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Abstract
As overconsumption has negative effects on ecological balance, social equality, and individual well-being, reducing consumption levels among the materially affluent is an emerging strategy for sustainable development. Today’s youth form a crucial target group for intervening in unsustainable overconsumption habits and for setting the path and ideas on responsible living. This article explores young people’s motivations for engaging in three behavioural patterns linked to anti-consumption (voluntary simplicity, collaborative consumption, and living within one’s means) in relation to sustainability. Applying a qualitative approach, laddering interviews reveal the consequences and values behind the anti-consumption behaviours of young people of ages 14 to 24 according to a means-end chains analysis. The findings highlight potential for and the challenges involved in motivating young people to reduce material levels of consumption for the sake of sustainability. Related consumer policy tools from the fields of education and communication are identified. This article provides practical implications for policy makers, activists, and educators. Consumer policies may strengthen anti-consumption among young people by addressing individual benefits, enabling reflection on personal values, and referencing credible narratives. The presented insights can help give a voice to young consumers, who struggle to establish themselves as key players in shaping the future consumption regime.
Highlights
As overconsumption has negative effects on ecological balance, social equality, and individual well-being, reducing consumption levels among the materially affluent is an emerging strategy for sustainable development
Studies show significant interactions between personal values and consciousness for sustainable consumption (Balderjahn and Hüttel 2019), sustainable fashion (Lundblad and Davies 2016), socially conscious consumption (Pepper et al 2009), and fair-trade consumption (Doran 2009). Building on these premises and means-end chain theory, our research aims to extend these perspectives for anti-consumption and thereby to display the relative importance of different motives among young people
Our research offers valuable insights and practical implications for researchers, policy makers, and activists who are interested in understanding anti-consumerist attitudes among young people and who aspire to prepare the future generation for living in a world presented with fundamental sustainability challenges
Summary
As overconsumption has negative effects on ecological balance, social equality, and individual well-being, reducing consumption levels among the materially affluent is an emerging strategy for sustainable development. Today’s youth constitute a generation that must confront the challenging environmental, societal, and economic conditions created in previous decades (Fien et al 2008) They represent a crucial target group for intervening against unsustainable consumption habits and for setting the path for the development of means for more responsible living (Fischer et al 2017; Francis and Davis 2015; Grauerholz and Bubriski-McKenzie 2012; Kamenidou et al 2019; UNESCO-UNEP 2007). Strategies for counteracting unsustainable practices of overconsumption and achieving the double dividend of “living better by consuming less” (Jackson 2005a) meet systemic challenges which require synthesized action in politics, economics, civil society, and by individuals (Assadourian 2010) Reducing their consumption levels appears as the responsible thing to do, yet this objective resembles a rebellious act within a still consumption-focused society.
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