What drives political consumption in Europe? A multi-level analysis on individual characteristics, opportunity structures and globalization

Abstract

Political consumption is an individualized form of collective action that varies considerably across Europe. Citizens as consumers participate in boycotts and ‘positive’ buying of goods based on ethical, political and environmental considerations. Overcoming the individualistic bias of past research, the comparative analysis extends actor-centred explanations by focusing on political, cultural and economic opportunity structures and on globalization as contextual factors. Economic opportunities for political consumption are provided by national affluence, retailing structures and the supply of environmental and fair-labelled goods. Political and cultural opportunities are facilitated by ‘statist’ institutions, social movement organizations as well as trust and post-materialist culture. The impact of globalization is measured by international economic exchange. Logistic multi-level models on the first wave of the European Social Survey for 19 countries reveal that economic opportunity structures and political institutions best explain variations, while globalization does not affect citizens’ decisions to voice their interest in consumption. Finally, the effect of individual value orientations is increased by a low-cost context.