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Why most of us buy a lot more than we need – even knowing it’s harming the planet.
After the pandemic shock, the joy of shopping is particularly great: the Swiss have never wanted to spend more money on Christmas shopping than this year: an average of 330 francs per person. This is shown by a survey by the management consultancy EY.
We assume that private consumption will pick up significantly in 2022.
The shopping mood should not go away in the New Year either: “We are assuming that private consumption will pick up significantly in 2022,” says Klaus Abberger from the KOF Economic Research Center at ETH Zurich. Because of the pandemic, many consumers involuntarily saved a lot.
The state likes it, our planet doesn’t
Shop until the closet bursts: It’s a great thing for the economy and the state. Private consumption accounts for more than half of government revenues. The state is also pleased that the retail trade has long since sold more than it did before the pandemic.
On the other hand, excessive consumption is less healthy for the planet: the fashion industry alone generates more greenhouse gas emissions than aviation and shipping combined.
The crazy thing is: Many of us are well aware that consumption and the environment do not go well. “We just looked at it at school,” said a young woman laden with shopping bags in downtown Bern. “Of course that’s awesome.” And yet the young woman says she buys a lot more than she needs: make-up, perfume, clothes – simply because she likes it, she says.
Buying makes you happy – even if only for a short time
The young woman is not an isolated incident. Researchers have investigated why there are often worlds between the noble commitment to save the planet and the reality in department stores. Answer one: giving up is boring. Buying, on the other hand, makes you happy.
The only problem is that the little happiness is short-lived. And then you have to buy something new again.
It distracts from problems in everyday life, says the German brain researcher Gerald Hüther on request. “The only problem is that the little happiness is short-lived. And then you have to buy something new again. “
The mere knowledge that products contribute to climate change is not enough to change consumer behavior.
But if you’ve always been buying more, why not at least things that don’t harm the planet too much? “The mere knowledge that products contribute to climate change is not enough to change consumer behavior,” says business psychologist Dorothea Schaffner from the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland.
If it is also more strenuous and / or more expensive to buy environmentally friendly products or to take the train instead of the plane, then that is an additional barrier for many. Planet rescue or not.
Fashion labels and retailers would have to exemplify sustainability
In order to induce many more people to consume more sustainably, major players such as retailers or fashion labels would have to go ahead and provide appropriate impetus, says business psychologist Schaffner. “Nudging” is what the experts call it.
Schaffner gives an example: If an internet shop places a certain sustainably produced product at the top, then consumers would have the feeling that many others have already bought this product – as a result, they are much more likely to buy it themselves. Because: saving the planet is simply more fun together.