Looking beyond the surface: What social enterprise consumer comments may reveal about meaning and identity
When asking why people buy from social enterprises, existing research usually focuses on familiar answers around price, quality, doing good, convenience, and those really do matter. But they only tell us so much about the people doing the buying.
For my final-year sociology research module at the Open University, I wanted to ask a different kind of question. Not why people buy from social enterprises, but what they're actually doing with the words they use when they talk about buying. Why? Because how people talk about their choices often reveals more than the choices themselves.
When someone writes a comment in a public space, they're not just stating a fact or an opinion. It's a social thing, part of a conversation, written for other people to read. And that makes it a window into something a lot richer than a simple reason.
So, I took a public online discussion where people were explaining why they buy from social enterprises, and I read it closely, looking at what was going on beneath the words rather than just counting up reasons. Straight away, things came into view that a simple 'why did you buy?' question might have skipped right past.
For a start, the people in the online discussion didn't all agree on what the label 'social enterprise' even means. They were working it out as they went, between them, and often disagreeing, some of them describing it not just as an alternative to ordinary business, but as a better way of doing business. The label got people's attention, but it didn't automatically earn their trust. They wanted proof, not just a badge or a label, and when they were sceptical, it usually showed how much they cared about the sector, not how little.
But what really stood out for me wasn't just how the meaning of 'social enterprise' shifted and was by no means a fixed concept in the eyes of these consumers. It was how buying from one let people express a part of who they were. They weren't just buying a product or service. They were saying something about themselves out loud, and each person did that in their own way.
For some, it was about morals: buying from a social enterprise was a way to show that they are the kind of person who tries to do the right thing with how they spend their money. For others, it was about being more cautious, not just buying into a label but using their own judgement. Some saw their spending as a bit of power, a small lever they could use to help divert their money into a better direction, one purchase at a time. And for others, it was about feeling like they belonged, being part of something bigger than themselves.
In some cases, these weren't different people. The same person leaving a comment might shift between some or all these roles in just a few sentences: moral one moment, sceptical the next, then quietly proud to be part of something bigger. Buying, it turned out, was a way for people to try on and show different sides of who they are - a part of their identity.
Now, my research is not trying to claim a final word on social enterprise consumers and say they all fit neatly into these descriptive themes (see report). It's what one group of people showed in one discussion, viewed through a particular lens. And that's rather the point. The interesting bit isn't any single finding; it's the question underneath:
What might we learn about the people who buy from social enterprises if we didn't just ask why they buy, but also paid attention to what they're doing when they talk about it?
I've turned my research dissertation into a short report (see below). I've tried to make it easy to read whether you run a social enterprise, support the sector, or are just curious about how people make sense of business with a purpose. Its purpose is not to hand you a secret formula for talking to customers. What it offers is a different way of looking at the everyday language people use, and a few questions worth sitting with - questions that might help you connect more deeply with the people any business depends on: its customers.
I'd love to hear what it sparks for you. Please feel free to get in touch and discuss!
[Download the Report]
(full methodology available on request)
