LOHAS

The acronym LOHAS (after eng. Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability ) to describe people who maintain a lifestyle that is characterized by health awareness and prevention as well as the orientation to the principles of sustainability. In marketing, there is a corresponding type of consumer.

Often there are people with above-average incomes. LOHAS consumers are, for example, nature and outdoor lovers, customers of health food stores or organic supermarkets. Their motives are similar to those of the Slow Food movement.

In the U.S., the phenomenon in 2000, was first used by the sociologist Paul Ray in the book described, in Germany it was Eike Wenzel and Matthias Horx ' Future Institute with the study " " The Cultural Creatives How 50 Million Are Changing The World " LOHAS target group " 2007 popular.

The term LOHAS is controversial, since some critics the combination of high-quality consumer with sustainability is doubtful. Some members of the traditional environmental movement see it as an attempt to give a new consumerism, zeitgeist typical image. Others, such as the cultural theorist Nico Stehr, however, praise the new power of " moralists ". He sees a well-networked, global trend, which could put pressure on the industry through conscious consumption and renunciation.

Subgroups

In fact, it is at the LOHAS within the meaning of the economy is an extremely "hybrid" target group (see " Hybrid buyer behavior " in the use / economy in Article hybrid ), which not only health awareness and sustainability orientation united by numerous studies, but also technical and nature relatedness, individuality and a sense of community, participation, responsibility, and numerous other value orientations. Therefore new developments aim at LOHAS be further segmented. An important contribution was made by companies like sine Sociovision and KarmaKonsum that differ 2009, five LOHAS types in a joint study from the year: the responsible family man, the connoisseur, the citizens of the world, the status -oriented and value- conservative moralists.

The LOHAS it could even be a representative of a fundamental change in values ​​in society, if one makes a link of these five LOHAS types with traditional sinus milieus and the development model Spiral Dynamics.

Parkos

As a further subgroup of the LOHAS Parkos draw from ( Participatory consumers). Parkos are LOHAS who actively use the Internet.

LOVOS

Based on the LOHAS lifestyle of simplicity life is also referred to as LOVOS ( Lifestyles of Voluntary Simplicity, lifestyles of voluntary simplicity and Downshift ). The motifs overlap, with LOVOS representatives seek a conscious renunciation of consumption. In the United States also is the term Scuppie ( Socially conscious Upwardly -mobile people, dt, mutatis mutandis, socially conscious upwardly mobile people ) were used.