Investigation of voluntary simplicity in newly married individuals in terms of consumption behaviors

Consumption is seen as a goal to reach happiness instead of being a means to meet the needs, which has led individuals to excessive consumption. The increase in consumption has caused problems such as resource scarcity and environmental pollution, and has brought concerns about sustainability. These problems related to consumption reveal the necessity of approaches that reduce consumption, revise the needs and consider the environment. With all these sensitivities, one of the approaches that are considered valuable in individual and social terms is voluntary simplicity. Voluntary simplicity is considered as an alternative to the consumer society, and its value in society is increasing day by day. While the voluntary simplicity is examined in terms of the consumption behavior of individuals, assuming that the family has passed through certain periods, it will facilitate both the privatization of the subject and the interpretation of the research for a more clearly expressed market segment. Among these periods, the newly marriage period is perhaps the period when the most radical changes occur in the family. In this period, compared to the previous period of celibacy, both the social environment of the individual and his duties and responsibilities on his family undergo a radical change. In this study; In-depth interviews, one of qualitative research techniques, were applied to determine the consumption behaviors of newly married individuals towards voluntary simplicity and the reasons for these behaviors and to make suggestions to newly married individuals, businesses and decision makers. As a result of the study, some consumer behaviors that support voluntary simplicity in newly married individuals and keep newly married individuals away from voluntary simplicity were determined, and recommendations were made based on these results.