Activity 3 page 3
Unit 4: Section 2: Workbook 16: Consumerism and Quality of Life
Read
Boycotting is a technique that has been used many times in history.
Read pages 262 and 263 of your textbook, Issues for Canadians, to learn about boycotting and examples of boycotting in Canadian history.
How do these Canadian examples reflect collective identities?
Record your thoughts in your notes and place your notes in your Activities folder.
boycott: the decision to not buy or support a product or business to create change
Vocabulary
Take out your Issues for Canadians Definitions handout and add the definition of boycott.
Return your updated handout to your Activities folder.
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Watch
View the video by Carrotmob by clicking the following link. As you watch this video, think about how the organization Carrotmob has instituted change.
Carrotmob: How organized consumer purchasing can change business
Carrotmob used a form of influence referred to as reverse boycott. Reverse boycotting is to support one company or organization that is willing to make the changes asked by Carrotmob.
You may have had difficulty reading the five steps to Carrotmob's reverse boycott at the end of the video because the text is so small. Those five steps are as follows:
- Businesses compete with how much good they are willing to do.
- Consumers choose one business they want to reward.
- Consumers support that business by making coordinated purchases.
- The most responsible business gets rich.
- Consumers buy things that they would buy anyway, but by organizing themselves, they change the world!
Boycotts and Quality of Life (Word)
Boycotts and Quality of Life (pdf)
Boycotts and Quality of Life (Google Doc)
Save your completed work to your Activities folder.
Workbook Summary
In this workbook, you investigated the following questions.
What are the factors that affect my quality of life?
What factors influence consumer behaviour?
How is my quality of life influenced by consumer behaviour?
How might my consumer views differ from those in other regions in North America?
How can consumerism give power to collectives?
Quality of life may be influenced by the economic, social, or physical environments in which you live. The factors that you identify as important may be based on the values you see as important for your quality of life. As you continue to examine consumerism, you will begin to see how your quality of life is influenced because you are a consumer as well as a citizen of Canada.
Identity, health and safety, jobs, environment, and marketing are factors that guide consumers in their decision-making. The amount of input that a consumer has for each of these factors also contributes to his or her quality of life.
As individuals, consumers can make many decisions on what to purchase. However, individuals do not have much say in what is produced. This can be an issue when some products or services may not be in the best interests of society.
Consumer decisions are a part of our lives. Where we live can influence the decisions that we make. The standard of living and GDP per capita can vary greatly among regions of Canada and United States.
As well, consumers can make a difference in influencing the three questions that producers must answer. This influence can change the way a product is produced, used, or sold to you, the consumer.
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