Received wisdom has long dictated that the average punter wandering into a store will find the melange of certification labels on produce, clothes and furniture a tad confusing.
But research carried out by OneWorldStandards and the Pacific Institute finds that there is no quantitative data or survey findings supporting the claim that confusion is leading consumers away from ethical products.
The report is the result of the first phase of the “Ethical Trade Fact Finding Process”, established in 2007 (ISEAL is part of the steering group) to clarify the extent and nature of unreliable ethical claims on the market and to understand the resulting problems for consumers.
The study confirmed that most consumer concerns are not about the variety of labels but about the confusing quality of ethical claims - particularly when they are self-declared claims rather than third-party verified claims.
It also stresses that consumers take into account a whole range of criteria when evaluating claims, ranging from their own awareness of the issue, the opinions of friends and family to their cultural expectations of company behaviour.
However there was a lack of agreement among experts and practitioners on core issues relating to good practice in the area of ethical claims. It is suggested that part of the existing consumer confusion is a reflection of the lack of underlying consensus as to what constitutes a reliable claim.
In order to increase consumer confidence, the study encourages standards systems to link on-product claims with detailed online information that explains and verifies the claim. In addition, overarching web-based tools can help to provide objective comparisons of the value of different claims.
The second phase of the Ethical Trade Fact Finding Process will now evaluate the different approaches to compare ethical claims or define terms and criteria for ethical trade in order to enable the development of a methodology that allows consumers to distinguish different attributes (social, economic and environmental) and processes (verification, certification, self declaration, etc) behind ethical trade claims.