Consumer behaviour of the voluntary simplifiers - The case of eco-villages

Abstract

This paper introduces voluntary simplifier consumers who freely limit their consumption; freely purchase less than the average consumers. They refuse the logic of the consumer society, and choose an anti-consumer lifestyle that features environmental, social and economic sustainability. According to the international literature the concept of voluntary simplicity will be defined; the types/stages, main motives and influence factors of this frugal lifestyle will be presented.
While the segment of voluntary simplifiers is still very small in Hungary, it is difficult to find the representatives of it. The second part of this paper examines the so-called eco-villages. The main question: to what extent can their population be defined as voluntary simplifiers, according to the principles of the villages? The method of this exploratory research is internet content analysis, and webpages of 5 Hungarian eco-villages have been analysed. The findings show that the lifestyle of an eco-village meets the requirements of voluntary simplicity, so the population of it can be considered appropriate sample.