TITLE:
Conspicuous Ethical Consumption
AUTHORS:
Pascal Stiefenhofer
KEYWORDS:
Ethical Consumerism, Fair Trade, Ethical Preferences, Price-Dependent Pref-erences
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.9 No.1,
January
10,
2019
ABSTRACT: This paper considers a group of consumers who have
preferences over how a good is produced and distributed, rather its traits
alone. Moreover, it is hypothesized that ethical preferences also depend on
prices, and that prices inform consumers about the way goods are produced and
distributed. The concept of conspicuous ethics is introduced in order to
motivate the consumption of ethically produced goods. The paper states the
assumptions and conditions representing the consumption behavior of the ethical
consumer. It is shown that a price-dependent
direct utility function provides the necessary structure in the
characterization of the consumption behavior of the ethical consumer.