CONSUMER
The Goal
Restoring “The Customer is Always Right” through Conscious Consumer Activism
Without our money there is no business.
Every pound or dollar steers corporate behaviour, and as a result puts you back in charge.
Don’t let stuff own you. Resist instinctive consumption and the lure of the short-term dopamine hit.
Inflation, Shrinkflation
Modern corporations quietly give us less while charging more. Shrinkflation is now routine, with smaller quantities sold at higher prices, sometimes cut by half per unit. Products are designed to break or become outdated quickly, with the average smartphone lasting barely two and a half years before replacement. This cycle of designed obsolescence keeps profits high and forces constant spending. The environmental toll is severe, with endless waste and resources consumed to maintain artificial demand. The result is a marketplace that takes more and delivers less.
Data Harvesting & Control
Modern companies harvest data as eagerly as they sell products, keeping it or selling it to third parties. Updates, sign-ins, and email demands extract more personal information. Every click, location, and purchase is tracked, building profiles sold to advertisers or even governments, turning surveillance into a form of control. Consent is buried in unread terms, leaving people powerless. Citizens hand over privacy just to use basic services, becoming the product rather than the customer.
CORE SOLUTION FOR CONSUMERS
Boycotts & Buycotts
We use boycotts to deny corporations revenue when they exploit, mislead, or harm. We use buycotts to direct money toward honest, responsible providers.
Together, these collective actions punish malpractice, reward integrity, and prove that consumer spending choices can restrain corporate power and reshape markets.
SPECIFIC CONSUMER SOLUTIONS
Fighting back against data harvesting
Use the old tools which were perfectly adequate, rather than building your life around the latest tech product. Cut down on apps, accounts, and devices that demand constant sign-ins and updates. Use Purchase Power to support firms with clear privacy standards and avoid those built on surveillance. Legal action enforces rights against misuse and unauthorised resale of data. Political pressure can push for simpler consent, stricter penalties, and limits on trading personal information. Step by step, restraint and pressure can curb data extraction and restore user control.
Tricks of the Trade
The answer to these problems lies in practical action. By using cash, checking unit prices, cancelling pointless subscriptions, refusing hidden fees, repairing instead of replacing, blocking data harvesting, and demanding proof of claims, you keep control. What makes this stronger is our coordinated community – people sharing tactics, exposing tricks, and acting together. Companies find it harder to exploit when thousands of us make the same stand. By moving in unison we shift the balance of power back to consumers.