Are you a Mind Full or a Mindful consumer? : A case study exploring which factors influence the mindful consumption mindset and behavior of Swedish students

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to contribute to existing gap in the literature regarding mindful consumption, which is the fundamental subject of this thesis. The research is focused on the identification of factors that influence the sense of caring in Swedish student’s mindset and temperance in their behavior with respect to mindful consumption. The literature search revealed that these factors are yet to be identified. Therefore, the present study aims to contribute to existing gap in literature by exploring Swedish students’ mindful consumption and extracting the internal and external factors that influence it. Research Methodology: By conducting an in-depth case study analysis, the present research relied on the application of mindful consumption framework in order to accomplish the above-mentioned purpose of the research. The present paper was conducted by applying a qualitative research strategy. A total of six in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted and the collected data were further analyzed by applying thematic analysis method for qualitative data analysis in which the data were first coded and later these codes were analyzed and grouped together in order to develop themes that would further indicate the factors that influence the sense of caring in mindset and temperance in behavior among Swedish students. Findings: The findings have revealed that internal and external factors influence mindful consumption mindset and behavior of Swedish students. Furthermore, it was revealed that these factors highly interact which each other and together reinforce mindful consumption mindset and behavior. The findings further revealed that mindful consumption needs to be further promoted by governments, the media, lobby institutions and other organizations, especially because people view it as important and capable of contributing and changing current unsustainable consumption patterns.