What responsibility do consumers bear with regard to the sustainable development of the market economy?

In funding the research project ‘Consumer Responsibility’ run by the Centre for Responsibility Research (CRR) at the Institute for Cultural Studies in Essen, the Hamburger Stiftung für Wirtschaftsethik sought to involve the consumer – the actor at the end of the value chain – in the dialogue on issues relating to business and responsibility.

The publication ‘Opportunities and Limits of Consumer Responsibility: A Stock-taking’, which appeared as a CRR working paper in 2009, stems from a CRR event held in December 2008. To this end, a number of experts were invited to Essen for a discussion aimed at taking stock of social, environmental and political consumption. The aim of the event was to explore the opportunities and limitations of consumer responsibility in greater detail. In addition, strategies and measures were discussed that could be used to promote not only individual willingness but also consumers’ scope for action and opportunities to exert influence. One conclusion drawn from the event was that this is only possible through increased cooperation between consumers, civil society organisations, businesses and policymakers.

Ahaus, Björn; Heidbrink, Ludger; Schmidt, Imke
: ‘Opportunities and Limits of Consumer Responsibility: A Stock-taking
’. CRR Working Papers, Vol. 3/2009, Issue 1

; Heidbrink, Ludger; Schmidt, Imke
: ‘The New Responsibility of Consumers’. In: *Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte*, 32–33/2009, pp. 27–32.