A model of an ethical consumer

I am taking a class on information seeking behavior this semester, and as I prepare to write my final paper, about a specific user group (vegetarians), I am sidetracked by the idea of creating a model of an ethical consumer. What is the decision making process that a consumer (specifically, one who tries to make ethical choices) goes through when deciding upon a good or service? Here are a few of my thoughts on questions they might ask. Not all of these are exclusive to ethically-minded consumers.

• Is the quality good?
• Is it something I can use?
• What can I afford?
• What is accessible (less effort to buy)?
• Where is it from? (environmental impact of transport)
• How was it produced? (wasteful? chemical byproducts? cruelty to animals?)
  
• Who made it? (Were they treated fairly? Individual or corporation?)
• Who distributed it? (Were they treated fairly? individual or mass-distribution)
  
• What was it made from? (new materials? sustainable or recycled? animals?)
• Am I creating demand for something new? (And is it available used/refurbished?)
  
• Is it a brand/vendor I can trust?
• Do the people who make/sell it have similar beliefs to mine/support causes I believe in?
• What will I do with it when I'm done?
• Are there alternatives? What's the difference?
• How long does it take to receive?
• What is the political context of this good/service? (is it available because mega corporations lobby for support or does it support democracy?)
  
• How did I hear about it? (friend vs. ad)

I'm sure there is more. Which of these questions do you ask yourself when you buy something? Does it vary with what you're buying? What questions have I forgotten? If we all asked ourselves a handful of these before every purchase, how would the economy change? Would we become more ethically-minded or would we just upset free trade? Which of these is it even feasible for an average consumer to consider, beyond whether it is affordable?

I have so many questions. If only I had answers.

Thoughts on a Pepsi can

I decided to drink a can of Pepsi tonight. It was a free can, provided to me by my school several days ago when on the way out of a buffet, I realized I would probably be needing caffeine some time in the following few days. Tonight I decided to give in. There's a party being held at my house this evening, and I'm at the library trying to focus on my paper until 2AM to let them settle down. I think I'd rather be sleeping, but might as well be productive, right?

So anyhow, this is my first intentional consumption of caffeine in a while now. I'm not opposed to drinking caffeinated beverages, I just tend to avoid substances that alter my brain chemistry or substances on which you can become dependent. And I have my water bottle with me nearly everywhere I go anyhow (and water is free to order in the U.S., too - hooray for frugal graduate studentship).

It's interesting to experience pop (or soda if you prefer) for the first time in perhaps a year or more. I've noted in the past how the caffeine effect is amplified when it has been absent from your system, but the fizzy feeling in your mouth is also amplified. I am also unimpressed with the taste, and wonder why this is such a popular beverage when it is so boring. Looking closely at the bright blue can, I see hot air balloons, trees, and many many recycling symbols. It seems I've chosen the perfect time to try Pepsi as their can design currently echoes some of my values. The flowers lining the bottom of the can are actually stems tacked on to recycling symbols as well. They're really into recycling! Apparently they are a sponsor of the Keep America Beautiful. Good for them. I don't think they'll have a problem with getting people to recycle the can itself here, since they're worth 10 cents. In fact, I often see the jobless or homeless digging through trash eager to find the lazy college student's hastily discarded "trash." But it promotes awareness in other ways.

The fizz takes its revenge and I begin to burp.

Thinking back to elementary school, I recall that I would often barely break the seal and literally suck the pop out of my pop cans. It was especially fun to shake it up and have only a little come out the top for me to lick off.

I remember that while it wasn't a huge deal, my parents began by not allowing me to drink pop very often (just as we rarely ordered pizza, and didn't have cable, and bedtime was at 9PM). But on all of these accounts, they eased up by the end of elementary school. I wonder if my brother and sister had the same experience? And I wonder if my parents conditioned me successfully to not desire cartoons and caffeine, or if it is just the way I am that I do not want them.

Ah, the memories in just a single can.

Help me get my feet back on the ground

I just discovered the coolest help menu ever (on left).   This help menu, available from within iSquint, doesn't actually do anything.  In fact, if you click on it, it tells you there is no help available for the program.  But the way it made me smile to see Beatles lyrics at 2am as I am desperately trying to get a program to work for me to convert .flv movie files was totally worth it.

iSquint is a program intended for converting movie files to iPod ready formats.  I just needed something to take me from .flv to something iMovie could handle, and it seems to have done the job admirably.  Good for you, iSquint!  You have my vote for cool app of the day.

You have one new crush from -insert location here-!

I don't like deceptive advertising. Not that I would be tempted to click on the ad above (I'm happy with my relationship), but isn't this stooping kind of low? Using my IP to figure out where I am and hoping I'm lonely and want to find out who my crush is. Or wait, shouldn't it be the other way around? The ads I usually see while playing Scrabulous on Facebook say that there are new messages from people with a crush on me. I think that's what they meant for this one. In any case, I think it's kind of lame, but I guess it works. Poor lonely internet users.

Types of Blogging

I have noticed that more types of blogs are becoming popular. Not only do we have the traditional social blog on sites like livejournal, or all purpose blog on Blogger, but we have microblogging via Twitter and Pownce, along with photo blogging, and on the verge of becoming popular, I suspect, are blogs of the tumblelog sort. Tumblelogs can be a mix of links, pictures, and short blurbs, basically a form of microblogging that mixes in different kinds of content. The easier we make it to share our every thought, the more people do so. Mobile technologies, SMS and beyond, are increasing our mobility and connectedness. This helps us keep more weak ties. A study I read about recently showed that we have fewer close bonds than people used to. It's a popular topic of debate whether this dilution of our real life social ties network is good or bad. It may be better for networking to have a lot of contacts, but what about having close and meaningful friendships? It's been difficult for me moving to a new state for graduate school and having very little free time in which to generate new meaningful friendships with people I can be around often. While it's easier to maintain my ties over distance than it would have been pre-Facebook, I do miss my friends dearly.

I wonder if the generally more diluted nature of our social networks is also a common reason for shyness in making new deep friendships. I think for me it may be.