Minimalistic consumption : study on Finnish consumers with the context of kitchenware consumption

Abstract

Facing criticisms towards consumerist lifestyle, minimalistic consumption has been proposed and received considerable attention from a significant segment of consumers who want to take another lens of consumption other than indulging in consumerism-oriented attitudes. In recent years, many researchers have started to observe this phenomenon and explain it from different perspectives. Despite the contributions of prior studies, the holistic framework identifying the motivations and goals that consumers aim to achieve through minimalistic consumption practices has been neglected and unstructured in the extant literature. The purpose of this study is to provide insights into the motives and aims of minimalistic consumers and explore the common consumption practices that minimalistic consumers engage in.

The qualitative method is used with data collected from seven in-depth interviews. All participants are Finnish consumers who are adopting the minimalistic lifestyle. The chosen context to analyze the customer behavior towards minimalistic consumption is kitchenware consumption.

The findings of this study indicate that there are four motivations that encourage Finnish consumers to engage in minimalistic consumption, consisting of self-fulfilling, economic, environmental and social, and personal preference motive. Each motive presents certain goals that consumers want to gain when practicing minimalistic consumption. The results of this study also provide the representative practices of minimalistic consumption and the characteristics of products that minimalistic consumers take into consideration when consuming material goods.

The contribution of this study is that it provides a deeper understanding of the minimalistic consumers. Minimalistic consumers should be seen as heterogeneous based on their different motives and aims when engaging in minimalistic consumption. From such an understanding, marketers can design suitable marketing strategies to target this segment.