Discussion

Who has consumer power

Part of your assignment asks you to discuss the issue of consumer power using Diane Ridgway-Cross’ TED Talk “Conscious Consumerism”.

Consumer power can be defined as people’s capacity to put pressure on the business industry to deliver better-quality products, better customer service, better production practices, and better prices. Having consumer power means that an individual or a category of people spend enough money on a product that business will be negatively affected if they stop buying that product.

In “Conscious Consumerism”, Ridgway-Cross argues that women have the biggest consumer power in the world: “…three-quarters of all purchases are made by women. We control twenty trillion dollars in consumer spending each and every year.” (ll. 29-40). This suggests that women can influence the retail industry. The implication of these statistics is that women often control their household income and do the majority of the shopping for themselves and their families. It does not necessarily indicate that women earn more money than men, as women earn less than men on average in most countries.

This could lead to a discussion about whether women really have the most consumer power and whether promoting conscious consumerism should...