Ludger Heidbrink Joined Discussion on Consumption at 3SAT

Prof. Dr. Ludger Heidbrink (Kiel University), KCG Senior Researcher and Co-Head of the KCG Project “Cross-cultural differences in the perception of corporate social responsibility and consumer social responsibility along global supply chains”, joined a TV discussion on consumption at 3SAT on June 29, 2017. At the discussion „I buy, therefore I am“ moderated by Gert Scobel, Heidbrink discussed with Prof. Frank Trentmann, Ph.D. (Birkbeck College, University of London) about the role of consumption in general and the meaning of responsible consumption in a globalized world in particular. The discussion is expected to encourage the audience to reflect on consumer ethics, the role of culture in economic globalization and potential solutions to the challenges related to the global consumer culture from different perspectives.

Consumption nowadays in emerging economies as well as in developed countries does not only serve for the satisfaction of the basic needs of consumers anymore. Both the role of consumption and the lifestyles of consumers have radically changed with the increasing globalization of economic production and consumption patterns over time. The building of identities, based on which consumers determine their roles in society, turns to more strongly depend on their global consumption patterns than before. Furthermore, the marketing strategies of global brands and easier accesses to global products have encouraged the change of identities of consumers and their desire to buy new products, some of which they later may find less valuable or desirable than they thought before. It seems that the marketing strategies of global brands and technological advances have induced less responsible behaviour of consumers.

The less responsible consumption behaviour may have some negative effects on the environmental sustainability, such as overuse of resources and increasing waste and pollution, in the world in the long term. Against this background it is essential to explore potential ways to encourage more responsible consumption patterns worldwide.

The abovementioned discussion (in German) is available here.