Who is reducing their material consumption and why? A cross-cultural analysis of dematerialization behaviours

Abstract

SummaryThe environmental and economic imperatives to dematerialise economies, or 'do more with less', have been established for some years. Yet, to date little is known about the personal drivers associated with dematerialising. This paper explores the prevalence and profile of those who are taking action to reduce consumption in different cultural contexts (UK and Brazil) and considers influences on dematerialisation behaviours. We find exemplar behaviours (avoiding buying new things and avoiding packaging) are far less common than archetypal environmental behaviours (e.g., recycling), but also that cultural context is important (Brazilians are more likely to reduce their material consumption than people in the UK). We also find the two dematerialisation behaviours are associated with different pro-environmental actions (more radical action versus green consumption, respectively); and have distinct, but overlapping, psychological (e.g., identity) and socio-demographic (e.g., education) predictors. Comparing a more traditional valueidentity model of pro-environmental behaviour with a motivation-based (self-determination) model, we find the latter explains somewhat more variance than the former. However, overall little variance is explained, suggesting that additional factors at the personal and structural levels are important for determining these consumption behaviours. We conclude by outlining policy implications and avenues for further research.

Waste Reduction Behaviors at Home, at Work, and on Holiday: What Influences Behavioral Consistency Across Contexts?

“…Pro-Environmental Identity (α = 0.83) was measured with six items that include general pro-environmental and more specific waste-conscious identity statements (adapted from Whitmarsh et al, 2017): I consider myself to be environmentally-conscious; Being environmentally-friendly is an important part of who I am; I think of myself as someone who is very concerned about environmental issues; I would be embarrassed to be seen as having an environmentally-friendly lifestyle (reverse-scored); To engage in recycling is an important part of who I am; I think of myself as a waste-conscious person. Responses were on a seven-point scale from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (7).…”

“…While public awareness of waste-related problems (e.g., marine pollution) is growing (e.g., Hartley et al, 2018) and recycling rates are increasing in many countries (Eurostat, 2018), there has been less progress in reduce and reuse behaviors (Whitmarsh et al, 2011). For example, while only 3% of the UK public say they never recycle, this rises to 15% who never buy products with less packaging, and 30% who never avoid buying new things (Whitmarsh et al, 2017). Consequently, much waste continues to be generated and is often sent to landfill or for incineration (e.g., DEFRA, 2016).…”

“…Somewhat less is known about what predicts other waste reduction behaviors, including prevention and reuse, although studies exploring these practices similarly suggest both psychological and contextual (e.g., socio-demographic) factors are relevant. For example, UK research found that those with higher education, altruistic values, and pro-environmental identity are more likely to buy products with less packaging; while younger, more educated and lower income people, and those with altruistic values and pro-environmental identity were more likely to avoid buying new things (Whitmarsh et al, 2017). Interventions to encourage waste reduction (beyond recycling) include financial measures, such as carrier bag charging and “pay-per-bin” schemes (i.e., local councils charge residents for each refuse bin filled), which have been found to be effective (Gardner and Stern, 1996; Poortinga et al, 2013).…”

“…For example, financial benefits of domestic energy saving may not exist at work, and control over equipment may be lower at work (Leygue et al, 2017). Indeed, previous research has found that workplace pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., setting up a recycling scheme at work) did not tend to co-occur with domestic or consumer behaviors, like recycling, turning off lights and buying green products (Whitmarsh et al, 2017). Even when comparing the same behavior across different contexts, there may be little or no relationship: Littleford et al (2014) compared two Council workplaces and found notable differences between them in adoption of energy-saving behaviors, due primarily to control factors (e.g., automated lighting).…”

Industry 1.61803: the transition to an industry with reduced material demand fit for a low carbon future

“…The use of a self-reported metric of happiness is still open to much challenge, but the analysis of data gathered in this area over many years has produced two tentative conclusions: beyond some level, happiness grows much more slowly if at all as income increases [44,61]; the drivers of happiness, broken down in figure 7, include GDP per capita , social support (having someone to count on in times of trouble), healthy life expectancy and freedom to make choices [62].

Figure 7.A decomposition of the determinants of happiness across several countries [59]. (Online version in colour.)

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