TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hüttel, Alexandra
A1  - Balderjahn, Ingo
A1  - Hoffmann, Stefan
T1  - Welfare beyond consumption
BT  - the benefits of having less
JF  - Ecological economics
N2  - In developed regions worldwide, so-called anti-consumers are increasingly resisting high-level consumption lifestyles or shifting to alternative forms of consumption. A general reduction in consumption levels is considered necessary to attain global sustainability goals. However, knowledge regarding the factors driving people to deliberately consume less and how anti-consumption affects individuals' well-being is limited. Against this background, this study considers the influence of human values and the well-being effects of two types of anti-consumption: voluntary simplicity and collaborative consumption. Based on representative data from the US (N = 1075) and Germany (N = 1070), the findings show that the two anti-consumption types do not reduce the well-being of individuals' but in some cases, even improve it, which suggests that lowering consumption can not only help protect environmental resources but also serve the greater good of society. In particular, this relationship holds among collaborative consumers with a strong need for cognition, i.e., a cognitive thinking style that involves a high level of decision control. According to the study results, opposite value orientations are the drivers of voluntary simplicity and collaborative consumption (i.e., a focus on self-transcendence versus self-enhancement). These findings are comparable in both countries; however, the strength of the effects differs.
KW  - anti-consumption
KW  - subjective well-being
KW  - voluntary simplicity
KW  - collaborative consumption
KW  - human values
KW  - need for cognition
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106719
SN  - 0921-8009
SN  - 1873-6106
VL  - 176
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -