Consumption patterns of youth: an analysis of the italian case

What is sustainable consumption? What social actions are represented by this expression (sustainable), which qualifies and at the same time distinguishes a current and universal practice of human behaviour (consumption)? In trying to answer this question, it may be useful to take into consideration a few definitions, that, although not exhaustive, might prove to be representative enough of the main semantic nucleus conveyed through the expression “sustainable consumption”. From a more sociological point of view, we should not forget that young generations have historically and socially distinguished themselves by promoting changes and innovative values, sometimes generating social collective movements that have given rise to culturally and socially relevant transformations. This helps understand how they may be considered as a natural and primary target for surveys, campaigns, political action/decisions, cultural initiatives directly and indirectly linked to sustainable consumption issues and environment protection. In the first part, we briefly illustrate some general data (demographic, socio-economic, socio-cultural) concerning the national context for the research on young people and models of sustainable consumption in Italy. The data makes particular reference to the age classes which define the survey population. The second part concerns the research results.