Boy: You may find yourself asking, can this actually work? The answer is a simple yes. In both the food and apparel industries, calls for changes in working conditions led to the now widely-known nonprofit organization, Fair Trade USA.

According to its website, Fair Trade USA is an organization that seeks to inspire the rise of the socially conscious consumer and eliminate exploitation worldwide. If products are stamped with the Fair Trade logo, it means that the farmers and workers who created those products were fairly treated and justly compensated according to an internationally established price. Fair Trade USA made its mark in the food industry through its relationship to coffee production in third world nations. Its success helped major companies, such as Starbucks and Whole Foods, recognize the strength of cause marketing.

If you appeal to the high ethical standards of socially conscious consumers, they will pay more for your product. Appealing to high ethical standards is often directly related to preventing tragedies, such as the one that occurred in Bangladesh. After the factory collapsed, the major apparel sellers faced intense criticism over their lax labor practices. In response, these companies are now much more interested in establishing their products as Fair Trade to meet socially conscious consumer standards.

For example, as Jason Burke, Saad Hammadi, and Simon Neville report in their May 13, 2013, edition of The Guardian, major fashion chains, like H&M, Zarab, C&A, Tesco, and Primark, have pledged to help raise standards for working conditions. According to the article, they will be helping to finance fire safety and building improvements in the factories they use in Bangladesh.