Consciousness is a widely-misunderstood property of objects. Unlike descriptive properties, which have empirically observable consequences and correlates, consciousness is a normative property - an object is conscious if and inasmuch as it is bad to harm, inconvenience, kill or implode it. Arguments about whether things are or are not "conscious" are, as such, best interpreted as arguments about whether those things have moral worth rather than anything empirical.
Twin studies in relativistic trolley collisions estimate that consciousness is responsible for about 30% of variance in moral worth.