SLRG Seminar: Consuming Less and Having the Same: Consumer responses to scarcity
- When?
- Friday 8 February 2013, 13.00 hrs to 14.00 hrs
- Where?
- 45B AZ 04
- Open to:
- Public, Alumni, Staff, Students
- Speaker:
- Dr Iain Black, Reader, Head of Marketing Group, School of Management and Languages, Heriot Watt University
- Admission price:
- No charge
A central message from the sustainable development community is that we in developed nations must
reduce our consumption. We tell consumers, organisations and governments of all levels that we must
reduce our ghg outputs, reduce our air travel, reduce our use of cars, reduce the number of televisions
and other consumer goods we buy. We should eat less, use less water and consume less overall,
indeed, we must have fewer people on this planet.
In this presentation I will discuss a programme of research that examines how consumers respond to
these calls. Research using quantitative and qualitative methods will be reported that provides insights
into the reactions of consumers when they consume less or consume less than they expect. First, a
study exploring a group of mothers from Sydney and Toronto will be presented. These women, coping
with becoming mothers, have decided to actively reduce their levels of consumption as part of living
more sustainable lives. When exploring their motivations, daily practices and sense self, this research
reveals a series of tactics used to manage the identity conflicts their new role and lifestyle lead them to
experiencing. Here goods and services are disposed of, rejected or no longer purchased, yet the
symbolic meanings behind these products is maintained and transferred on to other, lower
environmental impact consumption. In this way, they maintain the benefits derived from consumption
whilst consuming less.
We will then change tack and examine a series of experiments conducted using high quality Belgian
chocolates to examine consumer's responses scarcity. In these experiments, subjects either received
the same number, fewer or more chocolates than they had been manipulated to expect. Results show
that those subjects who got less than they expected adjust their consumption rate and the level of utility
gained from each chocolate so that they were as full and enjoyed the experiences as much, as those
who ate more. Again, we see that when consumers are faced with living with less, they make do. This
is encouraging, and suggests that we can reassure people that by consuming less, they will not have
less.