Consumer activism

Consumer activism is a form of activism in which consumers, consumer organizations, or advocacy groups seek to influence the production, distribution, marketing, regulation, or social effects of goods and services. Kozinets and Handelman define it as any social movement that uses society's drive for consumption to the detriment of business interests. It includes activism on behalf of consumers, such as campaigns for product safety, accurate labeling, fair pricing, and consumer protection, as well as activism by consumers themselves, including boycotts, buycotts, ethical purchasing, complaints, petitions, and public campaigns directed at corporations or governments.

Consumerism is made up of the behaviors, institutions, and ideologies created from the interaction between people and the materials and services they consume. Consumer activism overlaps with ethical consumerism, political consumerism, consumer protection, and anti-consumerism, but is not identical to any of them. While consumer protection generally emphasizes legal rights and market fairness, consumer activism may also address labor conditions, environmental harms, racial or gender discrimination, animal welfare, corporate political activity, and other social or political concerns.