What Do We Really Need? Questioning Consumption Through Sufficiency
Hélène Gorge, Maud Herbert, Nil Özçglar-Toulouse and Isabelle Robert. Paper published in Journal of Macromarketing 1-12 (2014).
This article introduces the concept of sufficiency, its specific dual nature (voluntary and obliged), and its collective implications to the literature on sustainability. Sufficiency implies a reorganization of consumption priorities and is introduced by a discussion of consumerism and the dominant social paradigm. Long interviews with sufficient people show the complexity of the construct, which creates semantic oppositions around the notion of having (everything vs.… >> continue reading
The present study explores the constraining forces to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions (GHG) via alternative and/or reduced consumption. The analysis of introspection, netnography, ethnographic work, and 18 interviews demonstrates that needs are not innate human requirements and that consumers are not free and autonomous agents able to incorporate reduced or alternative consumption within their lifestyles.… 
Current ethical, social and environmental concerns are reviving the topic of meaning in consumption practices. In order to improve our understanding of responsible consumers, this article studies the meaning of responsible consumption using the method of narratives and a structural analysis. The results show a set of common features among narrators: escaping ill-being, searching for the authentic self, avoiding isolation and controlling one’s own life.… 
Interview published in Nouveau Consommateur n°19 (mai-juin 2008).
Article written with Deirdre Shaw and Edward Shiu and published in the French magazine La Revue Durable (n°14, septembre-octobre 2005).