consider restricting claims to their more specific and more easily verified social impact.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::9ca3f2b4ccb6ec4df041e8d582198eea https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026615586795 Zobrazit plný text záznamu