Summary
Article summary Consumer Studies for Sustainability (YSS36806)
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A summary of all articles (pre- and post-readings) associated with lecture 1 through 10.
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YSS SummaryL02 Understanding consumption: paradigms in consumer science - approaches to
studying consumption and the consumer
Learning objectives
After the lecture and literature
- recognize and recall the main starting points of the positivist approach to consumer
science.
- recognize modern versions of current (post)positivist approaches in consumer science
- recognize and recall the main starting points of the interpretative approaches to
consumer science.
- recognize modern versions of current interpretative approaches in consumer science
- describe the sentiment and shadow of the “science wars” (aka “paradigm wars”) in the
1990’s
- recognize and discuss challenges to and opportunities for synthesis in mixed methods
designs
Lecture content
- Characteristics of (post)positivist and interpretative perspectives on consumption
- Strengths, limitations and implications of making paradigm choices
Post reading
Frank, P., Stanszus, L., Fischer, D., Kehnel, K., & Grossman, P. (2019). Cross-Fertilizing
Qualitative Perspectives on Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention: An Empirical
Comparison of Four Methodical Approaches. Mindfulness, 10(11), 2452–2467.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019- 01227-2
- recognise how different qualitative analysis approaches convey different perspectives
on the same data
- explain main differences between qualitative content analysis, discourse analysis,
interpretative phenomenological analysis and grounded theory using examples from
the reading
Post Reading
Cross-Fertilizing Qualitative Perspectives on Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention: An
Empirical Comparison of Four Methodical Approaches
Based on interviews stemming from participants of a consumer-focused mindfulness training
(BiNKA), we undertook a comparison of four different analyses, namely content analysis
(CA), grounded theory (GT), interpretative-phenomenological analysis (IPA), and discourse
analysis (DA).
Independently applying the four methods on our data material led to the following findings:
- CA demonstrated that the training had effects on self-awareness, well-being, and the
development of ethical qualities and influenced pre-consumptive stages of participants
- GT revealed the complex set of conditions determining whether and how the
mindfulness training influenced the attendees
- IPA highlighted the subjectivity of the mindfulness experience, suggesting that (1)
different training elements have varying effects on participants and (2) it is often not
the meditation practice, but other course elements that cause the effects experienced
by the attendees
- DA demonstrated that the course experience was influenced by subjective theories held
by the participants. In particular, they showed typical strategies of rationalizing their
consumption.
1
,In mindfulness research and practice, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) represent a
field of tremendous interest that continues to receive growing attention. MBIs constitute a
class of training programs in which the participant is asked to bring “awareness to current
experience–observing and attending to the changing field of thoughts, emotions and
sensations from moment to moment–by regulating the focus of attention”
Dozens of systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses have summarized an
overwhelming amount of individual studies, mostly confirming positive effects of
mindfulness trainings on many different aspects, including health and well-being, emotion
regulation, attention and cognitive performance, compassion and prosocial behaviors, or
sports performance.
“clear objective and observable [e.g. behavioral, physiological or emotional] criteria of
mindfulness are unavailable”, implying that mindfulness practice is experienced very
differently from one person to another
Is qualitative approach is sufficient to overcome the methodological difficulties related to the
inquiry of the phenomenon?
While it appears obvious that qualitative approaches are suited better for reconstructing
the individual experiences of mindfulness practice than quantitative research, they are by no
means immune to error and bias Qualitative research is prone to biases at all stages of
the research process, beginning with topic selection, to data collection and analysis, and to
the final step of publishing
Research on mindfulness is particularly prone to such biases. As mentioned above, the
demand for qualitative research on mindfulness is grounded in the intention to reconstruct
the individual experience of the practice.
Pre-Reading
On the concept of wellbeing: Verweij, M. (2014). Curiosity and responsibility: Philosophy in
relation to healthy food and living conditions. Wageningen University, Wageningen UR.
Available at: https://edepot.wur.nl/312875 (read only chapter 2, pp. 5-8 on quality of life)
On the concept of freedom: Warburton, N. (1999). Philosophy and the human situation. Open
University (read excerpt of 8 pages)
1. Introduction
Philosophy is about what we are, about how to live, and what we should do and aim for in
science, professional work, and societal and political life.
Philosophical and ethical questioning urges us to rethink our practices (scientific, societal)
and our understanding of the problems we face, and this ultimately helps to justify choices
and policies.
Doing philosophy in Wageningen is contributing to reflection as a basis for responsibility
This will be illustrated in two philosophical excursions into themes:
- “What is quality of life?”
- “Who is responsible for health and healthy food?”
2. First excursion: for quality of life
What constitutes a good life?
If you think your life is going well – why, and in what sense exactly? for example: because
I have a nice job, and a lovely family. But then the philosopher continues to ask: why and in
what sense does the nice job add to the quality of your life? This is important because if we
want to measure quality of life in general, we can’t just measure the quality of our jobs and
the loveliness of our families, or all those other things that contribute to wellbeing.
Philosophy is curious about what is ultimately worthwhile in a good life.
What aspects of good lives are valuable for their own sake?
2
,A common way in philosophy to understand wellbeing or quality of life is: How well a life is
going for the individual whose life it is
- Subjective approach: quality of life depends upon a person’s own evaluation of her life
o Hedonism
o Desire approach
- Objective approach
Hedonism: A hedonist view of quality of life, involves the idea that one is doing well if the
sum of pleasures and pains one is experiencing is positive If we feel well, and have little
or no pains (either physical or mental), then we are doing well.
The best possible life is a life with a maximum of pleasures and a minimum of suffering.
According to this theory, it is in everyone’s personal best interest to seek pleasure and avoid
pain.
Example: food
Obviously food can contribute to pleasure and pain and thus to quality of life By
improving the healthiness of our nutrition, we can live longer, and in better health, thus
avoiding the pain and suffering of illness By improving the taste of food, we contribute to
pleasure (We could even go further) If a good life is about pleasurable experiences – a
mental state – then we can promote quality of life by further enhancing food products by
selecting properties that induce pleasurable experiences (Chocolate, alcohol, nicotine)
Mushroom drug creates mental experiences Why not create a mushroom that induces
specific good experiences in a controlled way – that is, without the unpleasant effects that
may also come with such drugs: A mushroom that gives you the feeling to be in control, the
experience that everyone loves you, and the perception that everything in the world is
beautiful…
If the product is healthy and safe, and not too addictive, the mushroom clearly enhance
quality of life according to the hedonist for whom only pleasure and pain counts The good
experiences may feel real, but they are not. Maybe there is more in a good life, than just
pleasurable experiences.
Desire Theory: can avoid the problem of hedonism a person is doing better the more
she gets what she wants. Her good life is constituted by the fact that important preferences
are satisfied.
If your most important desires include having a family, being a scientist, and see the
Dutch football team become world champion, then your life is going well to the extent that
those wishes come true. Getting what you want may give you a lot of pleasure, but it is not
the pleasure that makes your life good, but the fact that your preferences are fulfilled.
This approach is attractive because it is open to whatever desires a person has. What is
good for a person fully depends on her own actual outlook and preferences. This fits very
well in a pluralist context, where we can accept that what is good for you might not be good
for me. The theory does not take any stance on what desires are good. At least it does not
involve a substantive view of the good life.
Constraints
Example: food preferences It would be too simplistic to see any desire fulfilment as good
People who always eat what they desire, will often make unhealthy choices. Desires can be
ill-informed. Or they can neglect what is best in the long term
Is any desire fulfilment good?
- Some desires are just “sick”: some people are curious to eat human flesh
- Or people who have always lived in a culture of fast food They might know that
there are many other options but they don’t bother to try new tastes and opportunities.
3
, Wellbeing is constituted by preference-satisfaction
If the desires or preferences of persons do not determine what counts as a good life, then
apparently we have abandoned the subjective concept of well-being as desire-fulfilment and
touched upon an objective account of wellbeing
Objective wellbeing: there are things that can make one’s life going well objectively, that
is, independent of how the person herself evaluates those things. Most modern objective
accounts of wellbeing are pluralist, encompassing several independent elements that jointly
constitute quality of life.
What dimensions of a good life are essential for a flourishing life? Not just in your own life,
but for everyone? And not dimensions or things that desirable as a means to attain other
goods, but dimensions or things that are intrinsically good?
I tend to endorse an objective approach to well-being. Several arguments can be given, but
one is that an objective account of quality of human life can offer the most plausible
explanation of how the natural environment is to be considered of intrinsic value My
objective list of quality of life would include being able to live in harmony with nature, and to
admire and live in awe for the earth, wilderness and natural processes Protecting nature
is not just important because it is useful for us – living in harmony with nature partly
constitutes a good human life.\
Constraints
How can we determine what things are necessary in a good life? And shouldn’t we concede
to the hedonist that it is not so clear why harmony with nature would be valuable for
someone who does not enjoy it at all?
3. The practical point of philosophical curiosity
Here we have a first answer to the question what is the point of philosophy. Philosophy
offers critical reflection on concepts that are employed in research – or often just assumed –
and helps to rethink those concepts. Concepts like quality of life, health, but also
sustainability, robustness, development, innovation. Analysis of central concepts can guide
choices about the design of a study project: what to measure, and how.
the point of our philosophical analysis of ethical problems is that it offers frameworks for
articulating and assessing options and arguments, which in turn contributes to responsible
choices, in science, policies or professional life.
Tasks for philosophers:
- To clarify basic concepts and presuppositions
- To question the way how problems are presented and framed.
- To propose and test ethical arguments.
- Philosophers have several ethical theories on offer: utilitarianism, contractualism, virtue
theory.
4. Second excursion: obesity and responsibility for healthy nutrition
Responsibility can refer to a causal relationship, to moral attribution, accountability for
praise or blame, to roles or tasks, to moral obligations, etc. Sometimes “responsibility” is
backward-looking: who is to be held responsible for certain state of affairs am I
responsible for my increased body weight, or should we blame MacDonald’s?
Sometimes “responsibility” is forward-looking: who should act? Who has certain obligations?
If individual responsibility is juxtaposed to paternalism, then the issue is primarily forward-
looking. It is about who should do what: should the state promote healthy nutrition, or is this
a responsibility of each individual citizen?
4
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