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To Consume or Not to Consume? : Young people's environmentalism in the
affluent Finnish society
Minna Autio and Visa Heinonen
Young 2004 12: 137
DOI: 10.1177/1103308804042104
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What is This?
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ARTICLE
Young
Nordic Journal of Youth Research
Copyright © 2004
SAGE Publications
(London, Thousand Oaks CA
and New Delhi)
www.sagepublications.com
Vol 12(2):137–153
[1103-3088(200405)]
10.1177/1103308804042104
To consume or not to consume?
Young people’s environmentalism in the affluent Finnish
society
MINNA AUTIO
University of Helsinki
VISA HEINONEN
University of Helsinki
Abstract
This article looks at Finnish young people’s conceptions of green consumerism. We
examine first the discussion of the greening of youth in contemporary society on the
basis of earlier studies.Then we present the results of qualitative analysis of the different
data concerning environmental consumerism. The data were collected at upper
secondary schools in five different locations in Finland. The analysis of the essays and
group discussions revealed that young consumers consider green consumerism as
recycling, waste management and buying environmentally sound products. However,
the analysis of the stories revealed a variety of conceptions about what green
consumerism means. In addition, the youngsters were not totally consistent in their
thinking about the relationship between consumer behaviour and its consequences to
nature. The most aware young people understand that something must be done if our
aim is global sustainable development.
Keywords
ethical and green consumerism, humanistic economics, qualitative analysis, sustainable
lifestyle, young consumers, youth
137
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INTRODUCTION
I pretend to be a supposedly enlightened consumer who drinks organic milk and eats
Fairtrade chocolate. But, almost immediately I find myself craving for something that is
of no use to me, that I cannot use for anything, that is expensive, that will make my
mother angry with me for wasting my money, and that is probably made by a Nepalese
child. . . . But it comes in such a pretty package! (16-year-old male)
This young man presents himself ironically as a responsible consumer, who is unable
in the end to withstand the temptations of consumer culture. Being a green and
ethical consumer requires, firstly, consciousness of environmental problems and
social injustice (e.g. child labour), and secondly, a degree of self-discipline and desire
for knowledge. Thirdly, the consumer must believe that an individual person can
make a difference in the struggle against environmental degradation through private
consumption habits. Responsible consumers, who aim at lowering their level of
personal consumption or even buying Fairtrade products, need information to play
an active role as consumers.
Perhaps young consumers master the discourse of responsible consumption, but
as the quoted 16-year-old confessed, it is hard to resist the pleasures of consumption.
Campbell (1987: 37) has described consumption as ‘an activity which involves an
apparently endless pursuit of wants; the most characteristic feature of modern
consumption being this insatiability’. Undoubtedly, idealistic green consumerism
offers pleasure to those who get their satisfaction from an altruistic and modest lifestyle. But the majority of young consumers do not actively consider green choices as
part of their consumer behaviour,although they are aware of environmental problems
(see Autio and Wilska, 2003).
Young people’s green consumerism as a way of acting responsibly is a new
phenomenon for adults. Traditionally,adults have focussed on young people’s careless
spending and obsession with short-term gratification. As Osgerby (1998: 37) has
argued, the distinctive fact about youth’s economic behaviour since the 1960s has
been that they spend a lot of money on clothes, records, concerts, make-up and magazines or, in other words, all the things that give immediate pleasure and have little
lasting use. Therefore, young people have been seen as pleasure-seeking hedonists
who are more concerned about their own enjoyment than worrying about what the
future may or may not hold for them (Miles, 2000: 87). Also in Finland, there has been
a desire to connect impulsiveness, momentary enjoyment, unbridled use of money
and more recently, as Autio and Heinonen (2002) argue, also moral corruption to
young people’s consumption habits. Unpaid study loans, leading to debt problems for
some young people, have been the subject of extensive public debate in the Finnish
media. One of the reasons for this concern is that young consumers are also expected
to be rational and reflective: they are presumed to have control over their own money
and desires.
There has been a longstanding puritan peasant cultural tradition in Finland. In this
culture consumption or at least conspicuous consumption has been perceived as
rather inappropriate and morally questionable (Heinonen, 1998: 32–5, 377–81). Even
as late as the 1970s, economy and prudence were seen as the virtues of Finnish
consumer society; however since the 1980s both enjoyment of consumption and
responsibility have also become integrated into Finnish consumer culture. The
newest consumer ideology concerns ethics (see, for example, Crocker and Linden,
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1998), which reinforces the responsible consumer discourse. Compared to earlier
generations of consumers, Finnish young people today have not been made to feel
guilty by expectations of careful consideration or economizing; they have been able
to freely enjoy the pleasures of consumption. We have argued that this generation is
the first to become accustomed to an affluent society (Autio and Heinonen, 2002).
However, Finland has also faced the phenomena of the fragmentation of society,
well known from the postmodern consumer research literature (e.g. Bauman, 1992;
1998; Featherstone, 1991; Miller, 1987; Slater, 1997). It is a fact that young people do
not have equal economic resources and opportunities as consumers. Regardless of
economic background, today’s young people live in a consumer society influenced
by a variety of consumer mentalities encompassing, for example, the morality of
spending as well as green and ethical consumer discourses. Against this background
it is no surprise that young people are represented as consumers through a combination of various levels of consumer mentality: rationality, hedonism, squandering,
economizing and responsibility (Autio, 2003).
In this paper we focus on the phenomenon of green consumerism among ‘mainstream’ young consumers in Finland. In youth studies, subcultures or ‘problematic’
groups, such as the unemployed or drug abusers have occupied a rather common
field of research in Finland. Thus, in this study we focus on ordinary young people
and not only green or environmentally aware ones. We are interested in finding out
whether there is a culturally shared ‘story’ about being an environmentally responsible young consumer. We are also interested in the problems of being a green
consumer as well as potential gender differences: many studies have shown that girls
and women favour green values.
We use qualitative research methods in this study. Our interpretation of the data
is based on the tradition of Finnish green consumer studies on the one hand (e.g.
Heiskanen and Pantzar, 1997; Moisander, 2001; Niva and Timonen, 2001; Timonen,
2002; Uusitalo, 1986), and on youth studies on the other (e.g. Autio and Wilska, 2003;
Helve, 1997; Järvinen, 1995; Wilska, 1999, 2001). In addition, our theoretical framework is based on the tradition of humanistic economic thought as a heuristic device.
Unlike production oriented mainstream economics, this tradition emphasizes an
understanding of human beings as economic actors (Heinonen, 2001; Lutz, 1992;
Schumacher, 1973; Sen, 1987). The agent is not the abstract Rational Economic Man
but a real person with a body, heart and soul (Lutz, 1992: 111; Schumacher, 1973).
This article is structured as follows. First, we illustrate young people’s environmental awareness on the basis of earlier studies: we ask whether they are ‘enlightened consumers’. We then briefly review the theoretical discussion of green
consumerism in relation to the expectations of ‘greening’ the youth of modern
society. Secondly, we describe the research design and empirical data used in this
study. Thirdly, we present the results of an empirical analysis and make reflections on
our study, together with previous studies and inspiring theoretical frameworks such
as feminist economics. Finally, we present conclusions and discuss the role of young
people in the process of finding a sustainable lifestyle.
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YOUNG GREEN CONSUMERS – A MY TH?
Green consumerism is related to youth culture for historical reasons. Young people
had a significant role in building up green consumerism in the international context
as well as, from the 1980s onwards, at the national level. For example, radical choices
considered as ‘green lifestyles’ emerged as youth cultural movements, from the
hippies of the 1960s to present-day ‘freeganism’ (cf. Cross, 2000; Strasser, 1999).
Therefore, green consumerism has been associated with relatively radical lifestyles,
e.g. those involving severe reduction in consumption and life in eco-communities.
According to Moisander (2001: 172–3), besides being regarded as radical, the green
consumer is currently also viewed as a rational and morally ideal subject. Responsible consumer choices are essential to environmental citizenship, as Johnston (2001)
has pointed out. Yet how informed about green values and practices are ‘ordinary’
young consumers really? Is green awareness among youth a myth?
According to many surveys, both on an international and national level, young
people can be regarded as environmentally conscious and morally aware citizens (e.g.
Autio and Wilska, 2003; Fauth, 2002;1 Finnish Youth Barometer, 1998; Helve, 1997;
Järvinen, 1995). Yet there are signs that green awareness among youth cannot be
considered as self-evident. For example, according to Fauth’s study (2002: 96–106),
the interest of young Europeans in environmental topics and their fears regarding
pollution have declined significantly during the last five years. Fauth also argues that
since the beginning of the 1990s, saving as ‘postponed consumption’ has been declining more and more in favour of a propensity towards increased consumerism. According to the Finnish Youth Barometer for 1998, 86 percent of young people wish to
become consumers who make environmentally friendly choices that help to save
nature. At the same time they appreciate a high standard of living and consider
owning a house and a car important.
Also, according to Autio and Wilska’s (2003) study, Finnish young people appreciate material well being while also being environmentally conscious. The situation
may be illustrated by the fact that although the majority of respondents are prepared
to decrease consumption in favour of the environment, still only a quarter of them
are interested in the environmental effects of their consumption decisions. This
conflict in attitudes is intriguing: it is simultaneously materialistic and environmentally concerned. The following response from an 18-year-old male epitomizes the
theme of pleasure of consumption and responsible choices:
Today my biggest purchases are hobbies: photos, snowboarding and skateboarding. The
money doesn’t really go on clothes. . . . It is contradictory for me to pay even 700
marks (118 euros) for skateboard shoes. Naturally, the money also goes on phone bills,
movie tickets and things bought in cafes and bars. . . . The girlfriend is a big expense,
but I believe she’s a ‘profitable investment’. . . . When I say what to buy, price, quality,
environmental friendliness and other ethical considerations are decisive factors. I’m
ready to pay some more marks, if it comes from a place with a good reputation. I drink
Fairtrade coffee. (18-year-old male)
However, such attitudes are not surprising in light of the fact that youth has socialized into a society of high consumption, typical of which is to want, to obtain and to
own a number of goods. At the same time attempts are being made to solve environmental problems. When the UN World Commission on Environment and Development published the Brundtland Report in 1987, today’s 15 to 20-year-olds were only
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toddlers. The fundamental question about green consumerism is how the necessary
consumption and all these ‘beautiful vanities’ of everyday life can be reconciled with
the good life and the grand objectives of the programme of sustainable development
(Heinonen, 2001: 118).
GREEN CONSUMERISM AND YOUTH: A TRADITIONAL AND A
NEW APPROACH
Responsible consumer choices, such as waste management or buying environmentally sound products, are becoming part of our everyday life. Although green choices
are more common now than before, continuous attempts are still being made in the
realm of social debate and negotiation to define the ‘right’ choices concerning sustainable consumption. The question of green consumerism is fundamentally political and
ideological (cf. Barry, 1999; Dryzek, 1997; Moisander, 2001). There is no collectively
shared conception about how we should live according to the rules of sustainability
(e.g. Moisander, 2001). Most commonly we discuss energy-intensive consumer practices, such as restricting air travel and private car use or adapting sustainable heating
solutions, such as green electricity, to homes (e.g. Elkington and Hailes, 1988;
Rissa, 2001). The question arises as to how much we are recycling, buying environmentally sound products or saving water and electricity at home (e.g. Autio and
Wilska, 2003). Another rather common topic for debate is whether the western hemisphere should reduce its level of consumption or consume in a less material and
energy-intensive way (e.g. Kahilainen, 2000; Murphy and Cohen, 2001; Røpke, 1999,
Sachs et al., 1998).
Sustainable lifestyles are traditionally linked to individual choices, such as the deep
ecology movement, cultural eco-feminism and lifestyle greens (Dryzek, 1997: 164–6).
They aim at changing the world by changing people, which means attempting to
influence the way people experience the world. In Finland there is a current debate
about why people are not willing to pay for green electricity. This is a typical example
of leaving sustainable choices to individual consumers. As Moisander (2001: 252) has
critically pointed out, individual consumers are seen as powerful market actors who
use their purchasing power to bring about social change by taking into account the
environmental consequences of their private consumption.
Another approach to the issue of the ‘greening’ of society is the theory of
ecological modernization, in which the key actors are governments, businesses,
reform-oriented environmentalists and scientists. The role of a household is to be tidy
and effective, especially by minimizing waste. There is no need for the consumer to
spare a thought for compromising his or her material well being, since economic
development can proceed in unison with environmental protection, one reinforcing
the other (Dryzek, 1997: 143–6). Recently, these structural changes, including the
redirection of consumer lifestyles, have been most optimistically presented in a vision
of a sustainable information society,in which technological innovations are combined
with thoughts on sustainable development (cf. Kahilainen, 2000; Kamppinen et al.,
2001; Reisch, 2001). Attempts have been made to reduce the material strain imposed
on the environment by applying information and communication technology.
The younger generation has been seen as being in the front line for promoting a
non-material consuming culture. In comparison with products previously favoured
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by young people, e.g. motorcycles and cars, current popular products such as mobile
phones and the internet differ from the former because of their virtual or nonmaterial nature. Therefore, the present generation of young people has been
portrayed driving along the information highway in the way the previous generation
drove along motorways (Heinonen, 1995: 15). This prediction has been accurate in
the sense that young people in Finland have been quick to create and adapt to new
– and perhaps more sustainable – communication and media cultures.
Views concerning green consumerism in the new millennium are crystallized on
the one hand in a traditional picture, in the centre of which lies reduced consumption and individual choice, and on the other, in the increasingly green goals of structural and technological advances. The latter are fostered by consumers who gradually
shift towards a new anti-materialistic consumption culture in the wake of information
and communication technology. It is expected that young people aim at these goals.
They are presumed to view consumption in more immediate terms than previous
generations (e.g. Inglehart, 1977, 1997). It is also suggested that collecting material
goods is not the purpose of life for young people accustomed to wealth. Thus, instead
of ownership the goal of consumption is the gaining of experience, which is created
by participating in the act of consuming (e.g. Jensen, 1999).
However, it appears that post-materialistic values have not gained ground in the
minds of young people in Finland (e.g. Helve,1997: 157–9),contrary to what has been
suggested by Inglehart (1977, 1997). As mentioned earlier, it seems that youth, as well
as other age groups in society, are at once both materialistic and environmentally
aware, but only a small minority of young people has developed a ‘genuinely’ green
lifestyle. We do not think that sustainable development can be based only on the
decisions of individual consumers. However, individual consumers as a group are
important participants in the process of promoting sustainability in the future world.
Thus, we are convinced that by studying young consumers’ willingness to consume,
as well as the green and ethical choices in their everyday lives, we can obtain valuable
information that can help achieve sustainability.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND EMPIRICAL DATA
According to Autio and Wilska’s (2003) quantitative study, the majority of youngsters
are prepared to decrease consumption in favour of the environment, but only a
quarter of them are interested in the environmental effects of their consumer
decisions. In order to deepen our understanding of young people’s mentalities
towards green consumerism we decided to conduct some qualitative research. We
consider that one essential question regarding green consumerism is to determine
how ordinary young people understand environmentally and ethically responsible
consumer behaviour. Qualitative research attempts to make sense of phenomena in
terms of the meanings that people ascribe to them (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000: 3).
Therefore, we are interested in finding out:
1 how young people perceive, conceptualize and understand environmentally
oriented consumption, i.e. what kind of choices and actions they associate
with ecological and ethical consumerism; and
2 how young people represent the meaning of green consumerism through
storytelling.
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The data used in this study were collected in a research project entitled ‘Consumer
Cultures of Young People in the Changing Information Society’,2 for which a survey
was carried out in the spring of 2001 in 12 schools (see Autio and Wilska, 2003;
Wilska, 2003). While conducting the survey in eight upper secondary schools in the
spring of 2001 we had an opportunity to discuss with teachers the collection of qualitative data. Some of these teachers immediately expressed their willingness to participate in the research project in the autumn term, 2001. After the summer of 2001
consultation started with the teachers, and at the end of the year five upper secondary schools in five different locations, varying from metropolitan to rural areas, participated in qualitative data collection. The data were gathered from the end of
November 2001 to the beginning of January 2002. Thereafter, they were transcribed
into electronic form in February and March 2002.
Qualitative research involves collection of a variety of empirical data, such as
personal experience, interviews, introspection, life story, various cultural products,
etc. In this study, we decided to use essay writing as the method for collecting qualitative data. Unlike group discussion, essay writing gives every individual an opportunity to express her or his conception of given topics in a rather formulated way:
when composing an essay, people usually think before writing. However, the research
data were further supplemented by seven group interviews in three different locations in spring 2002. The interviews were open-ended group discussions led by a
researcher. The main themes of the discussions were materialism, green consumerism
and the information society.
We decided to focus only on upper secondary students aged 16 to 19 years as they
are considered to be more capable of expressing themselves in writing than students
in other schools such as vocational schools. Writing essays is an essential part of
Finnish language studies in the upper secondary schools whereas vocational schools
emphasize more practical skills. Finnish language teachers in the upper secondary
schools participated in the formulation of the essay topics, which were then given to
the students. Teachers are unquestionably expert at knowing what kind of questions
can be asked of 16–19 year-olds. The teachers suggested that two topics would be a
reasonable target for a one-hour lesson. Otherwise, the students would lose time
deciding which topic would be the most interesting one. Essays were collected
during the Finnish language class, which meant that the researcher formulated the
instructions, but the teachers collected the essays. The essays were sent directly to
the researcher, and the teachers did not read or evaluate them.
We decided to give students the choice of writing on either a life story as a
consumer or on their definitions of environmentally oriented consumer behaviour. In addition, we asked them to inform us whether they followed a green way of
life. The entire data consist of 203 essays, which are divided as follows: 51 students
wrote about environmentally oriented consumer behaviour and 159 wrote about
their life story as a consumer. Seven writers combined these topics. Twenty-six
students out of the 159 described elements of green and ethical consumer choices
in their consumer stories. Hence, we use the term ‘green consumer essays’ for those
51 essays to distinguish them from the narrative data (n = 26). The focus of the
analysis of this material is on:
1 fifty-one green essays written by 26 females and 25 males;
2 seven group discussions, participated in by both sexes; and
3 twenty-six narratives written by 17 females and 9 males.
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The 51 essays and 7 group discussions are based on analyses wherein we focus on
the most common themes and categories in the data (c.f. Eskola and Suoranta, 2000;
Silverman, 2000). We analyse the narrative data from the point of view of determining what kinds of differences and similarities can be found compared to the essays
and group discussions. Secondly, we look at how young consumers describe their
variety of choices and lifestyles with regard to green consumerism. The more general
green consumer essays are compared to the narratives, which present a rather
personal point of view. However, there are differences between the narratives: stories
fluctuate from subjective storytelling to fiction. However, finding the ‘truth’ in stories
is quite irrelevant – as Whitebrook (2001: 9) has argued, ‘. . . narrating is a basic
human activity. Persons understand their own lives as stories’ (see MacIntyre, 1985).
We believe that young consumers express something about their own way of thinking
as well as the cultural norms of society through storytelling. In the following we
present first the results of the study of the essays and group discussions and, second,
the results of the narrative analysis.
YOUNG CONSUMERS – GREEN (LIFE)ST YLE?
Recycling, waste management and environmentally sound products
In my opinion, environmentally friendly consumption consists of recycling, using
environmentally friendly products, managing waste by separating, and economizing. For
example, bottles, cans and clothes can be recycled when you don’t need them any
longer. Environmentally friendly products have not been, for example, manufactured by
using hazardous substances; they do not pollute and they can be composted.
Composting is a part of waste management. Economizing means limiting consumption.
This excerpt from the essay of a 17-year-old male presents a typical definition of
environmentally friendly consumption in the data: the most dominant topics in the
discourse on green consumerism are waste separation and recycling as well as buying
environmentally friendly products. The results are supported by Moisander’s (2001:
172) study, in which one of the dominant green discourses was a well-informed,
rational and morally exemplary citizen. It can be argued that to a certain extent green
consumerism is a norm in Finnish society (Moisander, 2001). This is the case
especially if we agree that a sustainable lifestyle means more responsible choices and
actions than radical ones in the area of household management and purchasing
decisions. The following quotations from a group discussion affirm commonly held
ideas of what constitutes a responsible consumer:
Interviewer: If you think about green consumerism, what comes into your mind.
What kind of person is a green consumer? Are you like that?
Girl 1:
No.
Boy 1:
In our household we sort out the rubbish, so to that extent, yes.
Girl 1:
Well yes . . . partly we do that, but if I think carefully, I don’t think we
sort the waste.
Girl 2:
Nor me. Well, I just sort the garbage. But if I think of my purchasing
habits, I don’t check whether they’re environmentally friendly or not . . .
Furthermore, young people consider green consumerism to be connected with
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reducing packaging waste and litter, and taking note of the ways products are
produced. Also, organically and/or locally produced food was discussed in the essays.
The prices of products were also discussed: some people were prepared to pay more
for green products, while the others saw the high price as an obstacle to a purchasing decision. The essays of the young students also considered the environmental
strain caused by the use of detergents on the one hand, and favouring locally
produced products and a vegetarian diet on the other. They also discussed using
public transport instead of a private car. As an overview of the data, 51 essays
represented the whole range of green consumerism from a life-cycle analysis of the
product in the context of environmental discourse to buying expensive brands like
Calvin Klein jeans. In the latter case one person stressed the quality of the purchase.
A variety of arguments concerning responsible consumption verified the conception
presented in the theoretical section of this article: the ‘right’ choices concerning
sustainable consumption in the context of social debate and negotiation.
Bearing in the mind that young people are relatively conscious of environmental
issues, it is noteworthy that nearly half (n = 22/51) of the respondents’ reports do not
include any personal environmentally friendly acts. In other words, young people
master the discourse of the green consumer, but do not necessarily act accordingly.
Furthermore, the group interviews showed that the green consumer’s image was not
found to be particularly appealing. Most of the interviewees wanted to make a distinction between themselves and the radical green consumer. As Moisander (2001: 215)
has argued in her study, young people see the subject position of the green consumer
as dull, grey and unappealing (cf. Reisch 2001: 253). One female participant in the
group discussion described the distinction as follows:
Many times those people who are really, really, really [green consumers]. . . . Like one
girl at our school, who is a member of the Green Party and shows everybody that ‘I am
such a nature lover, a nature lover, a nature lover’. . . . When some people are like that
a bit too much it amazes me because is s/he only pretending or is s/he a real friend of
nature?
The essence of the problem of green consumerism is manifested by the research
results showing the contradiction between attitudes adopted and actions performed
in connection with environmental issues. Many studies demonstrate a will to act in
an environmentally sound way, but these attitudes are not realized in practice (cf. for
example Halkier, 2001; Uusitalo, 1986). This contradiction between attitudes and
behaviour has been explained as being caused by a lack of knowledge and understanding: consumers do not appear to make a connection between consumption and
environmental problems, i.e. they seem to ignore the interaction between these two
(e.g. Autio and Wilska, 2003; Heiskanen and Pantzar, 1997; Niva and Timonen, 2001).
In addition to a lack of knowledge, understanding and awareness, the reasons for the
contradiction can be related to practical problems in consumers’ everyday lives. The
following, expressed by an 18-year-old male, exemplifies the difficulties faced when
acting in an environmentally friendly way:
Personally, I try to avoid using products and packages that are difficult to recycle. I
haven’t performed any great environmental acts, because usually environmentally
friendly products are more expensive than ‘ordinary’ products. It is the responsibility of
the consumer to cherish nature and recycle waste, and to protect the environment. All
the bother that comes with recycling takes so much time and energy that after a hard
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day at work or studying one isn’t interested in all that nonsense about protecting the
environment.
An egocentric man and an eco-centric woman
Many studies have shown a distinction between the sexes: girls and women appear
to be more environmentally friendly than boys and men (e.g. Autio and Wilska, 2003;
Järvinen, 1995; Moisander, 1996; Uusitalo, 1986). The present data confirm this
distinction. Girls write about economizing and moderation – for instance, saving electricity and water, and buying used clothes or taking old clothes to sell at a flea market
(cf. Ruohonen, 2001). They also ponder over the use of child labour in connection
with clothes. In comparison with boys, girls show greater enthusiasm for influencing
the condition of the environment by their own choices. Results are in line with
Fauth’s study (2002: 120): girls understand environmentally conscious behaviour as
something requiring them to become active themselves, whereas boys immediately
associate it with limitations on their personal freedom. Furthermore, according to
Autio and Wilska’s (2003) study, men’s responsibility in consumption was interpreted
as more freewheeling, whereas women’s attitudes were found to be multidimensional
(e.g. green consumers, animal protection, information technology optimism and
pessimism). The following excerpt from the essay of a 17-year-old girl exemplifies the
aspiration to make responsible choices and fulfil the responsibilities of environmental
citizenship, and this permeates the girl’s written story:
I have at least tried to be environmentally friendly. If the price range is roughly the
same between two similar products, I usually buy the one that is easier to recycle or
destroy by burning. I sometimes go to flea markets to buy things or clothes, which is
cheaper than buying a new product from the store. . . . I try to sort out the kitchen
waste; however, quite often my food ends up in the rubbish bin, and the paper does not
always find its way into the waste paper collection. But I always carry the bottles and
cans back to the shop like a good girl.
The distinction between the sexes was not as clear in the group discussions as it
was in the individual essays. It seems that in the event of the discussion, it is customary to commit oneself to the collective opinion and the norms of discourse concerning the topic being discussed. In fact, the boys who participated in one group session
appeared to be accusing the girls of leading consumption-centred lifestyles. Furthermore, the boys’ needs did not seem to be as limitless as the girls’. The following
quotations are from the group discussion, in which the girls and boys are discussing
their needs and shopping behaviour:
Interviewer: Do you feel that you have a lot of things? Do you need everything?
Girl 1:
Yes, I’ve got a lot of things. When I’m shopping I feel that I have to buy
this, but after having bought something it just gets left in the corner.
Girl 2:
I feel that I’ve got too many things as well, but I need the different things
I have. So, I always need more, and always the wrong things. They are
always the wrong ones (laughing). That I actually don’t need at all. But I
did need them when I was shopping. It was a ‘must’. I must have this.
Interviewer: Do you have unnecessary things or do you regret having bought
something?
Boy 1:
Not actually, because almost everything that I have is perhaps based on
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Boy 2:
Boy 3:
Boy 4:
To consume or not to consume?
created needs. But I have needs for those things. Or, usually, I never buy
anything I haven’t thought about so much – that I need as well.
I never shop just for pleasure.
It’s so boring. I never go to a shop and look for something to buy and
then simply buy it, but I make the decision first and then comes the
need. After that I’ll go and buy it.
Well, I don’t know. I even worked when I went to school and so I have
had some sort of extra money. I have bought some unnecessary stuff,
but not so much any more.
The atmosphere in the discussions is not surprising, because women have traditionally been given the role of the consumer, whereas it has been the man’s role to be
the provider for the family (cf. e.g. Campbell, 1987; Jennings, 1993: 112–3; Löfgren,
1990: 25). Furthermore, the moral norms of consumption have been divided according to sex. Goods such as beauty care products and clothes consumed by girls have
been regarded as materialistic frivolities, whereas the boys’ interests, such as cars,
mopeds and many other kinds of equipment needed for various hobbies, have in
general been viewed as useful and improving (Wilska, 2001: 67). Boys have also been
encouraged to be active and creative. Girls are taught to control their impulses,
repress their aggression and consequently grow up as responsible and rational adults
(Wilska, 2001: 65). Thus, a possible interpretation is that girls are socialized as green
consumers who conform to the norms of green ethics and morals. Explanations for
female awareness of environmental concerns are just another way of playing out their
traditional sex role, as Moisander (2001: 233) has argued.
Green narratives: deep, medium and light lifestyles
As mentioned earlier, 26 students out of 159 decided to write about their life stories
as consumers. Instead of writing about what environmentally oriented consumption
is, they wrote about combining green and ethical elements into their consumer
behaviour. They were writing about the same topics as the green consumer essay
writers (n = 51), but the way they presented their ‘green’ lifestyle was more personal.
In the essays the tone is more objective. Another difference is that they used more
‘nature’ and ‘nature friendly’ expressions in their stories; perhaps their responsible
consumer habits are linked to their appreciation of nature. On the basis of the narrative data it can also be argued that soft values seem to fit the female consumer mentality better. The gender division is more clearly perceivable in the data in the nine
stories written by young men and the 17 written by young women. In the green
essays the gender division was equal.
There are similarities in the essays and in the narrative data. In the stories the
writers display their responsible consumer habits by adapting to green values such
as composting, recycling and visits to second hand shops and flea markets. The latter
is a particularly significant part of the life style of the youth, because second hand
shops are places where clothes,furniture and other practical utensils can be acquired.
They are also useful places for recycling one’s own goods. Green values also encompass attempts to economize on the use of electricity and water and consumption in
general by avoiding unnecessary consumption. Responsible consumption is also
linked to organic foods and Fairtrade products, as well as to buying local foodstuffs
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and environmentally sound products. In this respect the concept of being green is
very similar to the results of the green consumer essays.
There are also differences between the narratives. Eight of them may be seen to
represent ‘deep green’, twelve ‘medium green’ and six ‘light green’ young consumers.
A deep green narrative is characterized by consistently following green moral codes.
A deep green consumer is aware of the interdependence of environmental degradation and increasing consumption. He or she criticizes conspicuous consumption
and aims at a moderate level. A deep green consumer represents her/himself as a
reflective consumer who buys long-lasting quality products and tries to discover
alternative shopping possibilities such as flea markets or recycling centres. S/he tries
to avoid impulse buying and emphasizes thrift and economizing. The following
example of a deep green consumer narrative is from a 16-year-old boy’s description
of his consumer habits and ideology:
When I got older and my own clothes began to take on some meaning, well, not a lot of
money was spent even then. Not that brand crap, Adidas or Nike or anything, but
mainly the kind of clothes that felt good on and looked good. Yes, nowadays more
pennies have started to go on clothes, but the amount has still been rather small.
Recycling clothes has become a custom, and granny’s loft and the second hand shops
have become the most important ‘points of purchase’. . . . Life would be rather dull
without the second hand shops, libraries and places such as that. I try to stay out from
‘mainstream’ consumption, partly because I don’t have the money and partly because I
don’t want to become just a lump of the mass, something that cannot be stopped
without conscious effort. In the eyes of outsiders one teenager is quite the same as all
of us others.
A medium green narrative consists of the same elements as a deep green one, but
the green ideology is not as restricting. A medium green consumer narrative leaves
room for pleasure-seeking consumer habits. However, recycling, ecological products
and alternative shopping possibilities are natural elements in her/his lifestyle. The
data reveals that the consumer identity of young people develops and changes with
age – especially in deep and medium green narratives. For example, when reaching
puberty youngsters awake to the enjoyment of consuming, and as adulthood
approaches they start to think about their responsibilities as consumers. Young
people begin to perceive the practices of ecological and ethical consumption, as illustrated by the following medium green narration:
All kinds of trinkets and knick-knacks attracted me and I always wanted things that
followed the latest trends. My mother used to wonder aloud whether present-day
children were becoming more and more materialistic. Later on, as I have begun to
ponder upon my own relationship with nature as well as ecological and ethical
consumption, my attitude has changed enormously. . . . After I have been shopping I
feel nausea and dizzy, and remorse sets in when I get home. I feel good and calm when
I don’t continuously feel that I must have something new. (18-year-old female)
A light green narrative is characterized by seeking enjoyment through consumption. However, a young light green consumer also takes her/his consumer behaviour
into account in green considerations such as recycling or avoiding throwing litter
around. It is noteworthy that the majority of narratives (133/159) did not contain any
mention of the green or ethical elements of young people’s behaviour as consumers.
Instead, young people wrote about the pleasure of consumption, the ethos of thrift,
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the shame of spending and above all representing themselves as rational and reflective consumers (Autio, 2003). Therefore, it is interesting to notice that some of the
young consumers seem to combine ‘fragile’ green choices with their rather pleasureseeking consumer lifestyle. Thus, light green consumerism consists of small acts in
everyday life, as the following example shows:
All the money that comes in goes too. Adore shopping! I really buy clothes often, at
least two items of clothing a month. Money is also ‘wasted’ buying sweets, eating out or
buying alcoholic drinks. . . . I pay my own mobile phone bill; it amounts to 35–50
euros a month. I don’t get much money now from my parents, although they do
sometimes pay for ‘necessary’ clothes and shoes. I am the worst kind of consumer! Yet,
I do try to buy things that are environmentally friendly. My parents have encouraged
me to do that. According to my calculations, I earn 170–250 euros a month and it goes
easily. I’ve just opened a bank account myself, thinking that perhaps I could save a little
for the future. (17-year-old female)
The light green may be the most common style of green consumerism. That green
radicals are still a minor group among young consumers is not surprising in the light
of the history of consumer society. The prevailing consumer ideology dictates that
the meaning of life is to be found in buying consumer goods and services instead of
protecting the world from environmental degradation and the resulting social misery.
The story of the enlightened consumer presented at the very beginning of this paper
crystallized the dilemma of being a conscious and a responsible consumer in contemporary society. Although we have all the ‘right information’ for a sustainable lifestyle,
our desire for momentary enjoyment takes over easily. How can one resist travelling
to exotic countries, which is a highly energy-intensive choice, or resist fast and airconditioned cars even though one knows that one is polluting the air and using
unrenewable natural resources? How can one avoid buying branded jogging shoes,
which are perfect for your feet, but perhaps made by a Nepalese child?
Yet as we have suggested in this paper, there are green consumers among youth,
who are willing to differentiate between a ‘mainstream’ and a responsible lifestyle.
Furthermore, their green choices vary from ‘normative’, for example recycling and
buying environmentally sound products just for style’s sake, to ideological ones. We
believe that the gap between seeing green consumers either as radical devoted greens
or not greens at all needs to be filled by the notion of a variety of different types of
green consumerism.
CONCLUSION
In the light of our qualitative data, we have presented ways in which Finnish young
people between the ages of 16 and 19 understand green consumerism. The most
essential issues in the green discourse are recycling, waste management and buying
environmentally friendly products, and these compose the culturally shared story of
those who are green consumers. The practices that young consumers described in
their essays fulfil the requirements for environmental citizenship. The young person’s
idea of buying and recycling his or her way to environmental citizenship reflects a
pattern of thought cherished by present-day youth as well as by the whole Finnish
consumer society. Consumers are not ready for radical changes in their lifestyles, nor
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do they behave in a green way, however positively they may view such changes in
research surveys. Green consumption cannot fully challenge the pleasure-seeking
hedonistic consumer culture. A similar conclusion can be drawn on the basis of this
data: young people master the discourse of the green consumer, but are not willing
to act accordingly. So what general conclusions should we come to? What kinds of
roles are consumers playing in the process of supporting sustainable development?
Are women once again pioneers, in the vanguard of sustainable development as they
were at the birth of modern consumer culture (cf. Campbell, 1987)?
The results of our empirical study should also be considered and reflected upon
critically. The data were all collected in the school environment, which has surely
influenced the students’ ways of thinking. Consuming is definitely a series of actions,
which mostly take place during leisure time. If the interviews had been conducted
in another environment,such as shopping malls or youth centres,the results may have
been different. Thus, we have reason to believe that our students have emphasized
the ‘rational and reflective’ side of their consumer image. They wrote as they thought
they were expected to – like good girls and boys. They could also have felt compelled
to write essays, even if they did so on a voluntary basis. Despite possible problems,
we argue that the quality of the data is rather good. Our findings and reflections on
earlier studies verify this. Essay writing is undoubtedly a practical and economical
method for collecting data; it enabled us to gather extensive and inspiring data from
five different locations in Finland.
Finally, contemporary youth in Finland is conscious of green values and practices,
but this is not necessarily evident in their consumer behaviour. Those youngsters
who recognize the connection between environmental problems and consumerism
understand that something should be done. Yet, their dedication to green practices
varies from relatively light choices such as recycling to being devoted to serious
sustainable lifestyles like veganism. We see human beings as responsible actors in
their role as consumers. Further, we emphasize that there is also a need for structural
change at the levels of companies, organizations and states. However, the real challenge is to deepen people’s understanding of the ecological choices related to their
consuming habits. We think that young people need to critically reflect on and
discuss the future of the world and what a good life means. They are the future
consumers, producers and agents of change.
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to Anne Murcott, Anu Raijas, Jaakko Autio and anonymous
referees for very helpful comments. We also thank the Research Funds of the
University of Helsinki and the Ministry of the Environment for financing the project
‘Young People in the Vanguard of Modernization’ as well as to the Jenny and Antti
Wihuri Foundation. Finally, we would like to thank Dennis Estill for checking our
English.
Notes
1 11,000 children and adolescents ranging from 10 to 17 years of age from within the 15
member states of the EU were interviewed about their consumer and environmental
behaviour during the period between June and October 2001. Finland is included (n =
730).
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2 The main themes of the survey were the consumption and economic situation of young
people, their use of mobile phones, their attitudes to technology and the information
society and towards environmental and ethical issues in Finland (n = 637). The object of
the survey was young people aged 16–20 in eight upper secondary schools, four
vocational schools and other middle-level educational institutes in Finland. The project
was part of ‘Information Society and Sustainable Development’, a programme financed by
the Finnish Ministry of the Environment.
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MINNA AUTIO is a researcher at the University of Helsinki. She has also been
working as a researcher at the Finnish Youth Research Network. She is now writing
her doctoral dissertation concerning young people’s consumer ideologies.
Address: Department of Economics and Management, Consumer Economics, PO
Box 27, University of Helsinki, 00014, Finland. [email: [email protected]]
VISA HEINONEN is a professor in Consumer Economics at the University of
Helsinki. His most recent research examines the history of advertising in Finland.
He has also studied the development of Finnish consumer society. Address: as
Minna Autio. [email: [email protected]]
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