The appearance of conscious consumer groups in Hungary how do value changes and sustainable development trends affect

Abstract

Examined topics of this issue are the impacts of value changes and sustainable development trends on Hungarian food consumption. Firstly, there is an emphasis on describing the value system (health- and environmental consciousness) of already discovered Hungarian „conscious” consumer groups and their consumer preferences. Furthermore, the inverse relationship between sustainable development and sustainable consumption is demonstrated revealing the necessity for the appearance of an ethical value system. It means a tendency according to which consumption motivations of individuals would shift from self-centred components to social-centred ones and these individuals would take the impacts of their consumption on the ecological environment into consideration. Finally, based on foreign literature, the characteristics of the consumer group LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) are introduced. From the aspects of sustainable development, it is a significant group, since its members consider the impacts of their purchasing decisions on sustainable consumption and therefore the three pillars of sustainable development (social, environmental and economic pillar). However, hedonist values also appear in their consumer behaviour. Because of the hybrid lifestyle of LOHAS group, a need for more sound researches on the factors that influence the purchasing decisions of this group becomes obvious.