Attitudes of Voluntary Simplifier University Students in Hungary

Abstract

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.

Basic Psychological Needs and Self-Determined Motivation as Drivers of Voluntary Simplistic Clothing Consumption Practices in South Africa

“…As mentioned before, voluntary simplicity can be explained as a way of life in which people choose to minimize their consumption to cultivate non-materialistic resources of satisfaction and meaning [41]. Voluntary simplicity is therefore closely related to concepts such as sustainable consumption, which involves acting or behaving in a way that will protect the environment by using fewer resources for personal gain [42][43][44]. It can also be defined as removing all the clutter from one's life and choosing to limit the expenditures on consumer goods, rather than being forced by poverty or government programs [45,46].…”

Voluntary simplicity: a content analysis of consumer comments

“…In the consumerist mainstream, personal possessions are symbols of financial affluence and higher social status; however, voluntary simplifiers personally lack or supposedly break this symbolic link between material possessions and social status (Peyer et al, 2017). They try to declutter, beginning with disliked things, unwanted gifts and items obtained by unplanned purchases (Ballantine and Creery, 2009). Keeping life simple by controlling consumption can be possible by making planned purchases, associating a low level of importance to material possessions and preferring simple products with the required functionality (Özgül, 2010).…”

“…Self-determination is voluntarily reducing consumption to have greater control over one's life by freeing oneself from corporations and taking control of one's destiny by getting untied from others' expectations, high costs and installment payments (Elgin and Mitchell, 1978). People can lower these obligations and have greater control over their lives by making their furniture, growing their food or just giving up consuming some products (Elgin and Mitchell, 1978;Ballantine and Creery, 2009). Repairing items and sewing clothes can be other examples of increasing self-sufficiency (Shaw and Moraes, 2009).…”

“…New studies on VS were published in the 2000s, in line with the increasing number of people who seek a simpler lifestyle (Shaw and Moraes, 2009;Peyer et al, 2017). In the digital era, minimalism or minimization concepts identify VS behavior; a Google search of "minimalism" or "less is more" concepts reveal various blogs and web sites (Ballantine and Creery, 2009). VS is subject to increased media attention; according to Barton (2015); a Google search using the "voluntary simplicity" keyword was retrieving 379,000 results in 2014, and as a result of the increasing attention, the number of search results reached 7.75 and 15.5 million in April 2019 and June 2020, respectively.…”

“…Although VS has rich literature, a study that summarizes VS themes in a conceptual framework was lacking and further research was needed (Balsa-Budai et al, 2019;Aidar and Daniels, 2020). The rapid developments in technology have risen hyper-connected consumers and required current consumer research (Swaminathan et al, 2020).…”