Understanding voluntary simplifiers

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Voluntary simplicity: an exploration of market interactions

“…They may centre on the careful and wise use of resources for the achievement of long-term consumption goals as reflected in frugality (Todd and Lawson, 2002), and may have little to do with societal and environmental issues such as those advocated by the low consumption and anti-consumption movement. However, motivations can also be related to a concern for the environment, religion and physical wellbeing (Craig-Lees and Hill, 2002). A US-wide online survey by Huneke (2005) also reveals the importance attributed by voluntary simplifiers to principles such as responsibility, family life, friendship and generosity.…”

“…Indeed, Sadie noted "simplicity would have to be naturally a part of a spiritual lifestyle", and has been made previously in the context of voluntary simplicity (Craig-Lees and Hill, 2002) and ethical consumption (Shaw and Thomson, 2002). The feelings of responsibility beyond the self towards the environment and people evident in the spiritual orientation described by some participants promoted the notion of consumers as citizens (Gabriel and Lang, 1995), and a felt need to respond to ethical concerns.…”

The consumption and disposition behaviour of voluntary simplifiers

“…More recently, Craig- Lees and Hill (2002) identify the following five themes of voluntary simplicity: freedom of choice to lead a simpler life; a reduction in material consumption; access to resources like wealth, education and unique skills which can be traded for a high income; control and personal fulfilment; and being driven by values such as humanism, self-determination, environmentalism, spirituality and self-development. Etzioni (1998) argues that consumers can adopt the lifestyle on a sliding scale of involvement, identifying three levels of intensity: downshifters, strong simplifiers and holistic simplifiers.…”

“…The main themes which emerge from the voluntary simplicity literature that are relevant to this study centre around the changes in consumption behaviour which occur as part of adopting the lifestyle, and can be viewed in terms of reducing consumption, ethical Reducing consumption involves limiting consumption through activities such as sharing, buying second-hand and eliminating clutter (e.g. Bekin et al, 2007;Craig-Lees and Hill, 2002;Huneke, 2005;Shaw and Newholm, 2002), while ethical consumption involves a person considering the environmental and social impacts of their consumption choices, which may result in activities like buying fairtrade and/or environmentally friendly products (e.g. McDonald et al, 2006;Shaw and Newholm, 2002).…”

“…When adopting the lifestyle, voluntary simplifiers enter a concentrated period of de-cluttering where they must be able to dispose of goods, and decouple notions of identity from these goods (Nelson et al, 2007). Then, once fully immersed in the lifestyle, voluntary simplifiers exhibit changes in consumption due to their lessened focus on material wealth (Craig-Lees and Hill, 2002), where disposition inevitably plays an ongoing role.…”