Between consumerism and deconsumption - attitudes of young Poles as a challenge for marketers

Deconsumption is a voluntary giving up of behaviors aimed at satisfying desires created by marketers in favor of a conscious, rational and ethical choice intended to satisfy one's real needs. Deconsumption means taking responsibility for the long-term and multi-faceted effects of consumer decisions that are being taken nowadays. It assumes the elimination of consumer's hedonistic behaviors oriented at immediate gratification in favor of more demanding ones, which are characterized by postponed gratification, but – in the long run – are of more value. Deconsumption is a reaction against the feeling of exhaustion caused by excessive consumption (consumerism) and a distinctive feature of a consumer living in a post-ownership era, for whom the value lies in the benefits from using a products and not in its ownership and possession. Deconsumption is demonstrated mostly by limiting (rationalizing) consumption [caused by disappointment and fatigue resulting from excessive consumption, lowered importance of consumption and a human element within the system], greening consumption, servitisation, being involved in collaborative consumption (sharing economy and access economy). In a broad sense, deconsumption also includes anti-consumer behaviours, including those related to consumer resistance (e.g. consumer boycott, retaliation against companies that, for instance, abused their position, etc.). So far, deconsumption has not been adequately described in the literature on the subject (both in Poland and abroad) and there is a great cognitive gap regarding this phenomenon. Most of the research carried out in this area is of qualitative character. Quantitative research has been focusing on selected aspects and, additionally, it has been conducted on low-key, convenient trials (mainly involving students). The basic aim of this study is to diagnose the deconsumptive attitudes and behaviour of Generation Y in Poland. People born between 1980 and 2000 acquired consumer awareness in a competitive, free-market economy. Thanks to technological development they have access to global information and they can follow trends from different parts of the world. Are they therefore ready to give up a consumer lifestyle and the will to increase their ownership? The conclusions are based on the results of quantitative research conducted on a representative sample of 600 young Poles. The sample was selected by random-quota method. The respondents were selected based on gender, age and place of residence.