fellow

Maiko Hashinaga

2023-2024
Home institution
Sapporo Gakuin University, JP
Country of origin (home institution)
Japan
Discipline(s)
Educational Sciences
Theme(s)
Education & Science
Fellowship dates
›
Biography

Makiko Hashinaga (born in Tokyo, Japan) is a pedagogist. Her research focuses on consumer education from a financial perspective and attempts to steer consumer behavior toward assuming more social responsibility. What intrigues her most are the questions that drive Swiss citizen to take on ethical consumption, for instance, fairtrade, organic, environmental/animal-friendly consumption.

Makiko received her PhD in 2016 from Tokyo Gakugei University. In her doctoral thesis, she investigated the effectiveness of financial education in enhancing financial literacy and consumer citizenship in young adults. Recently, her interest has moved towards the investigation of factors that affect the socially responsible behavior of consumers who can contribute to the SDG Goal 12 of “Sustainable Production and Consumption” as formulated by the United Nations. She is a committee member of the Financial and Securities Education Support Committee of the Japan Securities Dealers Association, the Sapporo City Environmental Council, and the Japan Fair Trade Forum.

Research Project
Investigating the Drivers of Ethical Consumption in Switzerland

The project takes a comparative approach to investigate the determinants of ethical consumption in Switzerland. First, by clarifying differences in Swiss contextual factors through Swiss market and qualitative research on fair trade advocates and general consumers. Secondly, by conducting a curriculum analysis and participant observation of consumer education-related subjects of ethical consumption in Swiss school education. She will elucidate the characteristics of educational content and methods that foster ethical qualities and construct a hypothetical structure of ethical consumption promotion factors in Switzerland. In a third step, data from a consumer survey conducted in Switzerland will be used to test hypotheses on the main factors driving ethical consumption in Switzerland developed based on the first and second steps. And fourth, developing a coherent theoretical approach to the factors driving ethical consumption in Switzerland.

Research Interests:

ethical consumption; fair trade; Swiss school education