Political Consumerism: A Substitute for or Supplement to Conventional Political Participation?

Political consumerism, i.e., the use of consumer power to influence politics, is often described as an alternative to conventional political participation. It is assumed to appeal most of all to those who are less politically active, have less trust in the representative political system or have difficulty being heard through conventional political channels. In this paper, survey data are used to analyse political consumerism as an emerging form of political participation. It is argued that political consumerism is less alternative than often portrayed. Rather than being a ‘new’ or post-conventional kind of political participation, political consumerism should be seen as an extension to the conventional, or ‘old,’ participation repertoire.