IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envsyd/v31y2011i3d10.1007_s10669-011-9324-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What is (responsible) consumption? Discussing environment and consumption with children from different socioeconomic backgrounds in The Netherlands

Author

Listed:
  • Helen Kopnina

    (University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

This research explores the attitudes of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds toward consumption with the aim of establishing a framework for incorporating the subject of (responsible) consumption into the upper elementary school curriculum. This study draws upon the four-step methodological procedure, including consumption diaries, focus-group sessions, interviews, and concept mapping, conducted among 140 upper elementary school children in the Netherlands between September 2010 and January 2011. The consumption diaries, chronological documents recording purchase, use and waste of materials, were used both as analytical tools and the means to stimulate environmental awareness. Comparison of the clusters generated by concept mapping analysis shows that there are significant differences between attitudes of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. While pupils from the “well-to-do” predominantly ethnically Dutch schools showed greater awareness of and concern about their own consumptive patterns, children from less economically advantaged and ethnically mixed schools demonstrated lower environmental awareness and concern. However, children from the disadvantaged schools demonstrated more pro-environmental consumptive behaviors associated with the money-saving activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Helen Kopnina, 2011. "What is (responsible) consumption? Discussing environment and consumption with children from different socioeconomic backgrounds in The Netherlands," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 216-226, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:31:y:2011:i:3:d:10.1007_s10669-011-9324-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10669-011-9324-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10669-011-9324-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10669-011-9324-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giovanni Baiocchi & Jan Minx & Klaus Hubacek, 2010. "The Impact of Social Factors and Consumer Behavior on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the United Kingdom," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 14(1), pages 50-72, January.
    2. Max J. Pfeffer & J. Mayone Stycos, 2002. "Immigrant Environmental Behaviors in New York City," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 83(1), pages 64-81, March.
    3. Leiser, David & Beth Halachmi, Reut, 2006. "Children's understanding of market forces," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 6-19, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kopnina, Helen & Williams, Melanie, 2012. "Car attitudes in children from different socio-economic backgrounds in the Netherlands," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 118-125.
    2. Chelsea Schelly, 2015. "Frameworks for Understanding and Promoting Solar Energy Technology Development," Resources, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Albert, Osei-Owusu Kwame & Marianne, Thomsen & Jonathan, Lindahl & Nino, Javakhishvili Larsen & Dario, Caro, 2020. "Tracking the carbon emissions of Denmark's five regions from a producer and consumer perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    2. Pottier, Antonin, 2022. "Expenditure elasticity and income elasticity of GHG emissions: A survey of literature on household carbon footprint," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    3. Lei, Mingyu & Cai, Wenjia & Liu, Wenling & Wang, Can, 2022. "The heterogeneity in energy consumption patterns and home appliance purchasing preferences across urban households in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    4. Allen, James C. & Bergstrom, John C., 2003. "Measuring Values For Wetlands Protection In A Developing Country From Domestic And International Citizen Groups," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22009, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    5. Alotaish Mohammed Saud M. & Ping Guo & Ihtisham ul Haq & Guoqin Pan & Alam Khan, 2019. "Do government expenditure and financial development impede environmental degradation in Venezuela?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, January.
    6. Zihanxin Li & Nuoyan Li & Huwei Wen, 2021. "Digital Economy and Environmental Quality: Evidence from 217 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-20, July.
    7. Daoyan Guo & Hong Chen & Ruyin Long, 2019. "What Role Should Government Play in the Personal Carbon Trading Market: Motivator or Punisher?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Andersson, Fredrik N.G., 2023. "Income inequality and carbon emissions in the United States 1929–2019," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    9. Caroline Ignell & Peter Davies & Cecilia Lundholm, 2013. "Swedish Upper Secondary School Students’ Conceptions of Negative Environmental Impact and Pricing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-15, March.
    10. Lena Kilian & Anne Owen & Andy Newing & Diana Ivanova, 2022. "Exploring Transport Consumption-Based Emissions: Spatial Patterns, Social Factors, Well-Being, and Policy Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-26, September.
    11. Jiang, Lu & Xue, Bing & Xing, Ran & Chen, Xingpeng & Song, Lan & Wang, Yutao & Coffman, D’Maris & Mi, Zhifu, 2020. "Rural household energy consumption of farmers and herders in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    12. Qian Wang & Qiao-Mei Liang & Bing Wang & Fang-Xun Zhong, 2016. "Impact of household expenditures on CO2 emissions in China: Income-determined or lifestyle-driven?," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 84(1), pages 353-379, November.
    13. Yueyue Rong & Junsong Jia & Min Ju & Chundi Chen & Yangming Zhou & Yexi Zhong, 2021. "Multi-Perspective Analysis of Household Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Direct Energy Consumption by the Methods of Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index and σ Convergence in Central China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-28, August.
    14. Imran Hossain & Maria Fekete-Farkas & Md. Nekmahmud, 2022. "Purchase Behavior of Energy-Efficient Appliances Contribute to Sustainable Energy Consumption in Developing Country: Moral Norms Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, June.
    15. Büchs, Milena & Schnepf, Sylke V., 2013. "Who emits most? Associations between socio-economic factors and UK households' home energy, transport, indirect and total CO2 emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 114-123.
    16. Chad M. Baum & Christian Gross, 2017. "Sustainability policy as if people mattered: developing a framework for environmentally significant behavioral change," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 53-95, April.
    17. Vázquez-Rowe, Ian & Villanueva-Rey, Pedro & Moreira, Mª Teresa & Feijoo, Gumersindo, 2013. "The role of consumer purchase and post-purchase decision-making in sustainable seafood consumption. A Spanish case study using carbon footprinting," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 94-102.
    18. Echeverría, Lucía & Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2022. "Green mobility and well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    19. De Lauretis, Simona & Ghersi, Frédéric & Cayla, Jean-Michel, 2017. "Energy consumption and activity patterns: An analysis extended to total time and energy use for French households," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 634-648.
    20. Corey Allan & Suzi Kerr & Campbell Will, 2015. "Are we turning a brighter shade of green? The relationship between household characteristics and greenhouse gas emissions from consumption in New Zealand," Working Papers 15_06, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:31:y:2011:i:3:d:10.1007_s10669-011-9324-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.