Zoekresultaten

Drinking motives

Chapter 8 in Comsumption Culture in Europe. This chapter presents an analysis of what consumer in Europe drink and why they drink what they drink. The concept of drinking motives is developed and defined, and analysis of data on drinking motives shows that these can be grouped into two major classes: self-expressive and functional. This distinction is universal and hence applies across Europe. However, the importance of self-expressive as compared to functional motives, as well as the way in which these relate to different beverages, does differ across Europe. Both dimensions are relevant for the motives for drinking non-alcoholic drinks, whereas the self-expression dimension dominates reasons for drinking alcoholic drinks. The Eastern European countries have generally higher scores on the self-expression dimension, indicating that such motives play a bigger role there compared to the other regions. No clear geographical pattern emerged with regard to the functional dimension. Beer and spirits are the alcoholic drinks and tea, water, and juice the non-alcoholic drinks that are related to high scores on the self-expression dimension. Water and juice are the drinks scoring highest on functionality, being mainly related to health, availability, and quenching one’s thirst. The non-alcoholic products scoring low on functionality are coffee, tea, soft drinks, and energy drinks. Analysis of socio-demographic differences resulted in only a few effects. Men, lower education groups, and lower income groups are more likely to drink alcohol for reasons other than self-expression motives (such as to quench one’s thirst). Also, the health motive plays a larger role for older people, and the self-expressive and social motives play a larger role for younger people. The chapter closes with recommendations for the marketing of drink products in Europe.

Consumption patterns and cultural values in Europe

Chapter 6 in Consumption culture in Europe. The chapter focuses on cultural differences in consumption across Europe and describes general attitudes towards consumption and brands, the significance of shopping, and how these are linked to the motives of consumption of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. These topics have been analysed using the Hofstede dimensions, and the evaluation also considers regional differences within the European Union. The main objective of this research is to attempt to understand consumption patterns and national cultural dimensions, general consumption values, and what their connections are to alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinking patterns. The main research question is how cultural styles influence consumption styles within Europe. This analysis concluded that some European societies are more adaptable to cross-cultural influence than others in relation to beverage consumption. The authors’ findings suggest that the cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede supported the understanding of cultural differences related to purchasing, brands and beverage consumption both at national and individual levels. However, there is an overlap between some countries in their drinking behaviour, which supports the claim that existing cultural patterns cannot fully explain the new beverage trends, especially in alcohol consumption. This indicates the necessity of a shift toward new dimensions with regard to beverage consumption and/or eventually consumer behaviour.

Understanding and measuring consumption motives in the performing arts

Who Are They? Different Types of News Avoiders Based on Motives, Values and Personality Traits

The number of people that intentionally avoid the news is growing. This could have several personal and societal implications. Previous research exposed various motives to avoid news, which lead to different manifestations of news avoidance, and consequently different implications. However, so far less is known about the differences in news avoidance types. In this study, we aim to explore different profiles of news avoiders beyond demographics, based on their motives to avoid news, values in life and personality traits. We analyze how this relates to background characteristics, the degree of news avoidance (occasional, regular, consistent), and news consumption. We rely on a survey conducted in The Netherlands (N = 2798) in March 2022. We conducted a Latent Profile Analysis and found seven news avoiders’ profiles: (1) interested occasional avoider; (2) emotive occasional avoider; (3) critical occasional avoider; (4) status-driven occasional avoider; (5) skeptical frequent avoider; (6) news outsider; and (7) convinced frequent avoider. This provides a nuanced picture of news avoidance.

Animal cards, supermarket stunts and World Wide Fund for Nature

This article explores cooperation between a commercial supermarket chain and an environmental non-governmental organization linking it to consumer perception of the “The Super Animals” collectable cards promotion initiative. The case study focuses on one particular joint project involving Animal Cards that was initiated by the supermarket Albert Heijn and the World Wide Fund for Nature in The Netherlands. Based on this case, environmental non-governmental organizations’ strategic choices in the context of contesting discourses of sustainability and consumption, as well as implications for environmental education, are addressed. This article combines three strands of the literature – on sustainable consumption, on strategic cooperation between commercial companies and environmental non-governmental organizations and on environmental education. It is argued that the Animal Cards initiative presents an ambiguous case by both attempting to enhance environmental awareness and promoting consumption, opening up questions about the value of such cooperative ventures to the objectives of environmental education. It is concluded that cross-sector partnerships have the potential to lead to improvements in corporate social responsibility and environmental awareness among consumers but simultaneously pose the danger of undermining the critical stance toward consumption. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540514556170 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/

“I refer to it as <i>throwing wads</i>”

As multifunctional places that combine shopping and hospitality with public space and residential functions, urban consumption spaces are sites where different normative orders surface and sometimes clash. In Amsterdam, such a clash emerged over touristification of consumption spaces, eroding place attachment for local residents and urging the city government to take action. Based on policy analysis and interviews with entrepreneurs and key informants, we demonstrate how Amsterdam’s city government is responding to this issue, using legal pluralism that exists within formal state law. Specifically, the city government combines four instruments to manage touristification of consumption spaces, targeting so-called tourist shops with the aim to drive them out of the inner city. This strategic combination of policy instruments designed on various scales and for different publics to pursue a local political goal jeopardizes entrepreneurs’ rights to legal certainty. Moreover, implicitly based on class-based tastes and distrust towards particular minority groups of entrepreneurs, this policy strategy results in institutional discrimination that has far-reaching consequences for entrepreneurs in itself, but also affects trust relations among local stakeholders.