Article Abstract
This research offers insights into the contradictions of how anti-slavery Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) deploy the frames of responsible buyer and responsible citizen to mobilize consumers against modern slavery. The study examines the underlying assumptions and contradictions of the frames by drawing on framing theory and Judith Butler’s approach to “framing the frames”. Such an approach helps understand how NGOs obfuscate the responsibility of corporations in contributing to modern slavery. This research adds to extant interpretation of consumer activism by pointing to how consumer mobilization can be more usefully explained as a contested terrain that is shaped by activist groups whose communication is characterized by contradictions and conflicts. It also broadens the scope of framing theory by foregrounding the ethics of communication frames.
International Journal of Research in Marketing, October 2024
About the researcher
Associate Professor Michal J Carrington is a marketing academic at the University of Melbourne with a focus on consumer culture and consumer ethics. Michal publishes research widely in top-tier international marketing and business journals including Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Theory, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Research and Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, as well as media outlets such as The Conversation, and has published books and book chapters in these topic areas. Michal is Section Editor at the Journal of Business Ethics (Consumer Ethics), and is currently researching consumer perspectives of modern slavery, and how social media disinformation campaigns spread. Michal holds a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Melbourne and a PhD also from the University of Melbourne. Prior to entering academia, Michal worked for Unilever in Australia and the UK. Michal is also the Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty Business and Economics and leads the Faculty’s research agenda, activities and operations