Recognized Values and Consumption Patterns of Post-Crisis Consumers

The financial crisis unleashed in the usa in 2007 was followed by a dominoeffect and caused an important global lost of ethical values whenpursuing monetary health. The individual citizen, who has been preachedto for decades that it is alright to spend the money and to beindebted, was suddenly faced with disillusionment and sobering. Anexploratory in-depth study has been proposed to assess the state of valuesand consumption patterns of post-crisis consumers in Slovenia,using methods of the online focus group, quantitative and qualitativecontent analysis of media and documents. Findings confirm that therehas been a slight but visible shift from the consumerism orientationtoward a more conscious spending attitude, and consumers’ values indicatedthe change of direction from individualistic to the communityand family driven. Consumers are aware of their rights, of their power,and are willing to raise their voices. Time will show if this shift is oflimited duration only.