Voluntary Simplicity: Characterization, Select Psychological Implications, and Societal Consequences

A common ideology of consumption is that more things translate to a higher quality of life. This paper challenges this ideology. We explore the consumption resistance (anticonsumption) of ''cheap and low-quality'' goods experienced by consumers living in former East Germany. We interviewed men and women who lived in East Germany about their consumption experiences before, during, and after Reunification. We present three emergent themes: ''consumer resistance -emergence of anti-consumption,'' ''continued frugality -resistance to contemporary throwawayism?,'' and ''Western Brand Resistance.'' Our research reveals a deep aversion among East Germans to the modern, bureaucratic and obligatory practice of throwawayism and hyperconsumption. We find feelings of resentment and betrayal and discover a much deeper issue with consumption: the fact that consumption is often a disillusioning experience and that material possessions and abundance are actually driving East Germans apart -making them feel less socially connected. As East Germans are swept up in the global economic juggernaut of capitalism, they find that their collective identity and sense of community is also swallowed up. Upon this realization, dialogism appears, and we uncover this as resistance to Western practices of hyperconsumption, frugality-as-an-ethic and an aversion to low quality throwaway-type products. Based on our findings, we make suggestions for marketing practice and for future research.

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 51%

Section: Consumption Materialism and Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

Anti‐consumption in East Germany: consumer resistance to hyperconsumption

Albinsson

Wolf

Kopf

2010

“…Values central to the movement include material simplicity, self‐determination, ecological awareness, personal growth, and a desire for human‐scale institutions and technologies (Elgin and Mitchell, ). People adhere to the simple lifestyle in varying degrees (Etzioni, ; Bekin et al ., ; Huneke, ) and may be motivated by a disdain for waste of all kinds (Leonard‐Barton, ).…”

Section: The Simple Man Contrasted With Other Conceptions Of Modern Amentioning

confidence: 99%

The simple man: The consumption behavior of the principled life

McGinnis

Frendle²,

Gentry

2013

In this study, we analyze the Simple Man, a label for those men who have above-average means in education, household income, or net worth but who consume inconspicuously and modestly below their means. We interviewed 27 men in the Northwest, Midwest, Southeast and Northeast regions of the United States and found that these men have highly individualistic identities and backgrounds yet appear to stray from products that separate them from others. These men also seem to have reached a level of contentment, not needing products or material possessions to achieve fulfillment, status, or a particular masculine identity. These men have practical and durable tastes that reflect low cultural capital (LCC) consumption but have the means and education in many instances to engage in high cultural capital (HCC) consumption. The men in this study adamantly proclaim that they do not define themselves by what they own nor do they appear to define themselves primarily by what they do, at least in terms of occupation. In short, these men appear complex in many ways yet live simple lives, or what might be termed complex simplicity.

“…Consumption is a behaviour that generally provides consumers with satisfaction of self‐needs and comfort, and assists them in constructing their self‐identity (Ewen, 1988; Zavestoski, 2002; Lee et al ., 2009). Anti‐consumers are less likely than others to use consumption to satisfy these needs (Zavestoski, 2002) and instead cultivate non‐materialistic sources of satisfaction and meaning (Etzioni, 1998).…”

Section: Conceptualisation Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Proscription and its impact on anti‐consumption behaviour and attitudes: the case of plastic bags

Sharp

Høj

Wheeler

2010

This paper empirically examines whether proscription of a habitual consumption item can act as a mechanism to develop anti-consumption behaviour and attitudes. The paper tracks a legislated retail ban on single-use polyethylene plastic bags, analysing 1167 interviews with shoppers before the ban's announcement, during a 4-month phasing-out period (and demarketing campaign), and when the ban was in full effect. Two hundred and fifty three interviews are repeated with the same individuals to allow identification of individual-level attitudinal and behavioural change. Anti-consumption is typically conceptualised as a phenomenon based on choice. This research investigates how shoppers react when forced into anti-consumption behaviour, and how supportive voluntary anti-consumers are of others being made to change. Grouping shoppers according to their level of voluntary anti-consumption of plastic bags before the ban, the analysis finds that shoppers who voluntarily showed anti-consumption behaviour were the only group showing any voluntary shift in anti-consumption behaviours during the phasing-out period. These shoppers are supportive of forcing others to show anti-consumption, while the level of behavioural and attitudinal resistance from shoppers that showed little or no voluntary anti-consumption is low. These findings support the use of proscription to achieve anti-consumption behaviours, however, proscription does not necessarily engender full anti-consumption attitudes. This study adds to knowledge on anti-consumption and shopper resistance to proscriptive interventions designed to reduce socially undesirable behaviours. It provides further evidence that demarketing campaigns, without accompanying negative reinforcers, may be insufficient to achieve widespread behavioural change alone.