Consumption and happiness I shop therefore I am

Status: 13.06.2021 10:26 a.m.

Business is up again. For many people, the lockdown was like withdrawal, because shopping can trigger feelings of happiness like drugs. But is less maybe more – and does it even make it happier? By Ilyas Mec and Sandra Scheuring, MR According to the Federal Statistical Office, an average household in Europe has around 10,000 things. 100 years ago, the average German household had 180 things. It is estimated that almost three million people in this country live in a household with three cars or more. There are two million old cell phones in drawers. This list could go on: TVs, clothing, decorative items, household items are constantly increasing and far exceed the number of things that we really need. Obviously, ruffling is an instinct that was created in human evolution. Owning things reliably ensured survival. Buying triggers a feeling of elation, at least in the short term. It can even turn into a real addiction, shopping addiction. Those who consume are also looking for confirmation, wanting to belong – it’s about keeping up, but also about demarcation and the expression of individuality. Buyers are often at the mercy of their instincts. Two thirds of all purchase decisions are made spontaneously in the store, as so-called impulse purchases.

06/11/2021

The tea light phenomenon

Marketing strategists and advertising professionals use these behaviors to encourage people to buy. A walk through an Ikea branch shows how perfected the craft of seduction can be. It seems impossible not to buy anything. A pillow here, a carafe there, and finally tealights. We use them spontaneously, even if we have had such products at home for a long time. Why? “It can be a purely functional need on the one hand, but also an emotional one on the other hand: I want it to be more comfortable, I just want it to be nicer,” says Janet Wittmaack, deputy branch manager of Ikea in Frankfurt. The psychologist Jens Förster points out the disadvantage: the kick when shopping is always gone very quickly. “If you really want to spend money, adventure goods are a good choice, things like traveling,” says Förster. The memory remains, “and that makes you happier in the long term”.

05/18/2021

Consumer trend minimalism

An entire industry is now propagating the opposite. Because owning a lot is no longer so en vogue today. Owning little, but having the right thing for it, is a megatrend. The Japanese bestselling author Marie Kondo, for example, who is also known as the “Queen of Minimalism”, sells items for a minimalist life in her online shop. Otherwise she writes guidebooks on how to make tidying up and sorting out happy. Birgit Blättel-Mink is a professor of sociology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and conducts research on consumer issues, among other things. Instead of abstaining from consumption, there is often just a shift in consumption, she believes: “If someone says I do without clothes, I don’t really need that much – then we often observe something like a so-called rebound effect. So I save here. I can for that I can afford more on another side. ” In such cases, it may not be a matter of profound change or more sustainability, but rather a “subjectively good conscience”. Then there are only three very expensive shirts instead of ten cheaper ones. You have to be able to afford minimalism as celebrated on Instagram and Co.

05/10/2021

Consumption is the work of others

Consumption is a prerequisite for our economy to run. If everyone renounces consumption, it would be a disaster, says Adalbert Winkler, economist at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. He is researching the consequences of the corona lockdown. “Those who offered goods and services had no income, and if the state hadn’t helped with transfer payments, then this drop in income would have meant that these people would not have been able to consume either, which in turn would have affected everyone else,” says Winkler . “We would have gotten into a dramatic recession.” In a nutshell, this means that if everyone lives ascetically, there is a risk of economic ruin. It is relatively easy to promote abstinence if your own income is not burdened. So what now? Living in a very spartan way and doing without consumption does not seem to be a solution either. Just as minimalist, elitist buying behavior is not an option for society at large. For most people, thinking about how you consume cannot be wrong. This includes the insight that the happiness rush when shopping is only short-term. And many things can quickly become a burden – when the basement is full and you have to ask yourself: where do you put all that stuff?

The German brewery industry has been hit hard by the extended lockdown and the catering crisis. Some brewers have to cope with a drop in sales of up to 85 percent. But one segment still gives the companies hope: the non-alcoholic beer. According to the German Brewers’ Association (DBB), there was also a decline in sales of 1.6 percent last year. However, the decline was significantly less than for the alcoholic varieties (5.5 percent). According to the Brewers’ Association, around 430 million liters of non-alcoholic beer and malt drink were produced in 2010; ten years later it was already more than 660 million liters. The market share was seven percent. According to DBB forecasts, the ten percent mark will now be exceeded earlier than expected.

A big plus for mixed drinks

According to the DBB, of the total of almost 7,000 beer brands, more than 700 are non-alcoholic beers and mixed beer drinks such as shandy. The mixed drinks without alcohol posted an increase in sales of more than 16 percent last year. At Radler, the market share of non-alcoholic beverages is now 31 percent, for wheat beer it is 30 percent. With Pils, the proportion of non-alcoholic beers sold is around a quarter.

Every fourth company in need of existence?

Nevertheless, this development “could never compensate for the complete collapse of the catering business”, said DBB managing director Holger Eichele. The association warns that every fourth brewery is now endangered in its existence. “Companies of all sizes report massive losses in sales, short-time work and layoffs,” according to the DBB. In the first quarter, the industry posted an average drop in sales of a third.

By Klaus-Rainer Jackisch, Mr Köthen is a small, tranquil town in the middle of Saxony-Anhalt. The Rödel bakery has been here for 90 years. The traditional company survived war and socialism. But just a few weeks before the planned anniversary celebrations, Corona could now ensure that the oven goes out forever. At least that is the fear of master baker Frank Schwenke, managing director of the company, which has 14 branches and around 70 employees.

Gastronomy business has collapsed

Annoyed by the Corona policy, Schwenke sent a fire letter to the Federal Chancellor a few weeks ago, which ended with the drastic words: “I’m afraid of the day when I have to tell my employees that the Rödel GmbH bakery will be closed after 90 years is now in bankruptcy. ” The letter also went to the black-red-green state government of Saxony-Anhalt and Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU). The pandemic hit the bakery business badly: Sales collapsed by 20 percent, around 300,000 euros from reserves and private assets are gone. The November and December government aid came very late. Since January there has been nothing left because the operation falls through the grid of the ongoing bridging aid III. High investments in hygiene measures in the catering areas have proven to be unnecessary – because Schwenke is not allowed to open its bakery cafés. This is exactly where the main problem lies for the bakery specialist as well as for most companies in the industry: While the sale of rolls, cakes and other loose baked goods in the pandemic is going very well again after initial hesitation by customers, the important business is with the catering sector collapsed. However, this is of crucial importance in an industry characterized by fierce competition. “Many companies have made high investments in the catering sector in recent years,” says Susan Hasse from the Central Association of the German Bakers’ Trade. “Because only with this second mainstay can you survive the sharp price war with the discounters.”

No hotels to deliver

In fact, the food service sector often accounts for more than half of sales. But it has been missing for months because of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to selling baked goods, other companies have specialized in catering for parties and family celebrations or delivering to hotels or canteens. Here, too, business collapsed. “We get a lot of letters from our members,” said the association spokeswoman Hasse. “Many people give up because there are hardly any prospects.” Most bakeries are still doing reasonably well compared to pure catering businesses because their counter sales are running smoothly. But overall the situation is already very tense, according to the association. The corona crisis hits the industry in a massive structural change that has been putting the mostly small and medium-sized companies under increasing pressure for years. Nowadays, more and more companies can only survive if they have several branches and an additional business area. Because against the cheap competition of the supermarkets they can not bake.

Fewer and fewer craft businesses

Almost every discounter now has a fresh bread corner and pretends to bake delicious rolls in the supermarket. In fact, it is mostly frozen goods from large bakeries that were produced there on the assembly line. In the market it is then only thawed and baked – all at prices that traditional bakeries cannot keep up with, as the association claims. Today, on “German Bread Day”, people proudly look at around 3200 types of bread in Germany – more than anywhere else in the world. But they would have their price. Company closings are therefore the order of the day even without Corona. Several hundred bakeries give up every year: The number of craft bakeries has fallen in the last 60 years from around 55,000 in the old federal territory to around 10,500 businesses now. The trend continues to decline. The craft businesses currently supply around 45,000 sales outlets, with over 265,000 employees working there.

Heavy sales slump also with confectioners

The situation at the pastry shops is also very tense – i.e. the specialist shops that specialize in the production of cakes and chocolates. It is true that many people tend to have a nice piece of cake, especially in Corona times, and “the companies have also come up with many creative solutions to increase sales over the counter,” says Julia Gustavus, General Manager of the German Confectioners’ Association. But as in the bakery industry, the cafés are also closed here – and that affects almost every confectioner. The industry’s turnover fell by 14 percent last year. For the first few months of this year, the industry association expects slumps of 40 to 50 percent. “The worst thing is the uncertainty of how things will continue,” says Gustavus. For a year now has been investing and experimenting again and again – but all without perspective. “That tires the entrepreneurs, all of whom are passionate about what they do.” Bakers and confectioners now hope that those responsible will accelerate the vaccination rate so that at least the outdoor catering can reopen: “If there is no normalization by June, it will slowly get tight,” says master baker Schwenke from Köthen. He is disappointed in politics. According to his letter, there were good discussions with the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Economics, where they are considering an aid fund for the industry. So far, however, no money has flowed from it. The reactions from the Chancellery and the Bavarian State Chancellery, on the other hand, were rather sobering. You would have already written kindly, says Schwenke. But in essence these are all just “irrelevant answers”.

By Peter Hornung and Shehab Sumon, ARD studio South Asia Bangladesh has imposed strict restrictions due to the increasing number of new corona infections. There is a strict lockdown with an all-day curfew – but there are exceptions. While most shops and markets are closed and local public transport is just as paralyzed as air traffic, Bangladesh’s textile factories are allowed to continue producing. “We have appealed to the government to keep the factories open,” said Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, vice president of the national association of textile manufacturers BGMEA ARD studio South Asia . The textile companies currently have so many orders: “It is our responsibility to deliver the work on time.”

Fear of another break-in – and of the virus

Bangladesh’s textile industry fears a similar slump as it did a year ago, when orders worth billions were canceled. At that time the government had also closed the textile factories. In addition, the international fashion companies wanted to lose significantly less weight because of the pandemic – a disaster for the country’s most important industrial sector, which is responsible for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s exports. Although the major customers came back later, they would have asked for large discounts in some cases, according to BGMEA. So one damage remained. But now it’s different – the sewing machines keep running. Also that of Shoheda Akhter, who has been working for “Solar Garments” for 16 years, one of the numerous textile factories in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old is very worried. On the one hand, because she is afraid of losing her income again, as she did last year, her factory should still have to close. On the other hand, because she is afraid of the disease. Even with a low fever, she is afraid of being infected, says Shoheda. After all, with so many factory workers, it is not an easy task for companies to ensure safety.

Jharna Begum hopes not to get infected with the corona virus in the textile factory. But she is dependent on her work. Image: Shehab Sumon / ARD-Studio South Asia She goes to work on foot in the morning and does not drive an overcrowded company bus like many other workers. But the danger is real. Nevertheless, someone like her cannot actually afford to be afraid of corona, says Shoheda: “We get money when we work. If we don’t work, we don’t get anything. So we don’t have much leeway to think about the corona virus.” The equivalent of about $ 250 a month, Shoheda’s family of four lives on. Your own income is even more important since her husband lost a better-paying job in the textile factory because of Corona and can only work as a doorman. Shoheda’s colleague Jharna Begum feels the same way – the fear of loss of income is greater than that of illness. The security in the factory is not far off, says the 26-year-old. “Because this is a textile production, we have to work very closely with one another. We cannot keep the required distance at all. That is due to the nature of our work.”

Open textile mills less dangerous than closures?

In view of the corona risk, it is better to leave the factories open than to close them, says BGMEA Vice President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, who is a factory owner himself. “During the lockdown last year, we found that the virus is more likely to spread when the bus stations are full and the streets are because workers are moving home.” At that time, the workers had fled the cities by the hundreds of thousands in pure need so as not to starve to death. But isn’t there a risk that the textile factories will become hotspots because of the working conditions? No, says the textile entrepreneur, all hygiene regulations must be observed. In addition, there are company-owned hospitals and isolation centers for the workers. The workers ‘organization “Bangladesh Center for Workers’ Solidarity” does not require the factories to be closed for safety reasons. Her most important demand: the workers’ wages must under no circumstances be cut or completely canceled – like last year, when many were suddenly left with nothing. Aika Fischbeck from the German women’s rights organization Femnet says that the international fashion companies should not be indifferent to what is going on in Bangladesh: “We not only see the factory owners in Bangladesh as having an obligation, but also the fashion companies commissioned should and must take responsibility also ensure that the factories can observe distance rules and hygiene measures in order to protect the workers from infection. ” The only hope left for the worker Jharna Begum is to get through the pandemic in good health despite the working conditions in the textile factory and to be able to continue to feed her family. Because her husband is unemployed because of the effects of the corona pandemic, so the couple cannot repay loans at the moment. But the 26-year-old is confident: “With the grace of the Almighty, he will get a job again as soon as the coronavirus is over.”

From Lucretia Gather, SWR “One two Three …!” The three-year-old Elian jumps again and again from the edge of the pool into his mother’s arms, turns a short lap in the water with his armbands and gets out again, ready for the next jump. His parents and a family friend rented a swimming school “Flip” in Meisenheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, and a whole indoor pool for themselves for two hours. “It’s really great,” says Elian’s mother Nina Köberlein-Bareiß, “not exactly cheap, but we’ll just take a break.” The water fun costs 75 euros per hour.

Pumps have to keep running

The swimming pool is operated by Stefan Nerbas, and in addition to the one in Meisenheim, he also runs a second one in Bad Kreuznach. Both are owned by the Kreuznach Diakonie Foundation. The pools have been empty for months, only water therapy for people with disabilities is still offered here from time to time. But the fixed costs remain. Nerbas calculates that the maintenance of a bathroom alone costs 10,000 euros per month. The water must be kept clean, the technology must continue to run. “I can’t just switch off the pumps,” says Nerbas.

By renting the swimming pool by the hour, pool operator Stefan Nerbas wants to pour some money into the empty cash register. Image: Lucretia Gather / SWR

Grant business swimming pool

According to the “Bäderatlas” published by the German Society for Bathing in Germany, there are around 9,000 swimming pools and public bathing areas. The majority of them, around 6,000, are run by municipalities. Sports economist Lutz Thieme from the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences is leading a federally funded research project that is collecting reliable data on pools in Germany for the first time. Almost every bathroom that is operated privately is dependent on municipal subsidies, according to the expert. “There are perhaps a handful of private investors in Germany who manage to operate a bathroom at break even,” says Thieme. Sooner or later, the high maintenance costs will bring every investor to their knees, and subsidies from cities or municipalities will be necessary. Thieme fears that the Corona crisis will further worsen the situation of bathroom operators in Germany. Because if the financial strength of the municipalities decreases, they are forced to make savings. Since the field of sport is not one of their compulsory tasks, the red pencil is often applied precisely there, says the sports economist. “And what’s most expensive in sports? The swimming pools.”

Many closings feared

Christian Mankel from the German Society for Bathing also predicts that many pools that are dependent on municipal subsidies could get into trouble. He fears that the direct and indirect consequences of the corona pandemic could lead to a large number of pool closures in the coming years. Mankel calls for an open perspective and would also like the municipalities to acknowledge that baths are an indispensable part of public services and that they are financed.

Many bankruptcies among sauna operators

Sauna operators are also suffering from the corona pandemic. The managing director of the German Sauna Association, Martin Niederstein, says: “We fear that a large number of the smaller, private sauna businesses will have to close permanently.” 45 percent of public sauna baths in Germany are run by the municipality, more than half are privately owned. The challenges in this sector are similar to those in the baths: Due to the personnel and energy-intensive cost structure, it is particularly difficult to run an economically successful sauna business without municipal subsidies. Well-known operators should have already closed due to insolvency. The second lockdown, which has lasted since November 2nd, falls in the middle of the main sauna season. Despite government economic aid, the financial reserves of many saunas have been exhausted. If they are allowed to reopen, it will be difficult to compensate for the loss of income in the summer. The bathing and sauna landscape in Germany will probably be thinned out after the Corona crisis. There are enough people willing to swim: The swimming pool rental in Meisenheim is well received. Operator Nerbas says he was surprised by the huge interest himself. “We put the call on the Internet and within 24 hours the whole of April was booked out.”

Due to tight budgets in the Corona crisis, the Maritim hotel chain is forced to part with some of its locations. The company announced that it had to cope with a liquidity loss of 140 million euros during pandemic times. “Although we had high liquidity reserves before the pandemic, we now have to secure our survival through emergency hotel sales,” said the owner of the family business, Monika Gommolla. Maritim, with around 5,000 employees worldwide, has 40 hotels, 29 of them in Germany with 3,000 employees.

“It can not go on like this”

“The Maritim Hotel Group has been hit extremely hard by the pandemic,” said Gommolla. “The first lockdown already resulted in a loss of sales of almost 90 percent last year.” After a short recovery phase in the summer, since November 2020 there has been a 90 percent drop in sales at almost all Maritim hotel locations due to the bans on accommodation for tourist guests. State aid almost failed to materialize, and only two million euros have been paid out so far. “The situation for the hotel industry is very serious, it cannot go on like this,” complains Gommolla. State aid must also be paid out as quickly as possible for larger companies in the industry and owner-managed hotel groups such as Maritim. The hotel chain Centro, which in 2019 still had 60 hotels with 1200 employees, had to sell 13 locations last year.

“Bridging aids not sufficient”

Dirk Iserlohe, CEO of the financial holding company Honestis AG, emphasized that time was of the essence. The AG is the parent company of the Dorint hotel chain, whose supervisory board chairman Iserlohe is also. At a press conference in Cologne with nine hotel chains on the state of the industry in Germany, he presented a statement to politicians on Thursday. The main complaint is that the current financial support from politicians is inadequate. The state aid limits, which are twelve million euros, are nowhere near enough, according to Iserlohe. In 2020 alone, the uncovered loss was 30 million euros.

“No limitation of the reimbursement obligation”

For GSH Hotels, Marco El Manchi explained that sales fell by 60 percent in the past year. Most colleagues were still waiting for government grants, which were not enough anyway, says El Manchi. The Lindner hotel chain reported a drop in sales from 200 to 45 million euros. Managing director Otto Lindner, who is also Vice President of the Dehoga branch association, spoke of a “terrible situation”. The hotel operators’ equity reserves have been used up. “We are not the driver of the pandemic, so we are entitled to compensation.” The deputy chairman of the FDP, Wolfgang Kubicki, also took part in the press conference: “It’s about the survival of an entire industry. No area is more affected.” Therefore, there should be no limit to the obligation to reimburse costs.

Three quarters fewer overnight stays

The current data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on overnight stays also shows how deep the crisis is in this country: of the 51,000 accommodation establishments recorded in Germany, only 29,300 were open in February. In February 2021, there were 7.2 million overnight stays by domestic and foreign guests in the accommodation establishments in Germany. That is 76 percent fewer overnight stays than in the corresponding month of the previous year.