Over the past few decades, it is clear that there has been a trend toward more consumers engaging in minimalistic consumption. Rooted in a minimalistic philosophy which is related to a desire to live a simplified, less cluttered life with more focus on pursuing happiness and quality of life goals and less focus on acquisition, large numbers of consumers have adopted a minimalistic philosophy (Lee and Ahn Citation2016; Pangarkar, Shukla, and Taylor Citation2021). Wilson and Bellezza (Citation2022) identified three dimensions and their association with minimalism: (1) ownership of fewer possessions; (2) preference of sparse aesthetics, characterized by simpler designs; and (3) curated consumption characterized by more careful scrutiny of selected possessions. A focus on simplicity is particularly important to minimalists, who are less focused on materialism and immediate gratification (Iyer and Muncy Citation2016).
It is interesting that while minimalism has been long been discussed as a broad societal trend extending to areas such as art and design, notably by Richard Wolheim in the mid-1960s, minimalism in consumption has built momentum in succeeding decades. Today, a majority of consumers, and especially younger consumers, characterize themselves as having at least some minimalistic consumption preferences (Weinswig Citation2016). This trend, which has been found to hold in many parts of the globe, has spurred a substantial amount of academic work on minimalistic consumption (e.g. Etzioni Citation1999; Iyer and Muncy Citation2016; Cherrier Citation2009; Black and Cherrier Citation2010; McGouran and Prothero Citation2016; Seegebarth et al. Citation2016; Meissner Citation2019; Pangarkar, Shukla, and Taylor Citation2021; Wilson and Bellezza Citation2022). Yet, very little academic research has focused on the implications of minimalism for advertisers and/or how to advertise and promote products to minimalists.
There are some areas that are ripe for research on advertising to minimalistic consumers. It should be first noted that while research has found some commonalities among minimalists, prior work has also found that there are differences among minimalists and that minimalism takes different forms (e.g. Leonard-Barton Citation1981; Iyer and Muncy Citation2009, Citation2016; Etzioni Citation1999). Using a qualitative method, Pangarkar, Shukla, and Taylor (Citation2021) built a typology of four different types of minimalistic consumers, each of which is driven by different motivations. The four categories derived are: (1) voluntary simplicity, where there is an emphasis on utility and/or necessity in consumption; (2) reduced consumption, where materialistic possessions are limited due to financial concerns; (3) anti-consumption, in which consumers are motivated by avoiding products perceived to be damaging to the environment, or harmful to society; and (4) inconspicuous minimalism, in which consumers desire to consumer high quality goods, but prefer muted patterns and logos (Pangarkar, Shukla, and Taylor Citation2021; Pangarkar and Shukla Citation2023).
Areas in need of research pertaining to advertising and minimalism include:
Given that there are multiple types of consumer minimalism, do different ad appeals work for different groups of minimalists?
Is there a category of “minimalistic appeals” that can be especially effective with those exhibiting minimalistic consumption patterns? Do appeals to minimalists tend to work across cultures?
Are corporate social responsibility (CSR) advertising appeals particularly important to minimalists? If so, what forms of CSR appeals are most effective?
Do minimalists have unique media (or social media) usage patterns and are there implications for targeting minimalist groups?
What types of influencers are important to minimalists (see Pangarkar and Rathee Citation2022)? Does this vary by product category?
Do minimalists (or certain types of minimalists) have greater concerns about privacy than the rest of the population?
What consumption patterns (see Ko, Costello, and Taylor Citation2019) do different types of minimalists follow in terms of luxury goods and how can advertising and promotion positively be effective for these types of brands?
What are minimalists attitude toward advertising in general?
Do certain types of sponsorships and/or product placements resonate more with minimalists?
Villanova University
[email protected]
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
References
- Black, I.R., and H. Cherrier. 2010. Anti‐consumption as part of living a sustainable lifestyle: Daily practices, contextual motivations and subjective values. Journal of Consumer Behaviour 9, no. 6: 437–53.
- Cherrier, H. 2009. Anti-consumption discourses and consumer-resistant identities. Journal of Business Research 62, no. 2: 181–90.
- Etzioni, A. 1999. Voluntary simplicity: Characterization, select psychological implications, and societal consequences. In Essays in socio-economics, 1–26. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer.
- Iyer, R., and J.A. Muncy. 2009. Purpose and object of anti-consumption. Journal of Business Research 62, no. 2: 160–8.
- Iyer, R., and J.A. Muncy. 2016. Attitude toward consumption and subjective well‐being. Journal of Consumer Affairs 50, no. 1: 48–67.
- Ko, E., J.P. Costello, and C.R. Taylor. 2019. What is a luxury brand? A new definition and review of the literature. Journal of Business Research 99: 405–13.
- Lee, M.S, and C.S.Y. Ahn. 2016. Anti‐consumption, materialism, and consumer well‐being. Journal of Consumer Affairs 50, no. 1: 18–47.
- Leonard-Barton, D. 1981. Voluntary simplicity lifestyles and energy conservation. Journal of Consumer Research 8, no. 3: 243–52.
- McGouran, C., and A. Prothero. 2016. Enacted voluntary simplicity–exploring the consequences of requesting consumers to intentionally consume less. European Journal of Marketing 50, no. 1/2: 189–212.
- Meissner, M. 2019. Against accumulation: Lifestyle minimalism, de-growth and the present post-ecological condition. Journal of Cultural Economy 12, no. 3: 185–200.
- Pangarkar, A., and S. Rathee. 2022. The role of conspicuity: Impact of social influencers on purchase decisions of luxury consumers. International Journal of Advertising 42, no. 7: 1150–77.
- Pangarkar, A., and P. Shukla. 2023. Conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption of luxury goods in a digital world: Implications for advertisers. International Journal of Advertising 42, no. 7: 1145–9.
- Pangarkar, A., P. Shukla, and C.R. Taylor. 2021. Minimalism in consumption: A typology and brand engagement strategies. Journal of Business Research 127, no. 10: 167–78.
- Seegebarth, B., M. Peyer, I. Balderjahn, and K.P. Wiedmann. 2016. The sustainability roots of anticonsumption lifestyles and initial insights regarding their effects on consumers’ well‐being. Journal of Consumer Affairs 50, no. 1: 68–99.
- Weinswig, D. 2016. Millennials go minimal: The decluttering lifestyle trend that is taking over. https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahweinswig/2016/09/07/millennials-go-minimal-the-decluttering-lifestyle-trend-that-is-taking-over/#15522e5d3755/
- Wilson, A.V., and S. Bellezza. 2022. Consumer minimalism. Journal of Consumer Research 48, no. 5: 796–816.