Do consumers care about work health issues? A qualitative study on voluntary occupational health activities and consumer social responsibility

• Published date: 01 June 2021
• Author: Sebastian Müller,Eva Kuhn,Alena Buyx,Ludger Heidbrink
• Date: 01 June 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12234

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Do consumers care about work health issues?

A qualitative study on voluntary occupational

health activities and consumer social

responsibility

Sebastian Müller

1

| Eva Kuhn

2

| Alena Buyx

2

|

Ludger Heidbrink

1

1

Department of Practical Philosophy,

Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel,

Kiel, Germany

2

Institute of History and Ethics in

Medicine, Technical University of

Munich, Munich, Germany

Correspondence

Sebastian Müller, Department of Practical

Philosophy, Christian-Albrechts-

University of Kiel, Leibnizstr. 4, 24118.

Kiel, Germany.

Email: mueller@philsem.uni-kiel.de

Funding information

Bundesministerium für Bildung und

Forschung (German Federal Ministry for

Education and Research), Grant/Award

Number: 02L14A041

Abstract

As occupational health management (OHM) and

work health promotion (WHP) become increasingly

prominent in companies worldwide, little is known

about consumers' attitudes towards work health-related

issues. Do consumers consider the health of employees

in German companies to be important? Do German com-

panies consider consumers to be relevant stakeholders in

voluntary occupational health (OH) and well-being

activities? In the first of two qualitative interview studies,

German consumers were asked which actors they con-

sider to be responsible in OH contexts and whether or

not they prefer OH-related product attributes to other

socially desirable ones. During a second qualitative inter-

view study with representatives from German compa-

nies, suppliers, institutions, and organizations concerned

with voluntary and legally mandatory OH, participants

were asked about their expectations regarding whether

or not consumers are interested in such OH activities.

Both studies highlight the difference between the

consumers' perspective on OH issues and responsibilities

on the one hand and what companies and stakeholders

DOI: 10.1111/basr.12234

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

© 2021 The Authors. Business and Society Review published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of W. Michael Hoffman Center for Busi-

ness Ethics at Bentley University.

Bus Soc Rev. 2021;126:169–191. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/basr 169

believe consumers think about OH issues and responsi-

bilities on the other. The findings show that consumers

can recognize non-mandatory OH and well-being activi-

ties as elements of their own social responsibility

(ConSR), while companies usually do not consider this

perspective in their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

KEYWORDS

corporate social responsibility, Germany, occupational health

management, sustainability, work health promotion

1|INTRODUCTION

Consumers

1

not only take low prices and high product or service quality into account, but they

also consider several other parameters when making purchasing decisions. These parameters

include trends, brands, esthetics, environmental impact, and political and ethical considerations

(Kriwy & Mecking, 2012; Starr, 2009). Despite the intention–behavior gap phenomenon

(e.g., Shaw et al., 2016), consumers can perceive themselves as responsible actors in market

processes whose purchasing activities have an impact on the social world, and they may hold

certain social, economic, and environmental values. Consumers can meet their “Consumer

Social Responsibility”(ConSR) by performing corresponding acts of socially responsible

consumption (SRC) like boycotting and buycotting activities, the procurement of product and

production information, recognizing purchasing decisions as an act of voting within the market

sphere, and reflecting on previous purchase decisions (Hoffmann, 2020; Müller, 2020; Schlaile,

Müller, et al., 2018). Consumers' positive attitudes and their corresponding purchasing

decisions towards several product attributes that are considered to be environmentally friendly

and socially responsible, such as fair trade or organic food, have been empirically proven

(Bartels & Onwezen, 2014; Beldad & Hegner, 2018; De Leeuw et al., 2014; Luchs et al., 2015;

Oh & Yoon, 2014).

However, some product attributes that are socially and ethically relevant to people and

strategically and culturally important for companies have yet to be examined with respect to

ConSR and purchasing habits. Among the most striking ones is occupational health (OH). In

addition to other factors, employee health is influenced to a considerable extent by the work

environment. Long working hours spent sitting or standing can have negative effects on a

worker's back and joints, and short breaks favor poor diets. In addition to physical stress,

employees are also exposed to psychological stress, caused by factors like unfavorable shift

times, a poor work–life balance, or high workloads (Rugulies et al., 2019; Teychenne

et al., 2019; Vandyck & Fianu, 2012). Companies can influence these factors using structural

measures and preventive activities. While more companies are promoting non-mandatory work

health measures and while some are even introducing holistic occupational health management

(OHM) systems (Osilla et al., 2012; Turk, 2016), a lack of knowledge persists regarding whether

or not consumers are interested in those activities. This does not bode well for a progressive OH

nor a progressive consumer policy, because consumers' social engagement and purchase

preferences in this respect may be a powerful driving force for healthier work environments.

170 MÜLLER ET AL.