The article discusses how the pace of technological progress and economic model of society will change under the influence of global aging process. It tries to answer the following questions: What ...could be the driver of an acceleration of technological growth in the forthcoming decades? Is slowdown of technological growth likely to be observed afterwards? What could cause such a slow-down? How could this slowdown affect socioeconomic and sociopolitical relations? What is the relationship between global aging and technological progress? Why is global aging likely to be one of the most important factors affecting technological growth in the near future?
This paper elaborates on the motivational complexity of green consumerism using a simple model of motivation as an analytical tool. The objective is to provide insights into the challenges that ...environmentally concerned 'green consumers' may face in the markets, as well as to illustrate the limitations of framing and targeting environmental policy measures in terms of individual motivation and morally responsible decision making. On the whole, the paper argues that as a private lifestyle project of a single individual, 'green consumerism' is much too heavy a responsibility to bear. Therefore, the author joins the growing number of scholars who argue that in environmental policy the focus on individual consumers is limited and thus needs to be problematized.
Green Consumerism or the use of environmentally friendly products is important in the life of this modern era. Green consumerism contributes to the preservation of the environment for life in the ...future. The use of green products is part of the pro-environmental behavior that plays an important role in reducing the amount of waste, sustainable development, and saving resources. This is the underlying need to do this research. The purpose of this study is to describe students' pro-environmental behavior, in terms of groups of MIPA and non-MIPA students. Differences in perceived scientific background can be a distinguishing factor. The method used is descriptive method. Pro-environmental behavior data was taken from 130 students of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MIPA) Program and 130 Non-Mathematics and Natural Sciences (non-MIPA) students in Universitas Negeri Jakarta, in June 2018. The results of t-test showed no significant difference in pro-environmental behavior between MIPA and NON MIPA students. The students' proenvironment behavior score in both groups has averages that do not very much, with an average score above 60. This indicates that in essence MIPA and non-MIPA students have pro-environment behavior that is still relatively good.
This article documents a cultural script of ‘non-materialistic parental investment’ in a private kindergarten in Israel, and the paradoxes that accompany it. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the ...analysis reveals an inherent tension between an anti-materialistic ideology and the immersion of the kindergarten in a hyper-consumerist culture. While the explicit discourse emphasizes simplicity and unmediated emotional nurturing, the kindergarten in effect comprises an arena of intense elite consumerism of upper-middle-class parents who wish to give their children high-quality, expensive education. As a prestigious private business, it, therefore, plays a direct role in class differentiation processes, although ‘social-class’ is not part of the conscious pedagogical agenda.
The recent rise in ethical consumerism has seen increasing numbers of corporate brands project a socially responsible and ethical image. But does having a corporate brand that is perceived to be ...ethical have any influence on outcome variables of interest for its product brands? This study analyzes the relationship between perceived ethicality at a corporate level, and brand trust, brand affect and brand loyalty at a product level. A theoretical framework with hypothesized relationships is developed and tested in order to answer the research question. Data have been collected for 45 product categories in the fast moving consumer goods sector using a panel of 4,027 Spanish consumers. The proposed relationships are tested using structural equations modeling. The results suggest there is a positive relationship between perceived ethicality of a brand and both brand trust and brand affect. Brand affect also positively influences brand trust. Further, brand trust and brand affect both show a positive relation with brand loyalty. The managerial and academic implications of the results are discussed.
The artist openly revealed their houseless status, which began in 2020 and coincided with the most severe phase of the pandemic; they also chose as their performance site tourist-saturated Hollywood ...Boulevard, on the sidewalk in front of LACE’s temporarily closed storefront gallery. Because its exhibition space was closed for renovations, LACE offered Nguyen a six-month artistic “un-residency,” culminating in a weekend program of Nguyen’s installation performance, in which they would interact with audience members—and curious passersby—through what LACE’s press release described as “a tea ceremony where visitors can join the artist for a conversation about the objects in the installation and their experience as an unhoused artist.” A table, neatly stacked with a hot water container, plates of cookies, tea bags, and paper cups, stood on one side; the other side was a blue tent, with its flaps open to reveal a clean and largely empty interior. Yet, in Hobollywood, the politics of art manifests its power not so much in its activist demands but in the subdued poignancy of an artist exposing their existential precarity while persisting in seeking meaning out of mundane interpersonal exchanges.
Current calls for deep societal transformation stress the need to go beyond green consumption and aim for the reduction of material consumption. Such a shift is enacted by grassroots initiatives ...around reuse, repair and sharing. However, the possibility of postconsumerist perspectives and practices to reach a broader audience is affected by discursive opportunity structures (DOS) formed in public debate. To understand the DOS it is relevant to pay attention both to the continuous normalisation of consumption and to the ways in which alternatives are represented. To develop new analytical tools for examining what postconsumerist initiatives are up against, we introduce the concept of banal consumerism: mundane, habitual expressions that reproduce consumer culture. Through an empirical study of Swedish daily newspapers, we construct the basis for a typology of different expressions of banal consumerism. We find several expressions, of which the massive advertising of consumer goods is the most common but editorial material also plays an important role. This largely disabling DOS is then put in relation to the potentially enabling opportunities entailed in the existing media coverage of postconsumerist initiatives, practices and perspectives. The results show that postconsumerist initiatives and practices are newsworthy and presented as commendable. The fact that high levels of material consumption negatively impact the environment and life on the planet is widely accepted. To argue for degrowth or criticise consumerism is, however, controversial. Thus, support for postconsumerist practices coexist with massive expressions of banal consumerism, creating a complex set of DOS for the postconsumerist initiatives to navigate.
This study investigates the effects of customers’ perceptions of multidimensional corporate social responsibility (philanthropic, ethical, legal, and economic) on brand equity in the restaurant ...industry, specifically by examining the case of Starbucks in Korea. Furthermore, this study examines whether consumers with a high degree of ethical consumerism form more positive brand equity perceptions of restaurants than other consumers do. The results showed that ethical, legal, and economic aspects of corporate social responsibility had a significant influence on consumers’ perceptions of brand equity, while philanthropic corporate social responsibility did not. The analysis of moderating effects showed that consumers with high levels of ethical consumerism exhibit stronger relationships between economic corporate social responsibility and restaurants’ positive brand equity. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Political consumerism refers to citizens’ use of boycotting and buycotting as they seek to influence political outcomes within the marketplace rather than through more traditional routes such as ...voting. However, given the pressure that neoliberalist forces exert on the marketplace, the lack of literature problematising the relationship between political consumerism and neoliberalism is somewhat surprising. Addressing this gap, we examine how neoliberalism impacts youth political consumerism in the UK and Greece. Focus-group findings suggest the existence of two inter-connected effects. Firstly, we detect a neoliberal ‘push effect’ away from electoral politics. Secondly, we discern a parallel ‘pull effect’ as young people seek the ‘political’ within the marketplace. In Greece, youth political consumerism seems to result primarily from distrust of institutional political actors. In contrast, young political consumers in the UK appear to be principally driven by confidence in the capacity of the market to respond to their pressing needs.
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