A relação entre consumo e sustentabilidade no comportamento de jovens manauaras

Abstract

The relationship between consumption and sustainability is the focus of the study done between 2015 and 2016 in a shopping mall and two schools in the same area of coverage, in Manaus-Amazonas. The research was carried out with 150 (one hundred and fifty) young people, from which 57 (fifty-seven) are frequent visitors of the mall that is located in front of school A, 81 (eighty one) are high school students from the same school and 12 (twelve) are college students, trainee teachers and trainees from school B. The study presented here aims to listen to the youth in order to give better support to the understanding and possible interventions about the relationship between consumption and sustainability through of the identification of a connection among young people and consumption as well as the influence of sustainability criterium in their purchasing decisions. The research methodology consisted of a multi-method approach that included: participant and non-participant observation, face-to-face questionnaire, focus group and the application of a own made game named "Virtual Showcase". The results of the research corroborate the urgency of studies about the consumption socio-environmental impacts and show how young people see and involve themselves in practice, which can foment new ways of consumer perception and to encourage actions that may increase the reflection capacity regarded consumption and environmental education.