Understanding (and tackling) need satisfier escalation

Abstract

Contemporary consumption patterns, embedded in profit-maximizing economic systems, are driving a worsening socio-ecological crisis, in particular through the escalating production and consumption of goods with high material and/or energy intensity. Establishing minimum and maximum standards of consumption (or "consumption corridors") has been suggested as a way to address this crisis. Consumption corridors provide the normative basis for sustainable consumption, that is, enough consumption for individuals to satisfy needs, but not too much to collectively surpass environmental limits. Current consumption patterns (especially in the global North) do not yet fall within consumption corridors, and standards are not fixed over time. Consumption is socially constructed and can escalate due to socioeconomic, technological, or infrastructural influences. In this article, we propose a framework to understand such escalating trends. This approach can be used as a tool for comprehending how consumption evolves over time, as well as for identifying the most effective leverage points to intervene and prevent escalation from happening in the first place. We build on theories of human-need satisfaction and combine these conceptual understandings with insights from research on socio-technical provisioning systems, sociological approaches to consumption, and perspectives on infrastructure lock-in. We illustrate our framework by systemically considering escalation for a specific technological productthe private car.

Advancing the concept of consumption corridors and exploring its implications

“…Yet happiness can be short-lived, can be experienced by people living in inhumane conditions, or can be difficult for a society to plan for and protect (Sen 2010;Costanza et al 2014;Di Giulio and Defila 2020). Brand-Correa and Steinberger (2017) argue that such approaches place an undue focus on individual and subjective feelings and impressions rather than on societal measures. Aristotle's idea of eudemonia, or living a life that allows for flourishing, opens up another approach tied up with meeting human needs, or creating the conditions necessary for people to develop certain capabilities.…”

“…(5) engaging in personal self-transformation directed at what it feels and looks like to "live well within limits." Brand-Correa et al (2020) focus on how consumption patterns escalate due to socio-economic, technological, and infrastructural influences. They propose a framework to analyze and understand such increasing trends by distinguishing different orders of satisfiers.…”

A corridors and power-oriented perspective on energy-service demand and needs satisfaction

“…Moreover, communication is important to participate in broader economic provision activities, such as organization of workplace conditions (through unionization, for example), innovation and improvements of various types, coordination of similar activities through sectoral production or consumption associations (e.g., guilds and consumer-advocacy groups, renters' unions, community groups), and so forth. Indeed, there is a large literature on the key role of spatial mobility for social inclusion and need satisfaction, including the need for economic security (Brand-Correa et al 2020;Lucas et al 2016;Mattioli 2016). Figure 4 illustrates four scenarios in terms of different combinations of high/low energy-service demand for communication and breadth of access to economic security in society.…”

“…Likewise, mobility infrastructures may be (re)designed with more or less of a focus on the associated energy-service demand and more or less attention to how they enable access to key services and opportunities (see e.g., Martens 2016;Lucas et al 2019). Traditional approaches to transport policy and planning have, in many cases, reduced accessibility levels for those with no access to private cars, effectively coupling energy demand with need satisfaction (Brand-Correa et al 2020;King, Smart, and Manville 2019). More generally, policies promoting car dependence (such as road building) tend to be legitimized based on a range of discourses which appeal to various political persuasions, all the while benefiting certain vested interests (Mattioli et al 2020).…”

Descriptive Dimensions of Brand Equity in Service Sector of Pakistan: A Literature Review

“…If a mind doesn't know a brand, the desired brand organizations in consumers are very difficult to develop. The knowledge of the brand name serves as a bond between all else and the brand, just like a person's name that serves as the anchor to tie all of his relationships (Brand et al, 2020).…”