The Routledge Companion to Business Ethics

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Exploitation and labor

Benjamin Ferguson

Consumers confront many ethical choices. The purchase of consumer goods in a globalized economy often has far-reaching consequences. Sometimes we are unaware of the ethical implications of our consumer behavior, or choose not to think very hard about such choices, but even when we are ethically motivated to “do the right thing,” it often seems that figuring out just what the “right thing” involves is a rather complex matter. One part of this complexity involves the ethical evaluation of the businesses with which we interact.

Suppose you would like to buy a new smartphone and, faced with the large number of options on the market, you ask a friend to help you choose one. As it happens, you think ...