LOHAS themes in Hungarian women’s magazine

Abstract

This is a presentation of the effects of sustainable development trends based on international literature. This study introduces LOHAS, the consumer group most committed to sustainable consumption, with a special emphasis on the hybrid lifestyle and values of this group as well as their demand for information in consumer decisions. In the last 20 to 30 years the main consumer behavior trends of the western world emerged in Hungary. As such, it is reasonable to assume that typical behavioral characteristics and consumer decision situations of LOHAS have already appeared among certain circles of Hungarian consumers. The main goal of the research is to identify the consumer group in Hungary in which behavioral characteristics of the LOHAS lifestyle are discovered in the highest degree. 144 articles from 8 women's magazines have been examined by the research method known as content analysis. The content was grouped in three main categories: health consciousness, environmental consciousness, and ethical values. We also included authentic values and individualism as two side-categories. The side-categories were intended to show whether or not Hungarian consumers have a demand for products/services that reflect hybrid values. The analysis was carried out among women’s magazines because, according to international literature, followers of the hybrid lifestyle are mainly women. To define the sample of the analysis, so-called „general” magazines that also had a website with a search box were in focus. Websites with targeted content were ignored. Based on the results of the analysis, it is possible to identify those newspapers whose topics target consumers with a potentially hybrid lifestyle. Keywords: LOHAS themes, women’s magazine, content analysis, hybrid lifestyle