Adversaries of Consumption: Consumer Movements, Activism, and Ideology

2004/12/01 by Robert V. Kozinets, Robert V. Kozinets, Jay M. Handelman +1 · 1,007 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · #Advertising #Aesthetics #Art #Business #Collective identity #Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification #Consumerism #Consumption (sociology) #Environmental ethics #Identity (music) #Ideology #Law #Mainstream #Movement (music) #Nike #Organic Food and Agriculture #Political science #Politics #Social movement #Social science #Sociology #Value (mathematics) #Wine Industry and Tourism

paper · doi:10.1086/425104

published in Journal of Consumer Research 31(3), 691-704 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2004/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

This article focuses on consumer movements that seek ideological and cultural change. Building from a basis in New Social Movement (NSM) theory, we study these movements among anti-advertising, anti-Nike, and anti-GE food activists. We find activists' collective identity linked to an evangelical identity related to U.S. activism's religious roots. Our findings elucidate the value of spiritual and religious identities to gaining commitment, warn of the perils of preaching to the unconverted, and highlight movements that seek to transform the ideology and culture of consumerism. Conceiving mainstream consumers as ideological opponents inverts conventional NSM theories that view them as activists' clients.

Citations

• The Field behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities
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