The differences of environmentally conscious consumption among generations

The study of the environment-friendly consumer behaviour has gained more and more attention in the recent years. Several researchers tried to find an answer to the question: what are the reasons behind environment-conscious behaviour, which are the factors that play an important role in the realization of this behaviour: are they psychographic, demographic or other factors. The present article examines two generation group’s (boomer and X generation) environment-conscious attitude and the actual behaviour from a particular aspect among Hungarian college students. The primary research was carried out in the spring of 2010 and according to the results the environment conscious attitude of the two generation group is different because of the different personal characteristics. The members of the X generation, who are driven from the outside, do not like to differ too much from the members of their age group. Hence, due to the conform behaviour a greater ratio of this group declare themselves as environment-conscious as others. This ratio is lower among the members of the boomer generation, who are driven from the inside. However, the research results proved that the members of the boomer generation can be considered more environmental-conscious and as it is realized in their behaviour, also this positive disposition van be detected in their environment-conscious attitudes. The attitudes of course are not exclusive; however they have great influencing impact on the environment-conscious behaviour, although the strength of this is different among the generation groups. Whereas there is a significant, medium, positive correlation between the environment-conscious attitude and the actual behaviour of the X generation, there is only a weak, positive, however, significant difference between the attitude and the actual behaviour of the boomer generation.

Ze względu na coraz większe problemy związane ze środowiskiem w ostatnich latach, konsumpcja przyjazna środowisku stała się tematem badań. Badania dotyczyły postawy konsumenckiej określonych grup wiekowych. Przebadano dwie grupy pokoleniowe na Węgrzech – pokolenie X i pokolenie wyżu, pod względem ich świadomej postawy środowiskowej badana jest na Węgrzech. Badania przeprowadzono w 2011 r. Stwierdzono różnice w świadomej postawie wobec środowiska między różnymi grupami pokoleniowymi. Celem badań było zrozumienie szczegółów tego fenomenu.