Generational Responsibility in Consumption as a Response to Global Economic Crises

Mrdjan Milićev Mladjan,Dušan Zvonkov Marković

doi:10.3390/su13063329

Mrdjan Milićev Mladjan, Dušan Zvonkov Marković

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063329

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Abstract

The rise of Asian and the stagnation of Western middle classes over the last thirty years have resulted in gradual convergence of income of large parts of the world’s population. Recent global crises—the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic—have led to a decline in income and increase in income uncertainty. Rise in consumption of lower quality goods of shorter durability and an overall decline in demand and economic activity resulted as challenges to the global economy. In this paper, we argue that generational responsibility in consumption can be an environmentally sustainable response to crises which enables the economies to overcome the crisis of confidence and reaffirms community ties. As an element of long-term orientation in consumption, generational responsibility is a cultural phenomenon dependent on solidarity within family and the wider community. It is characterized by consideration of consequences of consumption choices on the environment, and the abundance of savings and the usability of goods to be inherited by future generations. For companies, willing to revisit their traditional business models and incorporate principles of sustainability in their competitive strategies, promotion of generational responsibility can become a new source of competitive advantage and a driver of economic recovery.

Highlights

Globalization has been accelerating in the last three decades, resulting in growing connectedness between people, companies, and national states
Our hypothesis is that generational responsibility in consumption, a concept which we introduce in this paper, could serve as the driver of one market mechanism that could effectively lead to the improvement of the contemporary economic, environmental, and social context
We argue that generationally responsible consumption could boost economic recovery after crises, minimize the negative influence of business activities on the environment, end the income stagnation of large parts of population, and provide financial support for the future generations

Summary

Introduction

Globalization has been accelerating in the last three decades, resulting in growing connectedness between people, companies, and national states. This process has changed many social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of the world. While globalization has created plentiful business opportunities and boosted economic growth, the growth has varied across national economies. Not all groups of consumers within nations have experienced the same benefits from globalization, resulting in growing inequality. In combination with the 2008 and 2020 crises, this resulted in a partial loss of trust in public institutions and sporadic outbursts of social unrest that followed austerity policies in some European countries [3], increasing the uncertainty about the economic future

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