TY - JOUR A1 - Ziesemer, Florence A1 - Hüttel, Alexandra A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo T1 - Young people as drivers or inhibitors of the sustainability movement BT - the case of anti-consumption JF - Journal of consumer policy : consumer issues in law, economics and behavioural sciences N2 - 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. KW - Voluntary simplicity KW - Collaborative consumption KW - Sustainable KW - consumption KW - Means-end chain analysis KW - Laddering interviews KW - Youth Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-021-09489-x SN - 0168-7034 SN - 1573-0700 VL - 44 IS - 3 SP - 427 EP - 453 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mai, Robert A1 - Hoffmann, Stefan A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo T1 - When drivers become inhibitors of organic consumption BT - the need for a multistage view JF - Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science N2 - The organic market is characterized by remarkable disparities, and confusion persists about which motives drive organic consumption. To understand them, this research introduces the idea that the same consumer motives can exert different and potentially opposite impacts when organic consumption patterns unfold. The proposed multistage theory of differential effects distinguishes a participation stage, when consumers decide whether to purchase organic at all, and an expenditure stage, when consumers decide about how much of their budget to spend on organic products across purchases. An analysis of shopping patterns of approximately 14,000 households confirms the proposed differential influences: Other-oriented motives (care for others and the environment) support participation but impede sustained expenditures. Only self-oriented motives (hedonism) foster both participation and expenditures. The results pinpoint the need to rethink organic consumption as a stage-specific problem, which opens up new perspectives for managers about an old but persistent problem. KW - double-hurdle model KW - decision stages KW - expenditures KW - shopping pattern KW - organic consumption Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-021-00787-x SN - 0092-0703 SN - 1552-7824 VL - 49 SP - 1151 EP - 1174 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - 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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Hoffmann, Stefan A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Seegebarth, Barbara A1 - Mai, Robert A1 - Peyer, Mathias T1 - Under which conditions are consumers ready to boycott or buycott? BT - the roles of hedonism and simplicity JF - Ecological economics N2 - There are two fundamental ways in which consumers can express their concerns and obligations for society through their consumption decisions: They can boycott companies that they deem to be irresponsible or they may deliberately buy from companies that they perceive to act responsibly (‘buycott’). It has been largely ignored that individuals are driven by different motivational mechanisms to join boycotts and buycotts (punishment vs. reward of corporate behaviors), and thus, these mechanisms have disparate implications for the participating individual (e.g., high vs. low subjective costs because of a restriction in consumption habits). This paper fills this void and develops a framework suggesting that the extent to which consumers translate their concerns and obligations for society into a willingness to boycott and/or buycott is bounded by self-interest. Using a unique, representative sample of 1833 German consumers, this study reveals that the effects of environmental concerns and universalism on buycotting are amplified by hedonism, while the effects of social concern on buycotting and boycotting are attenuated by hedonism and simplicity, respectively. These results have far-reaching implications for organizations and policy planners who aim to change corporate behavior. KW - Environmental concerns KW - Social concerns KW - Boycott KW - Buycott KW - Hedonism KW - Voluntary simplicity Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.01.004 SN - 0921-8009 SN - 1873-6106 VL - 147 SP - 167 EP - 178 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hüttel, Alexandra A1 - Ziesemer, Florence A1 - Peyer, Mathias A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo T1 - To purchase or not? BT - Why consumers make economically (non-)sustainable consumption choices JF - Journal of Cleaner Production N2 - Although ecologically and socially responsible consumption helps to reduce the harmful effects of resource use for both nature and society, all types of consumption (whether green or fair) deplete valuable resources. At the same time, to maintain household financial sustainability, spending should not exceed a household's financial resources. Thus, economically sustainable consumption is related to the consumer's decision to not buy products and the disposition to forgo specific purchases. Based on a means-end chain approach, this study investigates consumer cognitive decision-making structures related to six distinct options for economically (non-)sustainable consumption. Whereas saving motives, waste concerns, and avoidance motivations support economically sustainable decisions, economically non-sustainable decision-making is directly linked to attaining overall life goals. By clustering respondents based on the elicited means-end chains, the study discloses four consumer groups with distinctive motivational structures. The study also reveals several obstacles to promoting economic sustainability, indicates methods to overcome such obstacles, and suggests avenues for future research. KW - Economically sustainable consumption KW - Consumer decision-making KW - Means-end chain theory KW - Collaborative consumption KW - Voluntary simplicity KW - Frugal consumption Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.11.019 SN - 0959-6526 SN - 1879-1786 VL - 174 SP - 827 EP - 836 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seegebarth, Barbara A1 - Peyer, Mathias A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Wiedmann, Klaus-Peter T1 - The Sustainability Roots of Anticonsumption Lifestyles and Initial JF - The Journal of consumer affairs N2 - This article introduces the concept of sustainability-rooted anticonsumption (SRAC), which refers to consumers' anticonsumption practices of voluntary simplicity in living and, on a smaller level, collaborative consumption and boycotting with the goal of supporting sustainable economic development. The SRAC measurement approach is validated based on three empirical studies. Results of a representative German sample (Study 2) reveal that SRAC is predominantly negatively linked to consumer overconsumption dispositions. Exemplary, voluntary simplification and boycott intention may result in declining levels of indebtedness. Study 3 shows that psychosocial well-being is positively related to SRAC and overconsumption. However, a simplified lifestyle and a greater willingness to boycott are not necessarily associated with psychosocial well-being. This article provides insights for practitioners and policymakers to leverage existing SRAC values via “new” business models (sharing offers) or to influence the existing level of consciousness to effectively pave the way for solid progress in the sustainability movement. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12077 SN - 0022-0078 SN - 1745-6606 VL - 50 SP - 68 EP - 99 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Seegebarth, Barbara A1 - Peyer, Mathias A1 - Wiedmann, Klaus-Peter T1 - The sustainability roots of anti-consumption lifestyles and initial insights regarding their effects on consumers' well-being JF - The Journal of consumer affairs : JCA N2 - This article introduces the concept of sustainability-rooted anticonsumption (SRAC), which refers to consumers' anticonsumption practices of voluntary simplicity in living and, on a smaller level, collaborative consumption and boycotting with the goal of supporting sustainable economic development. The SRAC measurement approach is validated based on three empirical studies. Results of a representative German sample (Study 2) reveal that SRAC is predominantly negatively linked to consumer overconsumption dispositions. Exemplary, voluntary simplification and boycott intention may result in declining levels of indebtedness. Study 3 shows that psychosocial well-being is positively related to SRAC and overconsumption. However, a simplified lifestyle and a greater willingness to boycott are not necessarily associated with psychosocial well-being. This article provides insights for practitioners and policymakers to leverage existing SRAC values via “new” business models (sharing offers) or to influence the existing level of consciousness to effectively pave the way for solid progress in the sustainability movement. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12077 SN - 1745-6606 VL - 50 IS - 1 SP - 68 EP - 99 PB - ACCI CY - Ames, Iowa ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo T1 - The perceived risks and benefits of genetically modified food products : Experts versus consumers Y1 - 1999 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Peyer, Mathias A1 - Seegebarth, Barbara A1 - Wiedmann, Klaus-Peter A1 - Weber, Anja T1 - The many faces of sustainability-conscious consumers BT - a category-independent typology JF - Journal of Business Research N2 - Responding to the global call for a "sustainable economy" requires meaningful insights into sustainability-conscious consumers and their actual buying behaviors. Sustainable consumption is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon because it encompasses several distinct behavioral patterns and consumption types. Therefore, companies are well advised to recognize multiple types of sustainability-conscious consumers with different expectations, attitudes, and values and to implement targeting strategies that do not rest on the assumption of homogeneity. Thus, the objective of this study is to provide a more fine-grained picture of (un)sustainable consumer segments and their differentiated effects in different product markets. Based on three large datasets, we create a robust six-segment typology of consumer consciousness regarding sustainable consumption. By using panel data on actual purchases, the results show not only that sustainability concerns significantly positively influence actual sustainable purchases, as expected, but also that sustainable buying can occur independently of sustainability concerns. KW - Sustainability KW - Consumer typology KW - Consciousness regarding sustainable KW - consumption KW - Purchasing panel data KW - Human values Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.05.022 SN - 0148-2963 SN - 1873-7978 VL - 91 SP - 83 EP - 93 PB - Elsevier CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Hoffmann, Stefan T1 - The Effectiveness of consume-less appeals in social marketing JF - Journal of macromarketing N2 - Consume-less appeals in social marketing can help reduce the lavish consumption in wealthy countries, which poses a major threat to the climate. This study experimentally examines the effectiveness of three different types of consume-less appeals (informative, social normative, and emotional appeals) on participants’ actual spending levels during a real shopping trip compared to a control group (no appeal). In addition, the study tests whether these appeals evoke negative rebounds (in terms of post-purchase climate donation) or positive rebounds (in terms of accepting post-purchase material giveaways). A field experiment in a grocery store in Germany with 170 participants shows that social normative and the emotional appeals reduce actual shopping spending. Informative and social normative appeals increase donations, and emotional appeals reduce the items of taken giveaways. The findings further support certain indirect impacts of the consume-less appeals on rebounds in terms of spending levels. KW - consume-less appeals KW - emotional appeals KW - rebound effects KW - social marketing social norms Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/02761467231205448 SN - 0276-1467 SN - 1552-6534 PB - Sage CY - Thousand Oaks, Calif. ER -