Alexis Blue* says that buying ‘green’ products is still materialism which means it has an impact on the planet.
Photo: Iva Balk
Materialism may influence us to choose “green buying” rather than not buying anything at all, research finds.
Humans’ overconsumption of resources — from the food and clothes we buy to the methods of transportation we choose — is a leading contributor to global climate change, says Sabrina Helm, an Associate Professor in the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona.
Therefore, it’s increasingly important to understand the choices consumers make and how those decisions affect the health of a planet with limited resources.
In a new study, Helm and her collaborators explore how culturally entrenched materialistic values influence pro-environmental behaviours in millennials, who are now the most influential group of consumers.
You, your stuff, and the planet
The researchers focused on two main categories of pro-environmental behaviours: 1) reduced consumption, which includes actions like repairing instead of replacing older items, avoiding impulse purchases, and not buying unnecessary items; and 2) “green buying,” or purchasing products designed to limit environmental impacts, such as goods made from recycled materials.
The researchers also looked at how engaging in pro-environmental behaviours affects consumer wellbeing.
More materialistic participants, the researchers found, were unlikely to engage in reduced consumption.
However, materialism did not seem to have an effect on their likelihood of practising green buying.
That’s probably because green buying, unlike reduced consumption, still offers a way for materialists to fulfil their desire to accumulate new items, Helm says.
“There is evidence that there are ‘green materialists’,” says Helm.
“If you are able to buy environmentally friendly products, you can still live your materialist values.”
“You’re acquiring new things, and that fits into our mainstream consumption pattern in our consumer culture, whereas reduced consumption is more novel and probably more important from a sustainability perspective.”
Study participants who reported having fewer materialistic values were much more likely to engage in reduced consumption.
Consuming less was, in turn, linked to higher personal wellbeing and lower psychological distress.
Buy less for more satisfaction
Green buying — which may have some positive environmental implications, although to a lesser degree than reduced consumption — was not found to improve consumer wellbeing, Helm says.
“We thought it might satisfy people that they participated in being more environmentally conscious through green buying patterns, but it doesn’t seem to be that way,” Helm says.
“Reduced consumption has effects on increased wellbeing and decreased psychological distress, but we don’t see that with green consumption.”
The take-home message for consumers: “The key is to reduce consumption and not just buy green stuff,” Helm says.
“Having less and buying less can actually make us more satisfied and happier.”
“If you have a lot of stuff, you have a lot on your mind,” she says.
“Maybe you have a lot of debt because you bought all that stuff, and now you have to manage all that stuff.”
“It requires maintenance and being organised.”
“It’s not like you buy it and you’re done with it.”
“There’s a lot of burdens of ownership, and if you relieve yourself of that burden of ownership, most people report feeling a lot better and freer.”
Financial sustainability
The researchers also looked at how materialism affects millennial consumers’ proactive financial behaviours, such as budgeting and saving.
Examining financial behaviours alongside pro-environmental behaviours provides a picture of how young adults proactively cope with resource limitations in two contexts: environmental and financial, Helm says.
As expected, Helm and her collaborators found that those who reported having more materialistic values engaged in fewer proactive financial behaviours than their less materialistic counterparts.
The researchers also found that, consistent with previous studies, proactive financial behaviours were associated with better personal wellbeing, life satisfaction, and financial satisfaction, as well as lower psychological distress.
“For very obvious reasons, if you have a proactive financial strategy and put money to the side and live within your means, it has positive wellbeing effects,” Helm says.
The researchers’ findings are based on data from a longitudinal study that followed 968 young adults from their first year of university, when they were between the ages of 18 and 21, to two years post-university, when they were ages 23–26.
The participants responded to online survey questions designed to measure materialism, proactive financial behaviours, pro-environmental behaviours, personal wellbeing, life satisfaction, financial satisfaction, and psychological distress.
Understanding how materialistic values affect consumer behaviours, and how those behaviours in turn affect personal and environmental wellbeing, is important, Helm says.
However, she acknowledges that for many consumers, shifting behaviours to be more financially proactive and consume less will be challenging.
“We’ve been told since childhood that there’s a product for everything and it’s OK to buy, and it’s a good thing because that’s how the economy works,” she says.
“We’re brought up this way, so changing behaviours is very difficult.”
* Alexis Blue is Assistant Director of Communications at the University of Arizona, USA. She tweets at @alexislblue.
This article first appeared at www.futurity.org.
