Movement in a Market: Explaining Fair Trade Framing Strategies.

By purchasing FT products consumers contribute to the economic, social, and environmental conditions of workers throughout the global South. While the origins of the FT movement extend over 50 years, in the last 5 years there has been a dramatic increase in global sales of coffee, tea, chocolate, handicraft, and other FT goods. Past research focusing on the origins of FT markets (largely coffee), stresses that the instability of global markets forced some producers to find new ways to distribute products or risk going out of business (Linton et al. 2004). In this paper, I describe the other side of the rise of the Fair Trade movement, emphasizing how FT products are framed and marketed to attract consumers to this fast growing market. I examine the ways both conventional marketing strategies and strategies that capitalize on the notion of global citizenship are used to sell goods. Because there is no quick and easy way to frame what FT means, retailers tend to "play" with their definitions of FT in order to find the framing strategies that resonate with consumers. Fair Trade is best described as a movement embedded within a market; and thus, retail owners must navigate the tensions associated with adhering to movement principles while maintaining a profitable business. The movement versus market tension is reflected in the ways FT retail staff interact with customers, and in the ways FT products are marketed and framed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]