The emergence of ambivalent leisure consumers – The case of boating along the Swedish West Coast

Abstract

Through a case study of leisure boating along the Swedish West Coast, this study explores how two conflicting roles – consumers and environmental citizens – produce and are produced by a highly ambivalent neoliberal discourse. On the one hand, this discourse supports economic growth and increasing consumption, while on the other hand it expects consumers to consider the environmental impacts of their actions and make pro-environmental choices. Through a mixed-method approach based on the application of consumer value theory (CVT) in combination with a motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) model, this study demonstrates how the consumer role is predominantly produced and reproduced through social pressure and market forces as well as emotional and habitual attachment to boat-life and boating. This (re)production of the consumer role conflicts with the environmental citizenship role, as boaters agree that protection is needed while they also put high value on the sea as a place of freedom. The study suggests that there is a need for an environmental policy that recognises how the consumer role is produced and reproduced. Such policy should move beyond the assumption of the sovereignty of the individual and focus more closely on the interaction between humans and the sea.