| Summary: | The fairtrade market in the UI< has witnessed significant growth over the past decade but there is limited understanding about the factors driving such substantial retail sales growth. The fairtrade movement and some fairtrade researchers claim the growth is as a result of increased fairtrade awareness and a growing concern for commodity producers in developing countries. But the trends beneath the fairtrade headline figures do not support this point of view. Meanwhile, the range and distribution of fairtrade products have increased significantly and many established brands have adopted the fairtrade label as a result of mainstreaming of fairtrade products into supermarkets. It is important to understand the interplay of factors influencing fairtrade market growth because such insight is critical for the development of the fairtrade market and the long-term sustainability of the industry. The FairtradeMark is a certification label that informs shoppers that their fairtrade purchases at a premium price ensures that commodity producers receive a fair and guaranteed price for their produce and ultimately promote their livelihoods and environmental sustainability. Thus, the claim that more shoppers are buying more fairtrade products because of increased fairtrade awareness and growing poverty aversion implies greater and increasing importance of ethics in fairtrade purchasing decisions. However, it is possible (if not likely) that mainstreaming fairtrade products into supermarkets has attracted new shopper segments with diverse values, who buy fairtrade products for different reasons from those who were responsible for the early development of the fairtrade market. If these new shoppers have different values, then their needs may differ and their treatment by manufacturers, retailers and marketers of fairtrade produce should differ too. This thesis seeks to question the claimed increase in fairtrade ethical consumerism by providing a comprehensive and objective understanding of the characteristics of the fairtrade shopper, the marketing drivers of fairtrade retail sales growth and the role that personal values play in the purchasing behaviour of fairtrade food products in the mainstream environment of supermarkets.
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