Consumption and new technologies among youth in Croatia : analysis of consumption styles and practices among students at the University of Zadar and Zagreb

Središnja tema ovog doktorskog rada jest potrošnja i nove tehnologije među mladima u Hrvatskoj. S obzirom da su mladi, napose studenti, prepoznati vodećim korisnicima i anticipatorima potrošačkih i tehnoloških trendova, provedeno je anketno istraživanje 2016. godine među studentima Sveučilišta u Zadru i Zagrebu (N=1094). Suprotstavljajući različite pristupe potrošnji, kao što su homologija, individualizacija i teza o svejedima i jednojedima, istraživanjem se nastojalo utvrditi koji najbolje reprezentira potrošnju ispitanih studenata. Rezultati su pokazali da je njihova potrošnja sistematizirana ekonomskim i kulturnim kapitalom sukladno pristupu homologije, ali i rodno profilirana prema pristupu individualizacije. Uz to je na pojedinim potrošačkim stilovima detektiran profil svejeda kao njihove hibridne spojnice. Time se uvidjelo da je potrošnja ispitanih studenata složena praksa u kojoj se suodnose elementi vertikalnih stratifikacija i horizontalnih diferencijacija. Zamjetna stilska unisonost i pasivnost potrošnje studenata se interpretirala sociokulturno specifičnom jer generalno odstupa od potrošačkih karakteristika mladih iz drugih zemalja koji su bliže postmodernoj retorici potrošačkih ambivalencija. Stoga se dobivenim nalazima podcrtala važnost (post)tranzicijskog konteksta modernizacijski nedovršenog hrvatskog društva u razumijevanju studentskih potrošačkih stilova i praksi. U odnosu ispitanih studenata i novih tehnologija su se potvrdile različite slojevitosti referentne na fenomenologiju digitalne podjele. Manje prihvaćanje novih tehnologija uz nižu opremljenost ekonomskim i kulturnim kapitalom, manju potrošačku participaciju i ženski rod je naznačilo obrazac studentske isključenosti iz tehnološki posredovanih globalnih kulturnih tokova. Istodobno se u ovom istraživanju doznalo da studenti prate aktualne potrošačke i tehnološke trendove u većini kupujući putem Interneta. Radi se o povremenim, štedljivim i praktično orijentiranim Internet potrošačima koji tako kupuju kada određenog predmeta nema u fizičkim trgovinama čime su na primjeru ispitanih studenata demantirane teze o privatizaciji i virtualizaciji potrošnje. Zaključilo se da Internet potrošnja ispitanih studenata ne funkcionira autoreferentno u virtualnom okolišu, već je komplementarna s obrascima njihove fizičke potrošnje što je uputilo na daljnju problematizaciju teme u sociologiji i interdisciplinarnim radovima.The thesis is focusing on consumption and new technologies among youth in Croatia. The survey was conducted in the year 2016 among students of the University of Zadar and Zagreb (N=1094), hypothesizing that youth, and amongst them students in particular, are recognized as prominent users and anticipators of consumer and technological trends. The goal of the research was to determine which one best represents the students’ consumption, by opposing different approaches to consumption: such as the homology argument, individualization and omnivore-univore theory. It was found that the consumption is conditioned by economic and cultural capital in accordance with the homology argument, but that it was also gender profiled according to the individualization argument. In addition, in the consumption styles of the students in this research, the univore profile was detected as the hybrid compound. Thus, it was recognized that the students’ consumption is a highly complex practice with the evident interaction of both elements of vertical stratifications and horizontal differentiations. The unison and passive consumption of the students in this research is perceived as socio-culturally specified, as it generally differs from consumption characteristics of youth from other countries that are more related to the postmodern consumeristically ambivalent rhetorics. Therefore, results from this research highlight the importance of the (post)transition context and the incomplete modernization of the Croatian society in understanding the consumption styles and students’ practices. Multiple stratifications referential to the phenomenology of digital divide have been confirmed in relating students to the new technologies. Lesser acceptance of new technologies with lower percentage of economic and cultural capital, lower consumer participation and female gender, have indicated the pattern of students’ exclusion from the technologically mediated global cultural flows. Also, research results showed that students participate in current consumption and technological developments by mostly buying online. It was found that most of them are occasional, thrifty and practically oriented Internet consumers who buy online when a particular item is not available in physical stores, thus challenging the theses about the consumption privatization and virtualization. The general conclusion of this research is that the Internet consumption of the students does not function autoreferentially in virtual space, but is complementary to their physical consumption patterns, indicating the potential for further problematization of this topic in sociology and interdisciplinary works