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Factors Associated With Engagement In Political Consumption

Adugu, Emmanuel K.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1228239697

Abstract Details

2008, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Rural Sociology.
Research indicates that individual consumers with food safety, ethical and environmental concerns regarding how food is produced may be motivated to use the marketplace as a site for political action. This pattern of using the marketplace as a site for political action with change motives has been described as a sort of political consumption. The central focus of this research is to examine the demographic and attitudinal correlates of political consumption. The data used for the study are from the 2007 Survey of Food, Farming and the Environment with a primary focus on food-related activism. My research findings, based on binary logistic regression analyses, find that people who engage in political consumption are young, believe that they can influence government decisions and report greater knowledge about food production. Additional factors positively associated with those who engage in political consumption are: liberal political ideology, environmental concerns, food safety concerns, and importance of organic and locally grown labels in purchasing decisions. Analyses also show that engagement in conventional political behavior is consistently related to the likelihood of engagement in political consumption. This suggests that engagement in conventional political action and political consumption are not mutually exclusive activities. I find that issues such as food safety and environmental degradation are related to engagement in political consumption. In general, these research findings suggest that consumers with some concerns about the organization and character of food production believe that they can create some changes via their consumptive decisions. Contrary to Marx's notion that political power is located in the sphere of production only, this research demonstrated that there is politics in the consumption sphere too. In that regard, consumer agency in the food system should be an important sociological enquiry. This will generate more knowledge in understanding the complex and dynamic relationship between production and consumption.
Jeff Sharp, Dr. (Committee Chair)
Linda Lobao, Dr. (Advisor)
Joe Donnermeyer, Dr. (Advisor)
Social Research
Political consumption; conventional political behavior; political efficacy; consumer agency; food safety and environmental concerns.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Adugu, E. K. (2008). Factors Associated With Engagement In Political Consumption [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1228239697

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Adugu, Emmanuel. Factors Associated With Engagement In Political Consumption. 2008. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1228239697.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Adugu, Emmanuel. "Factors Associated With Engagement In Political Consumption." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1228239697

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1228239697
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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.