TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY Transforming materialistic consumerism
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TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY
Transforming materialistic consumerism
9.6.2011Arto O. Salonen, PhD, Helsinki Metropolia UAS, [email protected] Åhlberg, Professor, University of Helsinki, [email protected]
Background: Value shift from materialism to post-materialism
Maslow (1954)
Physiological needs and safety needs
Social inclusion and needs of love, needs of esteem and achievements
Allardt (1976)
Having
Loving and being
Inglehart (1977)
Materialism
Post-materialism
Schwartz (1992)
Security, conservation, self-enhancement
Universalism, openness to change, self-transcendence
Research question
Which attitudinal factors correlate with post-materialistic behavior?
Operationalizing of post-materialistic behavior:
(a)Importance of owning (having) is decreased
(b)Services are used instead of owning goods
(c)Renewal of goods is motivated by real needs
Informants: Finnish university students, 18-40 years old, n = 198
Measurement tool: 36 items to be rated with nine-step semantic differential scale
Method: Logistic regression analysis
Material and methods
Environmental sustainability
• Recycling• Taking care of hazardous
waste• Composting• Favoring walking, cycling
and public transport• Saving energy• Using renewable energy
sources • Water saving • Housing temperature max.
21C• Vegetarian diet• Organic food• Local food
Economic sustainability
• Product longevity and durability
• Favoring eco-labeled products
• Quantity and quality of packaging
• Product recyclability• Favoring products and
services of forefront companies
• Vibrant local business• Vibrant small business• Quality of the materials in
commodities• Product repair eligibility• Quantity and quality of
product manufacturing waste
• Energy efficiency in product manufacture and use
Social sustainability
• Communality• Equality and tolerance• Health-promoting lifestyle• Social inclusion• Global poverty reduction • Elimination of public health
risks • Consumer´s social
responsibility• Intergenerational link• Maintaining of civil society• Volunteering• Use of study opportunities
Replacing goods and equipment only when broken
Low value for ownershipUse of services instead of owning goods
ATTITUDES (dependent variables)
POST-MATERIALISTIC BEHAVIOR (independent variable)
Results
Seven factors separated the characteristics differentiating informants1:
1. Health promoting lifestyle, p≤0.0002. Recycling, p≤0.0003. Organic food, p≤0.0004. Water conservation, p≤0.0015. Maintaining of civil society, p≤0.0146. Favoring eco-labeled products, p≤0.0457. Using renewable energy resources2, p≤0.100
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Cox and Snell pseudo R-square was .53 and Nagelkerke pseudo R-square .71 indicating that the fit of the model to the data was moderate.
2. The odds ratio of the 7th variable was 1.96. According to Field (2009, 290) a variable with an odds ratio greater than 1 is supposed to take to the model.
Conclusion: Model of Sustainability Promoting Social Change
EDUCATION Personal factors,
Identity
GOVERNMENTAL GUIDANCE Contextual factors,
Society
Post-materialistic behavior
Importance of owning is decreased, Services are used instead of owning goods and Renewal of goods is motivated by real needs.
FIGURE 1. The model of the sustainability promoting social change: structuration of sustainable attitudes and behavior
Positive attitudes towards
Health promoting lifestyle
Recycling
Organic food
Water conservation
Maintaining of civil society
Eco-labeled products
Renewable energy resources
The correlational nature of the attitudinal and behavior factors leaves open the direction of behavior change.
Attitude might be a driver of behavior
or
Post-materialistic behavior can cause particular attitude
Discussion
We used weak sustainability framework all the dimensions had the same
weight
Vital ecosystem services are the precondition for mankind's survival
strong sustainability framework is essential in forthcoming research
FIGURE 2. The weak sustainability framework on the left and the strong sustainability framework on the right
Society, human rights
Viable ecosystemsRobust economy
Viable ecosystems
Society, human rights
Robust economy
The ultimate and fundamental goal for
a sustainability research is to determine a safe
social and economic operation base for humanity on the planet Earth
Thank you!
Arto O. Salonen, PhD, Helsinki Metropolia UAS, [email protected] Åhlberg, Professor, University of Helsinki, [email protected]