Is consumption becoming less material? The case of services Online publication date: Fri, 04-Jul-2003
by Inge Ropke
International Journal of Sustainable Development (IJSD), Vol. 4, No. 1, 2001
Abstract: The need to develop more sustainable consumption patterns in the rich countries is being increasingly realised. Some people hope that the consumption patterns will change, almost by themselves, in a more sustainable direction, because consumers come to a certain degree of satiation with material goods and therefore demand non-material services. The present article questions this idea in two ways. First, some characteristic features of the development of private consumption are outlined, which can help to explain why few signs of satiation can yet be seen. There follows a detailed discussion of whether it is realistic to expect a shift to the types of service that have a less damaging environmental impact. Historically, the increase in public services has been a positive change in this respect, whereas the contribution from private services has been limited. Future possibilities of increasing environmentally benign services meet serious limitations, so active policies are needed to overcome these.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Sustainable Development (IJSD):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook