Crisis and new consumption patterns: social discourses about Green consumption in big Spanish cities

Abstract

The current economic crisis that Spain has been suffering throughout the last years has had a significant impact on the ways citizens are relating to consumption. In this context, one of the key issues is the new space open for a growing environmental consciousness, due to several reasons such as the impossibility to sustain the consumption model inherited from the boom years, the growing popularity of new patterns of sutainable consumption and the awareness that public opinion shows when asked about topics such as climate change. In this paper, our goal is to explore social perceptions on green consumption from a qualitative perspective. To do so, an analysis of social discourses recorded from focus groups will be undertaken, in the context of a wider reesearch about consumption and crisis. Results seem to highlight the challlenges green consumption faces in Spain, once it fails to engage with the average Spanish consumer. The reasons for such failure will be described in detail in this work.