New article on «How Social Class Structures Buycotting in Japan and Switzerland» by Patrick Schenk, Makiko Hashinaga, and Jörg Rössel
This article by Dr. Patrick Schenk, Prof. Dr. Makiko Hashinaga, and Prof. Dr. Jörg Rössel examines ethical consumption as a social phenomenon and asks under what conditions it becomes associated with social class. Using survey data from Switzerland and Japan, the authors analyse how different forms of capital shape consumers’ tendency to buy ethically produced goods. The study introduces the concept of "classness" to capture the extent to which ethical consumption is structured by social class.
The Classness of Ethical Consumption in Context: How Social Class Structures Buycotting in Japan and Switzerland
First published July 27th, 2026 in The Sociological Quarterly
Patrick Schenk (SUZ), Makiko Hashinaga (Sapporo Gakuin University), and Jörg Rössel (SUZ)
Abstract
In recent decades, ethical consumption, or consumer practices that are understood not only in instrumental but also in moral terms, has been on the rise. Concurrently, the discussion on its relation to social class has also intensified, with research providing conflicting results. We propose shifting the debate from asking whether ethical consumption is essentially a class phenomenon to asking under what conditions it becomes one. We use the term classness to denote the extent to which ethical consumption is associated with different forms of capital in social space. Focusing on buycotting, the purchase of products with ethical qualities such as organic or fair trade, we argue that its classness varies across socio-economic contexts depending on the market development of ethical products. Country-specific market structures attenuate the degree of class structuration and modulate the mechanisms through which class operates. Our analysis of original survey data from Switzerland and Japan (n = 2,012) confirms this argument. Buycotting’s class structuration is substantially stronger in Japan than in Switzerland. In Japan, it is mainly driven by differences in knowledgeability, whereas in Switzerland it primarily reflects a socially distinct taste for ethical consumption. Buycotting’s classness must hence be understood in context.
