Estonian Human Development Report

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Figure 5.2.4. Indexes of environmentally friendly consumption and activeness in protecting the environment by age groups (percentage of the age group with “high” or “very high” index value) 35 30 25 20 15 10 21% 20% 22% 21% 34% 17% 15–19 20–29 30–44 45–54 55–64 65–74 Sustainable consumption index environmentally friendly civic activeness index Source: Mina. Maailm. Meedia 2005 Figure 5.2.5. Consumer types according to the average indicators of sustainable consumption (max 19) and consumerism (max 11) indexes, 2005 5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0 1.76 3.83 The Saving Type N=604 0.97 The Indifferent Type N=418 Consumerism 1.65 Source: Mina. Maailm. Meedia 2005 27% 15% 4.47 The Green Consumerist Type N=246 31% 16% 3.83 3.82 Sustainable consumption 1.58 32% 13% The Lavish Type N=208 Most characteristics of environmentally friendly consumption are related to ethnicity, gender, education, income, and social class. Traditionally, women’s assessments of all environmentally friendly activities have been higher than those of men (both in international and Estonian surveys). In terms of several indicators, there is a positive correlation between income and environmentally friendly practices, excluding the habit of separate waste collection, where the higher income of a respondent does not make them more likely to be engaged in the practice. People with higher incomes are more likely to think that there is enough environmental information available for making consumptionrelated decisions, and that they are able to affect the environment through their own consumption behaviour. People with higher incomes are also more willing to contribute financially to improving the environmental situation by making donations, or paying higher taxes or purchasing prices. Although in terms of ethnic groups, the self-assessments of the Estonian-speaking population regarding their environmentally friendly consumption practices were lower than those of the Russian-speaking population, engagement in environmentally friendly activities was more widespread among Estonians. With regard to the separate collection of waste, the responses of the Russian-speaking population show that their engagement in the practice is several tens of percentage points lower than that of the Estonian-speaking population. Many of the answers provided by Russianspeaking respondents also indicate their lack of knowledge or opinion on a given subject (for example, 38% of Russian-speaking respondents said that they did not know whether they used organic products, whereas among Estonian-speaking respondents the percentage of those lacking knowledge on the subject was half that, i.e. 19%). There was a considerable difference in terms of environmentally friendly orientation apparent with regard to different generations. We differentiated between two aspects of these attitudes: environmentally friendly consumption and activeness in protecting the environment (see Figure 5.2.4.). As a result, we discovered that while activeness regarding the protection of the environment was somewhat higher in younger age groups, the opposite was true for environmentally friendly consumption as the values of the corresponding index were lower in the case of younger age groups than in the case of older age groups. Sustainable consumption was most important for people in the middle age group comprising respondents aged 30–44. Typology of consumers Contrary to popular belief, sustainable consumption and consumerism are not mutually exclusive phenomena. An analysis of the corresponding indexes revealed that the relationship between these two characteristics of consumption behaviour is complex, although in no way fully contradictory. By classifying (using the cluster analysis method) the respondents of the 2005 Mina. Maailm. Meedia survey in terms of these two aspects of consumption behaviour, we compiled four consumer types (see Kalmus et al. 2009, forthcoming). The group with the most respondents is that of the “Saving Type” (41% of the respondents), whose sustainable consumption level is high and consumerism level is low (see the average indicators of the indexes in Figure 5.2.5.). This type most often comprises middle-aged and older people, as well as more men than women; consumers of this type usually have a secondary education or a basic education and a relatively low or average income. In terms of social hierarchy, consumers belonging to this type categorize themselves equally in the middle, upper middle and upper class. This type comprises the largest segment of Estonia’s small town residents. The “Saving Type” can be considered the type most representative of the so-called protestant ethic: they consider it important to be economical and frugal and do not attribute much value to the individual selfexpression aspect of consumer culture. The second largest segment of the respondents belongs to the “Indifferent” type that is characterized neither by sustainable consumption nor a consumerist orientation. The average age of this group is the highest, while their level of education and average income are the lowest. The most frequent representatives of this type are men and dwellers of rural regions. These people are indifferent to the contemporary consumer society, both with regard to aspects related to shaping one’s lifestyle through consumption as well as conservation of the environment. This is probably due not only to the relative poverty and lack of consumption opportunities of the members of this group, but also to their natural economy-based lifestyle and established opinions and attitudes. | 108
The “Green consumerist” type comprises 17% of the respondents. The members of this group are characterized both by a high level of consumerism and sustainable consumption. “Green consumerists” generally tend to rank themselves on the higher end of the social ladder. This consumer type includes younger people with higher incomes and levels of education living in the capital as well as smaller towns. This active and informed consumer type comprises more women than men. They value the opportunities of consumer culture but are also relatively critical of the negative side of the consumer society and try to provide their positive input by engaging in environmentally friendly activities. The smallest group is that of the “Lavish Type” (14% of all respondents), which tellingly includes primarily members of the youngest age groups (aged 15–29), however. They have a high opinion of brands and their values are relatively materialist in nature. The members of this group have relatively high incomes, and many of them have a basic education and live in larger cities (the group includes a relatively large number of secondary school pupils). This consumer type comprises an equal number of women and men, but unlike other types, the percentage of Estonia’s Russianspeaking residents is relatively higher in this group. We can say, in conclusion, that although consumerism and sustainability are intertwined phenomena, the former tendency is primarily characteristic of younger people and the latter, conversely, of the older generation. It will be up to future studies to ascertain whether the lack of economizing and sustainability and the high level of consumerism characteristic of young people today is a temporary phenomenon which they will “grow out of” after setting up families and gathering life experience, or whether it is a selection of attitudes and activities that will remain relatively stable throughout the lives of the new generation References 1. Attitudes of European Citizens Towards the Environment (2007/2008) European Commission, Eurobarometer. [http:// ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb_special_en.htm] 2. Attitudes of European Citizens towards the Environment (2004/2005) European Commission, Eurobarometer. [http:// ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb_special_en.htm] 3. Bauman, Z. (1992) Intimations of Postmodernity. London: Routledge. 4. Consumer Protection in the Internal Market (2008). Special Eurobarometer 298. European Commission. [ec.europa.eu/ public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_298_en.pdf] 5. Europe in Figures (2008) Eurostat Yearbook. [http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=2693,70381876,2693_ 70592044&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL] 6. Eurostat (2008) Motorisation rate. Dataset. [http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=1073,46870091&_ d a d = p o r t a l & _ s c h e m a = P O R T A L & p _ p r o d u c t _ code=TSDPC340] 7. Kalmus, V., Keller, M., Kiisel, M. (2009, to be published) “Emerging Consumer Types in a Transition Culture: Consumption Patterns of Generational and Ethnic Groups in Estonia”. Journal of Baltic Studies, 40(1). 8. Svennebye, L. (2008) “GDP per Capita, Consumption per Capita and Comparative Price Levels in Europe”, in Statistics in Focus. Economy and Finance. Eurostat 3/2008 [epp.eurostat.ec.europa. eu/portal/page?_pageid=1073,46587259&_dad=portal&_sche ma=PORTAL&p_product_code=KS-SF-08-003]. 5.3. The quality of life in the information society Instead of searching for an answer to the question of whether Estonia has become an information society and attempting to identify the macroeconomic effect of this, the following subchapter will focus on analyzing the role of information technology in people’s daily life and its effect on them as consumers and citizens. We will examine the extent and versatility of Internet use, the types of Internet users emerging in Estonia, and the democratic potential of the information society through increasing civic involvement. Estonia’s development into an information society The development of information society is a subject that is frequently discussed, primarily from the standpoint of the expected economic development potential of information and communication technologies (ICT). The World Economic Forum compiles the Global Information Technology Report which ranks countries according to their position in the Networked Readiness Index. According to this index, Estonia holds the 20th place among 127 rated countries with 5.12 points, remaining just 0.02 index points behind Japan and outpacing France with 0.01 points. The highest ranked countries are Denmark (5.78 index points), Sweden (5.72) and Switzerland (5.53) (Table 5.3.1.). The table shows that Estonia’s position in terms of networked readiness is the best among all post-socialist countries. Estonia is followed by Slovenia (ranked 30th), Lithuania (ranked 33 rd ) and the Czech Republic (ranked 36 th ). Among our closest neighbours, Finland is ranked 6 th , Latvia 44 th , and Russia 72 nd . The Networked Readiness Index itself consists of three major components (environment, readiness, and usage) which, in turn, consist of sub-indexes (Table 5.3.2.). Based on these components, Estonia’s reputation as an information society has been shaped primarily by the ICT usage and readiness of the government sector. The readiness of Estonia’s business sector for the effective usage of ICT is relatively low, however. Another important international organization that compiles rankings reflecting the development of countries with regard to information and communication technology is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The World Information Society Report compiled by this organization measures the level of development of information society with the Digital Opportunity Index. The most 109 |
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Estonian Human Development Report
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Estonian Human Development Report T
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4.2. Ethnic differentiations in sat
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Preface This year, the Estonian Hum
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CHAPTER 1 Estonian Human Developmen
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Figure 1.1.3. Life expectancy in co
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Figure 1.2.2. Life expectancy at bi
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to reality. The greatest inaccuracy
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Figure 1.2.9. Internal migration ev
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12. Marksoo, A. 1992. “Dynamics o
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Table 1.3.1. PISA 2006 study result
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Table 1.3.2. Number of students in
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1.4. The gross domestic product and
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Figure 1.4.3. Estonian GDP (right a
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1.5. Changes in the Estonian Human
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2.2. Health of Estonian residents i
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Table 2.2.4. Differences in life ex
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Figure 2.4.1. Healthy life years of
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Figure 2.4.4. Various accidents, tr
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2.5. Lifestyle and behaviour as a s
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Figure 2.5.5. Smoking in Estonia in
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Figure 2.6.1. Overview of the compo
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Table 2.6.2. Use of specialized med
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dren. The majority of services are
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Figure 2.8.2. How much a health dis
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2.10. Policy recommendations aimed
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CHAPTER 3 Quality of life and life
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Table 3.2.1. Characteristics of liv
Page 60 and 61: Table 3.2.4. An assessment of the e
Page 62 and 63: Figure 3.2.4. Difference in the job
Page 64 and 65: Table 3.2.6. Agreement with stateme
Page 66 and 67: Figure 3.3.1. Satisfaction with lif
Page 68 and 69: Figure 3.3.4. Percentage of people
Page 70 and 71: Figure 3.4.1. Types of quality of l
Page 72 and 73: Figure 3.5.1. Percentage of teenage
Page 74 and 75: Figure 3.5.4. Percentage of respond
Page 76 and 77: Arieh A., Conti C., Kutsar D., Nicg
Page 78 and 79: Figure 3.6.2. Subjective quality of
Page 80 and 81: Pieper, A. Sixsmith, Care related q
Page 82 and 83: Figure 3.7.1. The placement of Euro
Page 84 and 85: Figure 4.2.1. Life satisfaction by
Page 86 and 87: Table 4.2.1. Factors forming genera
Page 88 and 89: Annexes Annex 4.2.1. Socio-demograp
Page 90 and 91: Figure 4.3.1. Changes in the assess
Page 92 and 93: Figure 4.3.4. Attitudes of the Esto
Page 94 and 95: olds considered themselves to be pa
Page 96 and 97: Table 4.4.3. Agreement of the Russi
Page 98 and 99: Table 4.5.2. The prospects of non-E
Page 100 and 101: Figure 4.5.4. Certainty of Estonian
Page 102 and 103: mote equal opportunities. At the (e
Page 104 and 105: CHAPTER 5 Quality of life in a cons
Page 106 and 107: Figure 5.2.1. GDP and AIC per capit
Page 108 and 109: Figure 5.2.3. Distribution of consu
Page 112 and 113: Table 5.3.1. Comparison of countrie
Page 114 and 115: Figure 5.3.3. Comparison of types o
Page 116 and 117: Table 5.3.5. Connections between po
Page 118 and 119: Table 5.4.1. Who and what are the f
Page 120 and 121: Table 5.4.3. Young people’s asses
Page 122 and 123: Figure 5.4.6. Time spent on the con
Page 124 and 125: Table 5.4.6. The perception of prob
Page 126 and 127: 5.6. Summary To briefly summarize t
Page 128 and 129: Table 6.2.1. Objective and subjecti
Page 130 and 131: Figure 6.2.4. Relationship between
Page 132 and 133: Figure 6.2.7. Difference between th
Page 134 and 135: Figure 6.3.1. GDP, government secto
Page 136 and 137: Figure 6.3.3. Employed 15-74-year-o
Page 138 and 139: Figure 6.3.8. Percentage of social
Page 140 and 141: References 1. Aaviksoo, A., G. Paat
Page 142 and 143: Figure 6.4.1. Labour market flexibi
Page 144 and 145: Figure 6.4.3. Creations of jobs ind
Page 146 and 147: Figure 6.4.5. Public expenditures o
Page 148 and 149: Figure 6.4.6. Ratio of the particip
Page 150 and 151: 6.5. Cities as development engines
Page 152 and 153: Table 6.5.2. Existence of developme
Page 154 and 155: have been underfinanced or are not
Page 156 and 157: Table 7.1. Factors that favour and
Page 158 and 159: Table 7.2. Potential economic devel
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Authors Chapter 1 Ene-Margit Tiit,
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Margit Keller (PhD) is a Senior Res
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Special prizes Estonian Human Devel
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Estonian Human Development Report H
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Estonian Human Development Report H
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Honorable mentions Estonian Human D
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Estonian Human Development Report P
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Estonian Human Development Report A
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Estonian Human Development Report

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