Institutionalising non-governmental organisation dialogue at Unilever: framing the public as ‘consumer-citizens’

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Abstract
Between 1994 and 2001, Unilever engaged in dialogue with environmental and consumer non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the UK over questions raised by the commercialisation of genetically modified foods. This initiative took the form of a ‘Contact Group’, which allowed members from the company and the NGOs to develop close working relations. Through this group, Unilever sponsored academic social science research into public attitudes to genetically modified foods. This paper explores how Unilever sought to reframe its relations with consumers using the concept of ‘consumer-citizens’, which had emerged from the work of the Contact Group. This term acknowledges that consumers can reflect on their relationship with companies such as Unilever in citizen-like ways.

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