In the corona pandemic, shopping has become more complicated, provided that the shops are open at all. A survey shows that the majority has changed their attitude towards consumption.
Hamburg – According to a survey, the majority of citizens in Germany became more cautious in their consumer behavior during the Corona crisis.
In a new study by the Opaschowski Institute for Future Research, 60 percent of those questioned said that their attitude towards life had changed permanently. They agreed with the statement: “When consuming and spending money, I have become more measured and modest – and don’t miss anything.” In a similar survey in July 2020, 57 percent said so.
The Hamburg futurologist Horst Opaschowski explained that part of the population is being forced to save due to rising prices. But there is a second population group that wants to be more modest when consuming voluntarily and consciously. “Across all social and age groups, the changed consumer behavior is proving to be a stabilizing trend.”
Women are ahead
However, there are more women (65 percent) than men (56 percent) who say they are modest. According to the survey, those over 50 (67 percent) were more likely to have a more modest consumer attitude than the generation under 30 (50 percent).
Opaschowski considers the proportion of city dwellers to be surprisingly high. 65 percent of them said they had become more measured and modest. Rural dwellers, i.e. those surveyed who do not live in large cities, only agreed 53 percent with this statement.
In Opaschowski’s opinion, people are more concerned with changing life requirements than with renunciation or even asceticism. The demand “I want my life back!”, which was widespread during the pandemic, had to be reassessed. “The followers of modesty want a different life – and not the “old life” between buying and wasting consumption.” The changed consumer credo means: share more than own. “In this way, the door to a new sharing economy is opened a crack,” Opaschowski assumes. dpa
