Zmiany konsumpcji a kreowanie innowacji

Abstract

The main aim of the research is to investigate changing consumption patterns in Polish households between 2005 and 2012 and an attempt to evaluate them in the context of creating innovation. Several prerequisites have contributed to undertaking this issue. The fact that most publications on consumption focus on analysing new occurrences and tendencies in consumption and consumption behaviour (as derivatives of, inter alia, technological progress, or the processes of globalisation) should be considered important. There are extensive debates on consumerism, the extent of the sustainability of consumption, or its globalisation. It may be said that researchers’ attention focuses on the analysis of the element of demand in consumption and its classification as an innovation’s verifier. Less attention is paid to the element of supply in consumption (i.e. its capacity to create new values, including mainly intangible resources), or the identification of the category of consumption as an active means of creating an innovation process (i.e. stimulating, not only verifying). Therefore, a dualistic treatment of consumption purposes and effects leads to the confined perception of its importance and a role of changes therein. It causes marginalisation of feedbacks between changes in the sphere of needs’ satisfaction and technological progress and the scale of synergy of these activities. Having regard to the above statements as well as the awareness of existing limitations and expectations towards innovation in Polish economy, attempts were undertaken to explore changes in consumption and evaluate them as variables having indirect influence on creating innovation. It was initially assumed that consumption is not just an innovation’s verifier but essentially, even mostly, a means (stimulating, or destimulating) to create innovation. The significance of the above statement increases if we consider it in the long term’s perspective. The course of the conducted scientific narration in the present publication is to verify the main hypothesis: changes in households’ consumption in Poland indicate the occurrence of tendencies implying the transposition of the structure of technical and social components in implemented innovations. It has been presumed that the growth of a social component should be linked to the increase of an individual’s preferences of self-development and social (intangible) needs and their domination in the structure of needs. Changes in the sphere of consumption needs’ satisfaction, however, occur in certain economic conditions and can, considering economic and non-economic influences of macroand micro-factors, fulfil more eufunctions than dysfunctions in the creation of innovation. The following detailed hypotheses develop the main hypothesis, elaborated on the basis of deductive conclusions: - changes in Polish households’ consumption determined by macro-conditions entail increased involvement of a social component in implemented innovations; - a derivative of the asymmetry of consumption’s financial means at Polish households’ disposal and its determining factors is escalation of the problem of intergenerational transfers, whose scale restrictively influences the ability of creating innovation considering the possibilities of self-development and social needs, and indicates the need for the stimulation of long-term social changes; - changes in the allocation of consumption’s financial means in Polish households signalize the process connected with gradual satisfaction of existential needs and a growing care for the level of self-development and social needs’ satisfaction, which implies the increased share of a social component in implemented innovations; Ȥ increased awareness of the allocation of time and forms of free time management among individual consumption entities indicates strengthening of the role of open innovations, ipso facto the growth of the involvement of a social component in implemented innovations. Considerations presented in the work serve not only systematization of knowledge about changes in the sphere of consumption needs’ satisfaction. They are also an attempt at enriching and expanding scientific achievements by the essence of the relation between consumption and creation of innovation in the long term. The specifics of the discussed issues required a comprehensive approach – descriptive, exemplary and evaluative. Universality and the need for systematic research on consumption entailed that this work has adopted the interdisciplinary view of consumption, i.e. economic, social, anthropological and psychological aspects were taken into account which emphasized the neuronal approach. Considering the vastness of the researched issue concerning consumption, selecting problems to be depicted in this work, the author have based it mostly on the analysis of key theories and concepts of consumption. The importance of the subject matter entailed that the work attempts to solve the problem on a theoretical level with simultaneous verification of specific theories on an empirical level. Using the method of descriptive analysis and studying relevant literature, consumption changes have been identified. On a theoretical level, empiric analyses have been carried out (based on the Polish households) whereas conclusions and recommendations within the scope of a possibility of fulfilling more eufunctions than dysfunctions by consumption towards creating innovation in the long term have been formulated. Collected empirical data have been subject to the quantitative and qualitative analysis. Applied descriptive statistics (structure analysis, or dynamics analysis) allowed to recognize the structure and scale of changes within the researched categories. Being aware that variables describing consumption are usually interlinked whereas the structure and development of the researched variables usually depend on other variables (properties), joint research thereof have been considered indispensable. Their analyses have been carried out using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Accepted statistical significance is α=0,05. A starting point for the research on consumption changes and the attempt to assess their significance for creating innovation is the evolution of the researched categories. Development trajectory for each of them (chapter one) as well as the essence and determinants of consumption changes (chapter 2) created the basis for selecting variables designating changes in the sphere of consumer needs’ satisfaction. Diagnoses of changes in consumption have become the basis for their assessment in the context of creating innovations. 1 It is believed that the reference to the achievements of Neuroeconomics allows to obtain a wide (comprehensive) set of arguments in research deliberations supporting specific models shaping the structure and prioritizing consumer needs. Considerations thereon enter the borderline of distinct disciplines exposing them to critical comments. However, a consumptive dimension of human life is nothing more than a tangle of threads from different areas of knowledge and science. Research on consumption changes resulting from macro-factors’ influence have been carried out based on demographic processes and globalization, technological development and inequalities in income distribution. In case of each identified factor (consumption changes), proper indicators were selected considering the essence of creating innovation in the long term. Diagnosis and assessment of Polish households’ consumption changes have been carried out based on asymmetry and allocation of financial resources for consumption and time as non-financial consumption resource. Problems were verified on a theoretical-empirical level. Due to the objectives’ complexity, the process of the analysis of the influence of asymmetry and allocation of financial means of consumption on creating innovations has been divided into three areas. The first area is theoretical recognition (of asymmetry and allocation of financial means of consumption), based on the Polish and foreign literature. The second area – diagnosis (of asymmetry and allocation of financial means of consumption being available for Polish households), conducted on the basis of the collections of quantitative and qualitative data. The third area – assessment (of asymmetry and allocation of financial means of consumption) in the context of creating innovations. These singled out areas have been matched with the internal structure of chapter 4 and 5. Diagnoses of asymmetry of financial means of consumption being available for Polish households in 2005 – 2012 have been conducted based on: - the level and dynamics of disposable income and discretionary fund, - targets and motives designating inclination for gathering financial resources and incurring debt, - the level and structure of savings and debt. Designated linear correlations between disposable income and inclinations for debt as well as saving have become the basis for formulating conclusions on the changing structure of satisfied needs and their influence on creating innovations. Diagnostic analyses of allocation of financial means of consumption available for Polish households have been carried out based on consumer spending. Their analyses have been carried out in two configurations. In the first configuration, spending has been divided into primary and discretionary. This configuration has become the basis of the assessment of the household as well the market functioning (i.e. compatibility of market offers with expectations or, in other words, compatibility of supply and demand). In the second configuration of consumer spending, food spending, fixed spending and social services spending have been singled out. The adopted configuration of spending has become the basis for determination of a phase of Polish households’ development in 2005-2012. To do so, (1) their share in disposable income has been designated; (2) the direction and strength of linear correlations between disposable income and such determined consumer spending have been examined, supported by Pearson’s method. The designated development phase of Polish households in 2005-2012 has been taken as an indicator of financial allocations of financial means of consumption. It has become the sub-base for the assessment of influence of allocating financial means of consumption on the perspective of creating innovations. Theoretical and empirical deliberations in this work allow to state that the objectives of this work have been achieved whereas verification of detailed hypotheses confirms the accuracy of the proposed main hypothesis. Conclusions formulated in this work as well as topicality of the subject matter and its vital place in the EU development strategy allow to consider them useful for private and governmental institutions interested in monitoring social changes (social innovations). Research on the changing consumption of Polish households allow to claim that the process connected with gradual satisfaction of existential needs and increasing care for the satisfaction of social needs and personal development leads, in a natural way, to a structural change of technical and social components in implemented innovations. It contributes to the increase of a social factor. Every innovation, even purely technical, includes a social element because it changes lifestyle and creates new rules of cultural and social behaviours. Moreover, these mutually stimulating processes of consumption changes and creating innovation are based on intangible values, which emerge in human being along his entire life. Human knowledge and skills form a primeval source of innovative changes. Creating innovations is connected with previously existing individual incentives, possibilities and capabilities for creating new, and/or improving existing products, services and processes, or enjoying the benefits of imitations. The point of creating innovations is connected with a primary goal of economic activity, i.e. satisfying needs, which serve to improve standards, or more widely speaking – quality of life. A secondary goal is connected with the aspiration for acquiring a position, or generally a competitive advantage in the world. In case of the Polish economy, where household consumption is heading towards the third evolution phase and, in many aspects, imitates consumer behaviours typical for societies of highly developed economies, we should expect the increase of a social component in innovations. A structural change of innovations’ components is also determined by obvious, for the societies of countries with a high level of consumerism, consequences of over-consumption. Another vital factor is increasing importance of consumers in the model approach to innovation. Effectively, companies’ strategies should become increasingly oriented towards interactions with a recipient of their marketing offer. Individual entities of consumption will then become not only an exceptional external source of information but also an intellectual resource for modern enterprises. They will become their partners, which is indicated by, e.g., concepts of prosumer and co-creation of values. It is also worth noticing that growing access of individuals to information, the speed of its circulation and processing, will favour a collective inclination for executing their inherent rights. This will be connected with the need for increasing participation of a social component in the process of creating innovations. Deliberations depicted in this work indicate that tendencies present in Polish households’ consumption might be stimulated to a certain degree. The rationale for this are following: - when income level is lower than in highly developed economies, individual awareness of satisfaction of self-development and social needs is high, - increasing consumption of industrial goods is accompanied by increasing expectations of individuals toward the quality of offered goods and services, - increasing social mobility is accompanied by the flow of information, knowledge and ideas stimulated by the spread of new forms of communication, - individual’s awareness of free time is increasing: its meaning in the time structure and forms of its management. - Considering the above-mentioned tendencies, a desired model of the participation of individuals in the market and satisfying needs of self-development and social needs should be characterized by the following: - self-reliance and creative attitudes, - systematic and sustained education, - a possibility of fulfilling one’s own ambitions and aspirations, - openness to various values and other members of the community and the ability of understanding them. Creating the climate for such a model of individual participation in the market will lead to the development of: flexibility (openness to changes and cooperation) in adjusting to continuous and turbulent changes occurring in the surrounding world and the ability of functioning in the conditions of chaos and crisis; market activity based on the assumptions of the sustainable concept (i.e. holistic and constantly developing overview of the reality), and developing knowledge (implicit and explicit). It will favour the development of creativity in general and participation of a social component in implemented innovations. In conclusion, consumption based on feedback is a very important stimulant of innovation. Considering changes in the needs’ structure and conditions implying them, we might claim that they lead to the change of the structure of technical and social components in introduced innovations. Higher inclination of individuals to satisfy self-development and social needs is expressed in increasing maturity in using the possessed information and knowledge. In consequence, it leads to grassroots social activation, which serves the improvement of the quality of life. An effective way of supporting creativity in general seems to be, according to the author, stimulation of human activity based mainly on cooperation, building common trust and feeling of responsibility within and between generations. Considering long-term trends, we might expect that increasing standards and quality of life will entail the increase of the share of a social component in technological innovations. A desirable perspective seems to be aiding natural and spontaneous processes of individuals with actions stimulated by the State. The aim is to limit such situations where enterprises, through marketing procedures (increasingly refined), create an artificial feeling of participation in return for their knowledge and engagement. Responsible thinking about changing consumption and creating innovations motivates for further research, verification of the accuracy of depicted observations and postulates, and identification of areas that require superiority of direct actions (top-down) over indirect (grassroots) ones aiming to improve creativity in general.