Creating sustainable identities: the significance of the financially affluent self

Abstract

This paper uses identity theory and postmodern identity perspectives to analyse why high-income groups often have values, attitudes and intentions to consume sustainably, yet tend to have the highest energy consumption of any group. Two key arguments are presented. The first is that the affluent identity is opposed to the environmentalist identity and is more salient, desirable and likely to result in more social support and self-esteem rewards. Therefore, where both identities are held the affluent identity is likely to be more dominant and invoked in more circumstances. Second, the invocation of the affluent identity is liable to result in high-energy consumption. Despite some evidence of affluent identities being successfully connected by marketing with low-energy 'green' consumption, there is stronger evidence of the affluent identity being consistently embedded symbolically within high-energy consumption choices. Recommendations for marketing and social marketing are made and a matrix to guide sustainable identity strategies is proposed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Who emits most? Associations between socio-economic factors and UK households' home energy, transport, indirect and total CO2 emissions

“…This suggests that increasing education levels alone is unlikely to tackle household CO 2 emissions. It also suggests that people with high education may engage in higher consumption and travel as part of their identity as suggested in qualitative research (Hurth, 2010). Since households with highly educated members also have significantly higher incomes, one can argue that they bear higher responsibility than their counterparts for shouldering the costs of mitigating climate change.…”

The relevance of ecocentrism, personal development and transformational leadership to sustainability and identity

“…Well, we could let go of a having orientation to the world (Fromm, 1982), getting beyond our affl uenza (de Graff et al, 2001) and an adolescent stage of personal (and societal) development, and embark on a path of healing instead (Clinebell, 1996). The signifi cance of this shift, which is linked to societal infl uences on individualism, the desire for affl uence and the formation of identity, is examined further by Hurth (2010) and Soron (2010). As long as identity is founded on the acquisition of extrinsic worth, based on consuming experiences and buying things, versus intrinsic worth, based on being and a larger ecoself, progress towards sustainability will be limited.…”

Unstable identities: stable unsustainability

“…We have compelled a number of papers from different disciplines and continents. In the article 'Creating sustainable identities: the signifi cance of the fi nancially affl uent self', Victoria Hurth critically examines the multiple and hierarchical nature of identities by focussing on an affl uent identity and an environmentalist identity (Hurth, 2010). These two identities are of particular interest to this special issue, since affl uent people in societies of the North and West seem very willing to be acting environmentally and engaging in green consumerism, but having an overall impact of their lifestyles that is often (much) bigger than that of less affl uent people who express very little or no concerns about the environment.…”