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The consumption behaviour of beginner voluntary simplifiers: an exploratory study
... Reduced material consumption Brown and Kasser 2005;Shaw and Newholm 2002;Craig-Lees and Hill 2002;McGouran and Prothero 2016;Devenin and Bianchi 2023;Campos et al. 2023 Internal values, well-being and personal growth Kasser 2009;Etzioni 2004;Elgin and Mitchell 1977;Devenin and Bianchi 2023;Liu, Chen, and Liu 2024;Chen and Wei 2023;Hook et al. 2023 Environmental responsibility or concerns for the planet McDonald et al. 2006;Shaw and Moraes 2009;Vannini and Taggart 2013;Demirel 2022 Social consciousness and focus on relationships Seegebarth et al. 2016;Lee 2019;Demirel 2022 driving someone to become a voluntary simplifier, as well as the processes associated with this transformation. Rebouças and Soares (2021b) studied this initial stage of VS and identified motivations for and barriers to it, although the exploratory nature of their work left room for further study. Advancing knowledge about this stage is important to illuminate the process for a person to become a long-term voluntary simplifier (McDonald et al. 2006;McGouran and Prothero 2016) and to be better equipped to persuade more people to engage in VS (Chen et al. 2022) or make other transformative changes in consumption choices and habits (Rebouças and Soares 2021b). ...
... Rebouças and Soares (2021b) studied this initial stage of VS and identified motivations for and barriers to it, although the exploratory nature of their work left room for further study. Advancing knowledge about this stage is important to illuminate the process for a person to become a long-term voluntary simplifier (McDonald et al. 2006;McGouran and Prothero 2016) and to be better equipped to persuade more people to engage in VS (Chen et al. 2022) or make other transformative changes in consumption choices and habits (Rebouças and Soares 2021b). Accordingly, our study focuses on the first stages of adoption of VS. ...
... In doing so, we also identify meanings and challenges associated with adopting this lifestyle. In order to complement the work of Rebouças and Soares (2021b), who focused on self-reported behaviour from participants in interviews and focus groups, we look at real discussions from participants about the subject, collected unobtrusively as they happen, spontaneously, in a community of relevant people (Kozinets 2002a(Kozinets , 2019. ...
Voluntary simplicity (VS), a lifestyle centred on frugality, reduction of consumption, and the search for non‐materialistic sources of fulfilment, has been gaining popularity and has the potential to advance sustainable resource use. This study considers the drivers, practices and consumer decisions of those aspiring to live more simply, based on a netnography of 21,198 comments on 635 posts from an online community of VS. We focus on people in the early stages of becoming simplifiers. Findings are organised into four main topics: meanings of VS according to early‐stage simplifiers; main drivers to lifestyle adoption; practices; and buying decision process of these simplifiers. Insights from this study enhance our understanding of why people simplify their lives voluntarily, what this means to them, and the practices and processes involved in becoming a voluntary simplifier. In particular, the flexibility of how VS was understood by the members of the subreddit and how the community was able to accommodate multiple paths to simplifying provide valuable insights into the process of negotiating a lifestyle change. We propose a research framework mapping VS adoption, and suggestions for further studies, and finally discuss implications for theory and practice.
... Thus, sustainable performance creates conflicts for the three sets of criteria. Scholars and practitioners often try to achieve sustainability through financial and non-financial practises for the correct equilibrium amount economic, environmental, and social components of SP (Boons et al. 2013;Björk et al. 2020;Fredman and Margaryan 2021;Joos 2020;Rebouças and Soares 2021;Secundo et al. 2020;Zenker and Kock 2020). However, there is not any universal measure, and scholar often proposes several measures to promote the SP; majority of the available literature focus only on the environmental dimension of sustainable performance and there is a gap to be explored with respect to social and economic dimensions of sustainable performance (Hoejmose & Adrien-Kirby 2012;Franke and Foerstl 2020;Ika et al. 2020;Jabbour et al. 2020;Tanveer et al. 2023). ...
This research aims to examine the factors that determine the sustainable performance of the hospitality sector of Pakistan. Particularly, it measures the effect of three green HRM practises on hotels’ social, economic, and environmentally sustainable performance. The research model incorporates a serially mediated role of green intellectual capital and green behaviour to connect green training, green benefits and compensation, and green hiring with sustainable performance. The study uses the Social Cognitive Theory and resource-based view theory and analyses data using simple random sampling, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. Data is collected from the staff of hotels through a dyad approach by employing the self-administered 5-Likert scale questionnaire. The response rate is 99%, and findings show that green intellectual capital and green behaviour serially mediate amongst green performance, green training, sustainable social performance, sustainable economic performance, and environmentally sustainable performance. However, green hiring does not regress directly or partially with the components of sustainable performance. The study’s originality develops green HRM practises based on sustainable performance in the hospitality sector in developing nations. The study’s findings are important for achieving sustainable development goals, improving the hospitality sector performance, and employees’ role in sustainable performance. The study is sector-specific, and future studies may choose the moderated role of factors to determine sustainable performance.
Voluntary simplicity (VS) is a lifestyle focused on seeking a simple life by reducing consumption and other practices. This systematic literature review aims to analyse and critically discuss the state of the art of VS. This review provides a categorization scheme of VS and analyses: the number of studies and year of publication; journals, number of citations and research areas; study location; VS definitions; types of studies; and research methods. By providing a map of existing research, the paper contributes to the clarification of the VS construct and to the assessment, synthesis and identification of research gaps, and opportunities for further research. VS implications for theory, practice and policy are discussed within the context of consumption/anti‐consumption.
Voluntary simplicity (VS) is the contemporary version of an ancient notion where inner growth is prioritized over riches and material accumulation. The VS lifestyle is often discussed as a more sustainable lifestyle, which has been a primary factor for attracting interest from a range of research disciplines. However, definitional inconsistencies plague VS. This has resulted in incompatible research methodologies in identifying the different categories of participants that can be associated with this lifestyle. This article addresses the main definitional issues of VS and provides a set of ‘VS criteria’ that can be useful for future empirical work and for discussing the different levels of simplicity. VS has also been criticized for lacking political teeth and the inability to influence structure change. The extent that VS can be considered a social movement is also discussed and suggestions for further research on this topic are provided.
Consumption practices that are environmentally and socially more conscious have been studied previously; however, consumers who entirely reject market society and the ideologies associated with it in search for alternatives have received little attention. The participants in this study have had the means to enjoy all of the privileges of market society, yet chose to drop out of their well‐paid corporate positions in search of more meaningful lives. A framework to understand their motivations for this choice, the alternatives they present, and the challenges they face is developed through a qualitative inquiry using in‐depth interviews, secondary data sources, and observation. To these individuals, living in market society represents an eventually dreaded path leading to a vast emptiness, contrarily their departure appears to be a decision of ‘choosing life.’ In their alternative lives, they find meaning in sharing with and helping others, also through an existence with, not against nature. Choosing to have only occasional marketplace interactions, they exhibit a willingness to exist within and navigate multiple organizations of life, even if preference for the one experimented with is strong. The practices of such members of society show potentials for greater change to alleviate the shortcomings of a solely market‐driven way of life.
Those who choose to reduce their material consumption to seek satisfaction in non-material ways are said to be living a life of voluntary simplicity. This lifestyle has potentially important implications for both environmental sustainability and individual well-being. In research, voluntary simplifiers are typically identified informally or by using measurement tools that may not reflect current simplifying practices. The aim of the current work was to develop a measure of voluntary simplicity based on the practices of contemporary simplifiers. Using a mixed-methods approach, qualitative interviews with 16 self-identified voluntary simplifiers were used to develop a questionnaire that was then administered to a sample of 423 participants. The questionnaire was refined statistically, resulting in the development of the 21-item Voluntary Simplicity Engagement Scale. The scale displays sound psychometric qualities and, with additional validation, should serve as a useful addition to the study of voluntary simplicity.
The Lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity (LOVOS) segment is composed of consumers who
attempt to achieve sustainable consumption. The segment has been examined by only a few research studies so far, and none of them were conducted among Hungarian consumers. Therefore, the aim of our exploratory research is to examine the occurrence of the LOVOS consumer group among university students from Debrecen, Hungary. To achieve our aim, we first identified the five main value groups of the LOVOS lifestyle with an expert focus group interview. Based on the interview, a questionnaire survey was conducted among university students from Debrecen (N = 500). Based on the results, four value-based segments were identified, of which the Voluntary simplifiers’ cluster (39.6% of respondents) reflected the characteristics of the LOVOS lifestyle to the greatest extent. Based on the literature, it seemed necessary to segment this group further in terms of their commitment to individual values. As a result, three further clusters were created, of which, the Holistic simplifiers’ group (9.8% of respondents) showed the greatest commitment to the values of the LOVOS lifestyle. We concluded that the characteristics of voluntary simplifiers have already appeared among university students from Debrecen, but further research is needed to reveal the value orientation of the whole of Hungarian society.
Materialism has been examined in many social science disciplines from multiple perspectives. This review synthesizes this extensive literature into two organizing frameworks that describe how materialism develops in children and how materialism is reinforced and perpetuated in adulthood. The major components of the developmental model are the daily event cycle, developmental tasks, cultural influence, and family environment, all of which interact to influence how materialistic a child becomes. The reinforcement model describes how personal qualities that materialists tend to possess make them more vulnerable to threats in daily events, resulting in psychological discomfort. The desire to reduce this discomfort, in conjunction with the transformative powers that materialists ascribe to acquisition, results in actions and outcomes that reinforce materialistic tendencies. Suggestions for furthering the study of materialism are also included.
An outsized focus on the explanatory value of conscious thought can constrain opportunities to
more rigorously examine the influence of less obvious drivers of consumer behavior. This paper
proposes a more circumscribed conceptualization of consciousness, distinguishing it from other
higher-order mental processes such as deliberation and control. We outline the benefits of this
more precise, disaggregated, and minimized perspective on consciousness for guiding research
on choice, self-control, and persuasion. Lastly, in a set of recommendations centering on theory,
methods, and training, we suggest ways for consumer researchers to more critically evaluate
whether the contents of consciousness, compared to more low-level mechanistic factors, play a
meaningful role in driving behavior.
Nowadays, many individuals are concerned about the consequences of overconsumption. Therefore, individuals have become more interested in non-materialism, environmental consciousness and spiritual well-being. A "Voluntary Simplicity" lifestyle, defined as being outwardly simple and inwardly rich, is becoming an alternative way of living for some consumers. This study aims to understand the interest in this concept within the context of Turkey as an emerging market. For this study a sample of Turkish consumers has been divided into groups with similar characteristics related to their voluntary simplicity attitude and behavior; with these the demographic profiles of these clusters are determined. The results are believed to provide insights for firms active in marketing in Turkey.
Low consumption lifestyles have the potential to impact positively on the
environment and mental health. Past research indicates that individuals who engage in a
low consumption lifestyle known as voluntary simplicity have higher levels of life satisfaction.
This investigation aimed to test the role of psychological needs as proposed by
Ryan and Deci’s (Am Psychol 55(1):68–78, 2000. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68) selfdetermination
theory, in the relationship between voluntary simplicity and life satisfaction
in a sample of 571 adults who may or may not identify as voluntary simplifiers. Self-report
data was analysed using structural equation modeling to test a hypothesised path from
simplifying behaviours to life satisfaction via gratification of the three proposed psychological
needs. Consistent with previous research, simplifying behaviours were associated
with increased life satisfaction. The proposed pathway: simplicity—psychological need
gratification—life satisfaction was supported in the empirical test of the structural equation
model suggesting psychological need satisfaction plays a mediating role in the increased
life satisfaction of voluntary simplifiers.
After a brief reference to the philosophical background of simple living and its basic ideas, we explore how simple living can aid sustainable consumption. We look at general linkages between the two concepts and sug-gest how simple living can be used to support sustainable development (what elements to promote, what policy instruments to use, what barriers may be encountered). We conclude that philosophical reflection is the most important element of simple living that might enrich the current debate on sustainable consumption and suggest how to further strengthen the popularity of simple living movement.
This article seeks to contribute to the discourse on the politicization of voluntary simplifiers' consumption patterns. Some scholars argue that voluntary simplifiers' consumption practices are individualistic and escapist in nature, and therefore cannot be defined as political, and that they are likely to become such only if they organize for collective action. Conversely, we argue that voluntary simplifiers' lifestyle is an individual political choice that should be analyzed using theories of political consumption. This article, based on interviews with voluntary simplifiers in Israel, identifies four characteristics of voluntary simplifiers that attest to their political nature: (1) multidimensional political discourse, (2) embracement of a holistic and uncompromising lifestyle of simplicity, (3) lifestyle changes as ongoing political process, and (4) the desire to exert influence. We therefore argue that voluntary simplifiers are not only political, but they represent a clear-cut instance of noninstitutionalized political activity realized through individual practices in the private realm.
Grassroots innovations (GI) are promising examples of deliberate transformation of socio-technical systems towards resilience and sustainability. However, evidence is needed on the factors that limit or enable their success. This paper set out to study how GI use narratives to empower innovation in the face of incumbent socio-technical regimes. Institutional documents were comparatively analysed to assess how the narratives influence the structure, form of action and external interactions of two Italian grassroots networks, Bilanci di Giustizia and Transition Network Italy. The paper finds an internal consistency between narratives and strategies for each of the two networks. The paper also highlights core similarities, but also significant differences in the ethical basis of the two narratives, and in the organisations and strategies. Such
differences determine different forms of innovation empowerment and expose the niche to different potentials to transform incumbent regimes, or to the risk of being co-opted by them.
This article examines the learning occurring within the voluntary simplicity social movement, focusing specifically on the learning and development of identity via “moral agency” in those individuals who embrace and practice voluntary simplicity. Four key findings are discussed. First, simplifiers craft new identities in a consumption-driven world that reject society's normative subjectivities and re-create more ethical ones. Second, simplifiers develop and reinforce their moral identities through participating in particular practices of the self and self-regulation. Third, simplifiers struggle with trying to balance an ethic of nonjudgment with the very real feelings of being morally superior. Finally, simplifiers face the difficulty of managing collective group identity because of their decentralized and stratified participant base and highly individualistic moral codes. Because collective identity is so closely linked to social movement success, it holds implications for the politics of social movements and their effectiveness in bringing about social change.
This paper considers the contemporary use of focus groups as a method of data collection within qualitative research settings. The authors draw upon their own experiences of using focus groups in educational and ‘community’ user‐group environments in order to provide an overview of recent issues and debates surrounding the deployment of focus group methods and to pick out specific areas of contention in relation to both their epistemological and practical implications. Accordingly, the paper reflects on some of the realities of ‘doing’ focus groups whilst, at the same time, highlighting common problems and dilemmas which beginning researchers might encounter in their application. In turn, the paper raises a number of related issues around which there appears to have been a lack of academic discussion to date.
Materialism represents a pervasive value in contemporary society and one that is associated with multiple negative consequences. Although a considerable amount of research has documented these consequences, little research has examined how materialism levels might be reduced. This article presents a research agenda for reducing materialism. The authors begin with an overview of the motivation theory of materialism, a humanistic perspective that holds that materialism is often an outward manifestation of deeper unmet psychological needs and insecurities. Thus, research that contributes to reducing materialism should do so by addressing these more fundamental inadequacies. To this end, the authors outline three emergent research areas that have potential to reduce materialism by enhancing self-esteem-namely, experiential consumption, prosocial giving, and healthy social development in children. The authors review research in each area, consider its relevance to the materialism question, and propose future research directions. They also present the public policy implications of these discussions.
The concept of voluntary simplicity (VS) is taken as a starting point to investigate consumers' use of information sources when making purchases of sustainable technological products and services. Differences in information seeking and sources consulted and trusted are investigated with a view to increasing the uptake of sustainable domestic technologies such as energy efficient fridges and washing machines over more grey alternatives. Clear patterns both in sources used and the information seeking process were found between different groups of consumers and priorities for purchase were also identified. The results suggest different strategies for marketing sustainable technologies to these different consumer groups.
The text of this article is available from; http://hdl.handle.net/10059/1046
This article examines and extends the notion of voluntary simplifiers (VS). VS are individuals who have freely chosen a frugal, anticonsumer lifestyle that features low resource use and environmental impact. The article will begin by reviewing empirical work with VS and their mainstream counterparts, non-voluntary simplifiers (NVS). It will go on to identify and locate within this literature an intermediate group: beginner voluntary simplifiers (BVS). BVS may support some aspects of sustainability (such as buying fair-trade coffee or recycling domestic waste) without either embracing a complete lifestyle change like VS, or completely dismissing ethical or environ-mental features of products and services they consume, like NVS. Insight into the complex decision-making processes of BVS is crucial for the understanding of the concept of voluntary simplification and is therefore important for the advancement of sustainable consumption. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The practice of voluntary simplicity is inextricably linked to consumer behavior and has attracted the attention of researchers in a number of disciplines, including psychology and marketing. Yet the daily practice of voluntary simplicity in the United States remains largely unexamined. The research presented here is the first to look at voluntary simplicity with the use of a nationwide sample of American consumers. A more refined application of Maslow's theory of human motivation to the understanding of this social phenomenon is proposed. The practices considered most important to this lifestyle are identified, as are key impediments to its consistent practice. Factor analysis is used to identify the underlying dimensions of U.S. voluntary simplicity: ecological and social responsibility; community; and maintaining a spiritual life. Findings indicate that people of moderate income are more likely to practice voluntary simplicity than was previously believed. This research also compares highly committed simplifiers to those who are less committed, finding that more committed practitioners are more likely to be consistent in practices requiring ongoing effort, such as composting. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The increased levels of consumption that have accompanied our consumer-oriented culture have also given rise to some consumers questioning their individual consumption choices, with many opting for greater consumption simplicity. This link between consideration of actual consumption levels and consumer choices is evident among a group of consumers known as ethical consumers. Ethical consumers consider a range of ethical issues in their consumer behavioral choices. Particularly prevalent is voluntary simplification due to concerns for the extent and nature of consumption. Through the presentation of findings from two qualitative studies exploring known ethical consumers, the relationship of consumer attitudes to consumption levels, and how these attitudes impact approaches to consumer behavior, are discussed. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Overconsumption in affluent societies is the root or contributing cause of many of the world's most pressing problems, including environmental degradation, global poverty, peak oil and consumer malaise. This suggests that any transition to a sustainable and just society will require those who are overconsuming to move to far more materially 'simple' lifestyles. The Voluntary Simplicity Movement can be understood broadly as a diverse social movement made up of people who are resisting high consumption lifestyles and who are seeking, in various ways, a lower consumption but higher quality of life alternative. Recently a multi-national online survey was launched for the purpose of gaining empirical insight into this 'post-consumerist' social movement, and this study provides the most extensive sociological examination of the movement available. After situating the Voluntary Simplicity Movement in theoretical context, this article presents a foundational analysis of these new survey results.
In this paper we explore material simplicity, defined as the virtue disposing us to act appropriately within the sphere of
our consumer decisions. Simplicity is a conscientious and restrained attitude toward material goods that typically includes
(1) decreased consumption and (2) a more conscious consumption; hence (3) greater deliberation regarding our consumer decisions;
(4) a more focused life in general; and (5) a greater and more nuanced appreciation for other things besides material goods,
and also for (6) material goods themselves. It is to be distinguished from simple-mindedness, a return to nature, or poverty.
Simplicity overlaps with traditional virtues such as temperance, frugality, and wisdom, and sustains and enables traditional
virtues such as justice and generosity. Simplicity is a virtue because it furthers human flourishing, both individual and
social, and sustains nature’s ecological flourishing. For analytic purposes, we consider six areas in which simplicity can
make important contributions: (1) basic individual flourishing, (2) basic societal flourishing, (3) individual freedom or
autonomy, (4) the acquisition of knowledge, (5) living meaningfully, and (6) preserving and protecting nonhuman beings. The
proven failure of materialism to secure subjective happiness or objective flourishing argues for the practice of voluntary
simplicity and for the radical reform of modern consumer societies.
Happiness and ecological well-being are often portrayed as conflictual pursuits, but they may actually be complementary. In
samples of adolescents (Study 1) and adults (Study 2), we tested this proposition and examined the role of three factors in
promoting both subjective well-being (SWB) and ecologically responsible behavior (ERB). In both studies, individuals higher
in SWB reported more ERB. An intrinsic value orientation (Studies 1 and 2) and dispositional mindfulness (Study 2) related
to higher SWB and ERB, while a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity (Study 2) related to higher ERB. Further analyses showed
that the compatibility of SWB and ERB was explained by intrinsic values and mindfulness. These findings offer clues to a sustainable
way of life that enhances both personal and collective well-being.
The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) has been used in a variety of service contexts in recent years to explore ser- vice research issues and has been instrumental in advanc- ing our understanding of these issues. Despite the popularity of this methodology, no published research syn- thesis systematically examines this research. The primary purpose of this study is to review the use of the CIT method in service research to (a) help current and future research- ers employing the CIT method to examine their method- ological decisions closely and (b) suggest guidelines for the proper application and reporting of the procedures in- volved when using this method. The study provides an overview of the CIT method, reports the results of a re- search synthesis conducted of 141 CIT studies appearing in service marketing and management publications, dis- cusses implications for service research, and suggests guidelines for researchers employing this method.
Purpose
To broaden the scope of our knowledge of collective voluntarily simplified lifestyles in the UK, by exploring whether voluntary simplifiers achieve their goals by adopting a simpler life.
Design/methodology/approach
Radical forms of voluntary simplifier groups were explored through participant‐observation research. The methodology can be broadly classified as critical ethnography, and a multi‐locale approach has been used in designing the field.
Findings
Although for some of these consumers voluntary simplicity seems to have reinstated the enjoyment of life, certain goals remain unfulfilled and other unexpected issues arise, such as the challenges of mobility in the attainment of environmental goals.
Research limitations/implications
This is an ongoing research, however many opportunities for further research have arisen from this study. Quantitative research could be undertaken on the values and attitudes buttressing voluntary simplicity specifically in the UK. The extent to which such communities influence mainstream consumers could be studied both quantitatively and qualitatively. Mainstream consumers' attitudes to the practices of such communities could prove useful for uncovering real consumer needs.
Practical implications
Despite these communities position in the extreme end of the voluntary simplicity spectrum, their role in shaping the practices and attitudes of other consumers is clear.
Originality/value
This paper provides new consumer insights that can re‐shape policy‐making and marketing practice aimed at achieving a sustainable future.
Discomfort about the overarching goal of capitalist economies, and the idea that achieving ever higher levels of consumption of products and services is a vacuous goal, has been with us since the onset of industrialization. This contribution looks at the phenomenon and foundations of voluntary simplicity. Its psychological implications and consequences for societies are discussed.
Market resistance has been studied in relation to ecological and ethical tourism, while lifestyle-based resistance has received less attention. This study examines a group of long-term travellers, the ‘global nomads’, who avoid the tourism industry by making long-term lifestyle changes, engaging in voluntary simplicity and non-monetary exchange. They seek authenticity by interacting with locals, representing an increasing trend. More conventional tourists also seek similar experiences, posing challenges to the tourism industry. Analysed with Foucauldian theories, global nomads' market resistance is shown to be contradictory as it also reinforces the market. However, even if partial, global nomads' resistance reminds us that tourism is not just an industry. It is also negotiated between private individuals, with or without intermediaries, which calls for rethinking of the concept of ‘tourism’.
Purpose
Greater contribution of voluntary simplicity to sustainability may extend beyond the scope of consumption behavior. This paper argues that work behavior is also important and explores how and why personal consumption of the voluntary simplifiers relates to the way they work.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study employs the in-depth interviews to explore the consumption-work experience and driving values of the voluntary simplifiers. Thailand is a chosen context as it represents an emerging economy aiming to converge economic growth and sufficiency.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that, driven mainly by contentment and integrity, simple living complements leisurely, meaningful and, most intriguingly, ethical work. In return, such work behavior provides enough earnings and fulfills the beginners, as well as the progressive and extensive simplifiers.
Research limitations/implications
The consumption-work relationship model of the voluntary simplifiers provides an alternative starting-point for further research and practice to tackle overconsumption, inequality, inequity and corruption – the critical challenges of sustainability.
Originality/value
This research takes a more complete approach to study the voluntary simplifiers. The empirical results demonstrate the greater scope of voluntary simplicity literature beyond sustainable consumption and work-life balance. Based on the consumption-work relationship driven mainly by contentment and integrity, this paper proposes meaningful and ethical work as the promising contribution of voluntary simplicity to sustainability.
Studies focusing on voluntary simplifiers are gaining in popularity, but doubt remains about the relevance to business of this segment and to what extent this lifestyle is attributable to sustainability-rooted choices. Instead of the commonly used self-reported scales, a novel measurement approach is applied using objective data to identify voluntary simplifiers. Based on equivalent household incomes and level of product possession this research provides, using a large-scale, representative sample, empirical evidence that voluntary simplifiers comprise almost one-sixth of the German population. Results indicate that voluntary simplifiers buy more green products, exhibit a greater environmental and economic sustainability consciousness and share more universalistic values compared to four other uncovered segments, namely well-off consumers, over-consumption consumers, less well-off consumers and poor consumers. From a business perspective, moderate voluntary simplifiers do not exit the market. Instead, they constitute an attractive target group for ecological products and alternative consumption options such as sharing.
Purpose
– This paper aims to explore the impact intentional non-consumption has on consumer practices, the resulting consumption experiences and meanings attached to the actions of participants and what is learned from this relative to voluntary simplicity, most specifically when participants are asked to become voluntary simplifiers versus volunteering to do so.
Design/methodology/approach
– A phenomenological approach was applied utilising unstructured interviews and autoethnography. Data were analysed through the theoretical lens of voluntary simplicity within the contexts of contemporary Irish consumer culture and the collapse of the Celtic Tiger.
Findings
– The study highlights findings in four key areas: self-imposed parameters of intentional non-consumption and subsequent voluntary simplicity categories; motivations, practices and experiences of participants; the role intentional non-consumption plays relative to personal satisfaction, fulfilment and happiness; and how participant consumption practices reverted to “normal” once the study was complete.
Research limitations/implications
– This study focuses on an all-female group of participants; future research is warranted that explores the issue from a male perspective.
Social implications
– Findings are of particular interest to policy makers seeking to develop initiatives that reduce consumption practices and contribute to discussions that explore the role of consumption in modern society – in particular the wide-ranging debate on whether consumption leads to happiness and how consumers might be persuaded to consume in a more sustainable manner.
Originality/value
– This study adopts an innovative methodology that explores voluntary simplicity and contributes to an understanding of consumption culture by exploring what happens when consumers are asked to reduce their consumption and become voluntary simplifiers. An extension of Huneke’s definition of voluntary simplicity is offered, which recognises the role non-material consumption plays in consumption practices, and explores voluntary simplicity relative not only to individuals’ values and beliefs, as discussed in the literature, but also to their lifestyle activities and wider sociocultural and institutional factors.
Numerous studies find a negative relation between materialism and well-being. The present paper discusses the role of consumption in that relation. Studies on experiential versus material purchases are reviewed. Although a good deal of studies find an advantage for experiential purchases, this does not occur for materialists. Yet, materialists do not benefit more from material than from experiential consumption due to unrealistic expectations, especially about the pleasure it affords and the impression it conveys. Still, the relation between materialism and well-being is bidirectional and the path from ill-being to materialism seems stronger. The impact of materialistic consumption on well-being may be limited and may depend on the underlying motives. Materialistic self-signaling may be especially non-detrimental for well-being.
Voluntary simplicity consumers are those exhibiting a lifestyle of low consumption, ecological responsibility, and self-sufficiency. In this study such consumers in three US cities were compared on values and behavior. The structure of values and behaviors in voluntary simplicity was examined, as was the motivation for voluntary simplicity, and the level of adoption of voluntary simplicity behavior. Analysis indicates that values of voluntary simplicity are consistent with voluntary simplicity behavior, the number of factors composing the values and behaviors of voluntary simplicity are the same in all three cities, the motivation for voluntary simplicity is the same in all three cities, and adoption of behaviors of voluntary simplicity varies from city to city.
Materialism comprises a set of values and goals focused on wealth, possessions, image, and status. These aims are a fundamental aspect of the human value/goal system, standing in relative conflict with aims concerning the well-being of others, as well as one's own personal and spiritual growth. Substantial evidence shows that people who place a relatively high priority on materialistic values/goals consume more products and incur more debt, have lower-quality interpersonal relationships, act in more ecologically destructive ways, have adverse work and educational motivation, and report lower personal and physical well-being. Experimentally activating materialistic aims causes similar outcomes. Given these ills, researchers have investigated means of decreasing people's materialism. Successful interventions encourage intrinsic/self-transcendent values/goals, increase felt personal security, and/or block materialistic messages from the environment. These interventions would likely be more effective if policies were also adopted that diminished contemporary culture's focus on consumption, profit, and economic growth. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology Volume 67 is January 03, 2016. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/catalog/pubdates.aspx for revised estimates.
The research presented in this article investigates the relationship between adopting voluntary simplicity as a lifestyle and life satisfaction. More precisely, it seeks to understand the role that consumption desires and relative wealth play in the context of this relationship. A survey was conducted among a Canadian sample of 344 simplifiers and 267 non-simplifiers. A statistically significant positive relationship was observed between the adoption of voluntary simplicity and a measure of satisfaction with life. This research has also established that it is partially through one's control of consumption desires that simplifiers achieve a higher level of life satisfaction. However, this was shown to be the case only among consumers with limited financial resources. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In this paper, we examine how parents in the US who practise voluntary simplicity enact family and social reproduction. Two key findings emerged. First, adult simplifiers in our study typically grew up within families that practised voluntary simplicity or frugality and transmit these consumption patterns to their own children. Second, simplifiers often struggle with other family members, friends and society over issues related to the tensions that emerge as they seek to simplify their lives while at the same time raising children who will not be ‘shunned’ by a mainstream, consumption-focused society. We conclude that parents who voluntarily simplify are able to maintain their social class status through redefining what it means to be middle class through the creation and utilization of ‘green capital’.
This article presents a need-based theory to explore the potential compatibility of ecological sustainability and personal well-being. Relevant theoretical and empirical evidence is reviewed to demonstrate how ecological degradation can interfere with the satisfaction of needs for safety/security, competence, relatedness, and autonomy, thus causing lower well-being, and how ecologically sustainable environments and behavior can promote satisfaction of these four needs and thus higher well-being. Three avenues for interventions and policy change are then described, each of which has empirical evidence suggesting it holds promise for simultaneously promoting higher personal well-being and greater ecological sustainability. These include shifting individuals' values from extrinsic, materialistic aims to intrinsic aims, helping individuals live voluntarily simple lifestyles, and supporting people's desires for "time affluence."
This paper discusses the representation of “green consumerism” in the prevalent institutionalised discourses of green consumerism, and in the self-narratives of people who identify themselves as ecologically oriented citizens, focusing on the construction of the self and the other in these texts. The aim is to investigate the ways in which “radical” ecologically oriented citizens, who are largely “marginalised” and positioned as the other in the dominant discourses of green consumerism, engage in resistance towards western, materialistic consumption culture. Drawing from the Foucauldian ideas of political struggle as the “politics of the self”, and personal ethics and moral agency as a mode of self-formation, this paper analyses the ways in which these “green consumers” reject their received subjectivity as consumers. The focus is on the practices of self, and on the ways in which they invent and promote new forms of subjectivity that are more in line with their environmentalist ideology.
Purpose
This research aims to treat voluntary simplicity lifestyle (VSL) as general lifestyle and explore the correlation between VSL and selection preference of special interest tourism (SIT).
Design/methodology/approach
This research adopts a questionnaire survey. The content of the questionnaire include questions on participants' demographic variables, VSL, and selection preference of SIT. After designing the questionnaire of selection preference of SIT, this research treats the tourists in the Taiwan Guandu bird‐watching area as the targets and distributes the questionnaires. This research adopts systematic sampling for questionnaire distribution.
Findings
The following results are found: a positive correlation between selection preference of SIT and VSL; females are mostly allocated as the recreation and entertainment type people preferring SIT, the educational level of diverse interest type people preferring SIT tend to be higher, and these people have a more significant VSL; people who are the low degree of identification type with voluntary simplicity reveal almost the least scores in terms of all kinds of traveling preference, whereas complete involvement type individuals show a higher degree of preference.
Research limitations/implications
This questionnaire is not exclusive. In other words, the respondents can provide extremely high, medium, or low scores for the preference for any kind of trips. Thus, the respondents' real preference sequence cannot be distinguished. Future studies can modify this questionnaire. The questionnaire of selection preference of SIT designed by this research mainly followed the SIT itineraries promoted on traveling websites and upon certain processes. Thus, this questionnaire content is based on the view of the supply end.
Originality/value
This research follows the suggestions of McKercher and Chan, and after internet searching, the method imitates content analysis to establish a questionnaire with 18 questions with respect to the selection preference of SIT. Through factor analysis, the researchers select four kinds of selection preference of SIT, including traveling preference of recreation and entertainment, natural ecology, physical exploration, and history and art. In addition, this research also uses confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the convergent validity of the VSL questionnaire developed by the authors (2005).
Relatively little public opinion research has explored beliefs about consumption. This lack of research is surprising given the increasing attention paid by many commentators to the relationship between consumption and ecological sustainability. Reporting on data collected from a series of five statewide surveys of Oregonians conducted between 2008 and 2009, we find that a strong majority (74–88%) of the Oregon public supports reducing consumption and believes doing so would improve societal and individual well-being. These findings appear to challenge conventional wisdom about our collective and never-ending need for consumption of material goods. Our results reveal broad agreement on the consumption issue across traditional ideological divides. We also conducted in-depth qualitative interviews, which allowed us to explore what “consumption” means to Oregonians and why people think our country would be better off if we reduced consumption. Our findings suggest that populist attitudes toward reducing consumption may fill a role that policymakers avoid for a variety of reasons. We discuss the relevance of consumption beliefs to public policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as directions for future research.
Voluntary simplicity is often considered to be a sustainable lifestyle phenomenon buttressed by environment-friendly consumption practices. Voluntary simplicity is shaped by the individual as well as the society, and marketplace interactions often impact voluntarily simplified approaches to consumption. Pertinent, therefore, is a consideration of how voluntary simplifiers negotiate the tensions between marketplace interactions and decisions (not) to consume, as the exploration of interactions between consumption and non-consumption choices has relevant implications for the advancement of sustainable consumption. Specifically, we seek to answer the following question: how have voluntary simplifiers in a rural context negotiated the relationship between voluntary simplicity and market-based (non-) consumption? This paper reports on a study of 28 rural voluntary simplifiers to explore the intersections between voluntary simplicity and rural markets. Findings highlight the convoluted nature and the multiple manifestations of voluntary simplicity, while the rural context allows an exploration of such tensions in relation to individual voluntary simplicity, local economy, supermarkets, fair trade and consumer culture.
This study examines how consumers who engage in voluntary simplicity experience disposal in relation to changes in their values, identity, and lifestyle. The hermeneutic analysis shows disposal organized around three main themes: “desire for emancipation,” “sacrificing the surplus,” and “moving toward the sacred.” Each theme offers insights on disposal as a transcendental experience during which consumers relocate consumption meanings from the profane to the sacred. On the one hand, the practice of disposal symbolizes a distance from the profane marketplace and its constraining norms and on the other hand, it leads consumers to participate in the life of objects and to construct sacred consumption. Here, goods are removed from the profane commerce and transferred to sacredness with an eternal life of transit between hands and ownership. As such, goods can be regarded as alive, physically moving from one person to another. This article concludes that voluntary disposal can be seen as a form of empowerment. Through disposal, consumers participate in the life of objects. By contributing to the circulation of the material, consumers have the power to transform an act of pure elimination into a transcendental experience that prefigures the death of profane consumption and the birth of sacred consumption.
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Most of the literature on the voluntary simplicity (VS) lifestyle has come from the popular press and environmental activists, who tend to take a rather philosophical and moralistic stance. Although several academics have discussed the concept, it has had little mention in the marketing literature. Recently, a detailed commentary has considered the VS lifestyle from a social-science perspective. Although this lifestyle type has been gaining attention, the literature reveals there is no clear understanding of this way of life. Different authors have different opinions about what should be at the essence of what constitutes VS lifestyle behavior. Our research seeks to address this problem by gaining a fuller understanding of voluntary simplifiers in relation to nonvoluntary simplifiers. Thus, this article reports on a study of 53 one-hour interviews that contrasts and compares these two groups. From the findings, it was revealed that there are indeed certain differences across groups that could be of particular interest to marketers and academics. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Voluntary simplicity is a lifestyle choice that has received increasing media attention over time. A defining characteristic of voluntary simplicity is reduced material consumption and the removal of clutter from one's life, thus suggesting the topic of disposition may inform our understanding of voluntary simplifier lifestyle behaviour. This paper explores the disposition activities of voluntary simplifiers in the context of their overall consumption behaviour using a series of in-depth interviews with 12 current voluntary simplifiers. The findings show that disposition plays an important role in voluntary simplifier behaviour, especially during the initial stages of adopting the lifestyle. The consideration of future disposition activities was also found to influence the day-to-day consumption behaviour of participants.
Copyright
This paper presents insights from a research project that examines the notion of ‘responsible consumption’, its relationship to consumer preferences and expectations, and its implications for product design and development. The paper discusses the issue of sustainable consumption in relation to product development and summarizes initial findings from a study conducted among people who consider themselves responsible consumers. Notably, four different profiles of ‘simplifiers’ are described. The study shows that people who took part in the research adopt more sustainable lifestyles not only because of an ecological consciousness, but also because of perceived personal factors or benefits. The study also reveals that participants have both a close and distant relationship to objects and that they prefer products that allow them to be engaged in the activity of “doing”. Product development strategies informed by these insights are explored. The paper suggests that product designers can support and encourage those already active or interested in orienting their consumption habits towards more sustainable solutions by envisioning appropriate ecologically and socially responsible product alternatives.
Through the use of the critical incident technique one may collect specific and significant behavioral facts, providing " a sound basis for making inferences as to requirements " for measures of typical performance (criteria), measures of proficiency (standard samples), training, selection and classification, job design and purification, operating procedures, equipment design, motivation and leadership (attitudes), and counseling and psychotherapy. The development, fundamental principles, present status, and uses of the critical incident technique are discussed, along with a review of studies employing the technique and suggestions for further applications. 74-item bibliography.