Browsing by Subject "consumption"
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(2024)Social media influencers are called the opinion leaders of our time, as they have a lot of power over what peo- ple think and consume. Various sustainability actors expect that influencers take a strong role in the transfor- mation towards sustainability. In my thesis I examine, how do the reactions of the influencers’ followers and the perceived sense of responsibility and power of the influencer affect the way influencers share content on sustainability. In my research I also consider how different influencers receive differing responses to content related to sustainability. My analysis consists of interviews with six Finnish social media influencers. I conducted 5 semi-structured in- terviews, and received one written answer to the interview questions. I used thematic analysis as the analysis method in my research. The themes that arose from the interview data and from previous research are relation- ality between the influencer and their followers, connection between followers’ reactions and influencers’ sus- tainability content and the perceived sense of power and responsibility of the influencer. Three influencer profiles were created based on the interview data. The profiles describe different types of in- fluencers with different, specific audiences. The profiles demonstrate how different audiences respond to con- tent related to sustainability in different ways, how different influencers share sustainability content in different ways, and how influencers perceive their responsibility in different ways. My research shows that both the reac- tions of the followers and the perceived sense of responsibility of the influencer affect how an influencer shares content on sustainability. According to my research, the influencer's perceived power does not affect content shared on sustainability. This study contributes to the understanding of the issues that affect influencers’ behavior in sharing sustainabil- ity-related content. With this knowledge, it is possible to move closer to understanding whether influencers can be part of the change towards a more sustainable future. shared on sustainability. This study contributes to the understanding of the issues that affect influencers’ behavior in sharing sustainabil- ity-related content. With this knowledge, it is possible to move closer to understanding whether influencers can be part of the change towards a more sustainable future.
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(2023)The 2022 energy crisis heightened concerns about energy sufficiency. In response, Finland launched a nationwide energy-saving campaign, Astetta alemmas, to encourage Finns to take concrete and effortless energy-saving actions in their daily lives. The aim of this thesis was to analyze which energy-saving behaviors the media emphasize in the campaign and how the campaign messages are framed in the media. The analysis of media response was chosen because there is a lack of this type of study related to energy-saving campaigns. The data consisted of 94 news articles collected from the five national online news media from October 1st to December 31st, 2022. The data was analyzed using frame and content analysis. The analysis was based on a pre-determined theoretical framework consisting of nine energy-saving and general news frames: economic, social, environmental, personal, moral, health, conflict, responsibility, and human-interest frames. In addition, two new frames were recognized from the data. The energy-saving behaviors found were classified as curtailment and efficiency behaviors. The campaign was portrayed as an opportunity to save money through effortless energy-saving measures such as lowering the room temperature. Most of these actions were categorized as curtailment behaviors. The media showed the importance of individuals’ efforts to save energy in a society by emphasizing that saving energy has paid off and that new saving habits have become a routine part of daily life. On the other hand, energy-saving actions led to compromises in living standards, resulting in suffering and high electricity bills. The media portrayed the negative consequences by emphasizing conflicts and showing how far people are willing to go to save energy while risking their health. The impact on the environment was seen as a secondary principle. The crisis was a suitable moment for the media to highlight the importance of energy conservation. The campaign was well justified as a campaign of the whole nation, highlighted by solidarity and shared responsibility to save energy. Nevertheless, some of the tips given were targeted at specific households. The media raised a dichotomy by highlighting individuals as heroes or sufferers through their experiences. This is a novel contribution to previous studies. This dichotomy provides room for further studies that could focus on the people behind the news stories and the long-term effects of post-campaign energy-saving measures. This thesis provides initial insights into the media response to the Astetta alemmas campaign during the first three months and in specific news media, but the results cannot be generalized to the response of all news media during the campaign.
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(2011)In my Master's Thesis I discuss consumption from the perspective of ecological and social sustainability. The environmental space concept is the framework for this study. The environmental space concept was developed in the beginning of the 1990's. It is a space that can be defined with different indicators and within which it is possible to live a decent and socially acceptable life and at the same time consume natural resources in a sustainable way. In this research the upper limit of environmental space is defined as the sustainable level of natural resource use calculated as material footprint and the lower limit as decent minimum reference budgets that illustrate the level of consumption allowing a household to fulfil all basic needs and to participate in society. The material of the study was collected by questionnaires and interviews on the consumption and lifestyle of the participating households. The households interviewed were all single and living on disability pension or basic unemployment allowance. The natural resource consumption of the households was calculated as material footprint. The material footprint is based on the MIPS concept (Material Input per Service Unit) that considers the whole life cycle of products and activities. The participants were also asked to report their income and consumption expenditures. We were also discussing about consumption, the social pressure to consume and use of natural resources. The results show that the low-income households have an average material footprint exceeding the ecologically sustainable level (18 100 kg per year), although the material footprint is lower than average (40 500 kg per year). They also indicate that a sustainable level of resource use cannot be achieved solely by individual choices but the society must improve the changes in the supply of products, services and infrastructure, enabling households to consume in a more sustainable way. The income level of the households remains below the level of the decent minimum reference budgets. The participating households experienced poverty as lack of possibility to consume and recognized the prevailing social pressure to consume. Consuming was characterized by pursuit of status and social comparison between people. The change in prevailing consumer culture is an essential part on the way towards sustainable society, because the amount of consumption grows as long as welfare is measured through consumption. The connection between consumption and natural resource use remained unclear to many of the households and attitudes towards nature alternated between the households. Those households that had been low-income for their whole life, hadn't thought about the sufficiency of natural resources. Their more ecological way of living than average is rather compulsory than their own choice. The rise in their income level would lead to increasing consumption, as households would want to raise their standard of living by moving to a bigger house and travelling. When we notice the limits of the Planet, we should pay more attention to the upper limit of the environmental space to those, who consume the most.
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