Dying of consumption? Voluntary simplicity as an antidote to hypermaterialism

Abstract

Materialism is a consumer value that stresses the importance of acquiring more and more material goods. Success is defined in terms of the type and quantity of goods one owns and happiness is expected to result from physical wealth (Beutler, Beutler, & McCoy, 2008). Materialism as defined thus is closely tied to the idea of the pursuit of rational self-interest that has been associated with Adam Smith (1776).

Citation

Friedman, H.H. and Weiser Friedman, L. (2010), "Dying of consumption? Voluntary simplicity as an antidote to hypermaterialism", Sun, W., Stewart, J. and Pollard, D. (Ed.) Reframing Corporate Social Responsibility: Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis (Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability, Vol. 1), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 253-269. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-9059(2010)0000001017