Minister Laila Dåvøy,Ministry of Family and Children Affairs

Opening speech at the conference "The social meaning and political importance of consumption in modern societies"

Oslo, 3 April 2003.

Dear colleagues, dear conference participants;

I very much appreciate the invitation to come here for a double purpose today: For my first visit to the new localities of the national institute for consumer research, and for the conference.

For an institution of quite a respectable age, the institute has not physically been on the move many times, in fact this is only second time as far as we have been able to find out. Nevertheless, change of localities is always a tiresome matter for all parties involved, in particular for the employees of the institutions concerned. The process has, unfortunately, been somewhat lengthier than we really intended and hoped for. I am all the more pleased to observe that a good solution as it appeared on paper has proved even better in real life, and that the satisfaction you have expressed is justified indeed.

The new site is for the oldest of our consumer institutions, in fact, more than 60 years. I shall not engage in a historical review of the developments of your activities over these decades. I will, rather, like to make some reflections linked to the notion "the social meaning and political importance of consumption". Firstly because it is the topic for today's conference. Secondly, it reflects a rather new and interesting focus in consumer research. And thirdly, it has a direct connection to major political concerns linked to consumption and consumer behaviour, and issues that are subject to high engagement and priority for my Ministry and myself.

I have observed with interest that the first subject on the agenda concerns "defetishising the commodity". It was interesting in itself to become acquainted with a new word ( defetishise) that we did not even find in our dictionary, and that neither our automatic spelling programme would accept.

Even more interesting and suggestive is the approach of regarding the commodity as a fetish. This way of referring to an important element of our consumption society is indeed very much to the point

Traditionally, in consumer policy, we have looked upon the consumer as a rational individual. Given the necessary information, the consumer would make the choices that would best serve his objective needs. Therefore, also the consumer research of yesterday very much focused on the quality of goods and the consumer's handling of goods.

But - as the poet says - the times they are-a-changing. So is also indeed the consumer society and not least the understanding of modern consumption. We have come to realise that consumer behaviour is a more complex phenomenon than what is reflected in the old model - a model that may have been valid in the early days of consumer policy and consumer institutions in Norway.

A continuing debate on the role and importance of advertising - in stimulating potential needs and developing new ones through increasingly subtle methods - has been and still is an important feature. Focus is now also on a number of other elements in the discussion and research on consumption behaviour and how it is formed. We see ever more sophisticated approaches to considering and studying different elements of importance, and the complex interaction between them. It is interesting and positive that the Institute has signalled consumer behaviour as a new area of priority.

A major reason for shifts in consumption - and in the focus of consumer policy and research - is the obvious fact that increased welfare has enabled consumers to meet other needs than the basic ones. The major part of Norwegian households have what we may characterise as considerable economic surplus. Most of this will, sooner or later, be spent for consumption purposes.

So, one might ask, if increased spending and consumption have negative consequences on society, should we try to modify such behaviour?

In my opinion, there are reasons, and strong reasons, to be concerned with these issues - as consumers, as citizens, and as politicians. One obvious is of course the negative environmental side effects of production and consumption, such as pollution, use of scarce resources etc. Another, equally obvious, is ethical and political implications of conditions at the production site, such as child labour and a working environment that puts the health and safety of workers at risk. But there are reasons also as concerns influence, commercial pressure and commercialisation in itself.

Among all advantages of increased welfare and an ever-increasing access to goods and services, we should not be blind for negative aspects of this in particular as children are concerned. Children and adolescents are to an increasing degree becoming target groups for aggressive forms for marketing practices and for commercial pressure, and exposed to expensive norms and requirements that apply in the social groups that they belong or want to belong to.

This phenomenon and its consequences are not harmless or an individual issue. The commercialisation has profound consequences for their spending, lifestyle, behaviour and values, and even considerable impacts for the family's economy and for their own future. I take it that you are familiar with the stories referred in media about "child robbers", and the reasons they give for becoming criminals at such a young age.

These are - in very brief - main reasons that, the Ministry will present a strategy plan for reducing the commercial pressure on children and adolescents. I shall not go further into this matter here and now. Besides taking the freedom to campaign for the plan, I hope that this indicates our interest in and reflects the political importance of consumption and consumption matters. I should not need to tell this audience that this is a general issue as consumption is concerned and by no means limited to children.

I am pleased to find these issues of concern highlighted in several of the topics on the agenda for today's conference. Beside the title of the opening introduction I have already referred to, the titles indicate that consumer culture and politics of consumption in general, will be dealt with, and I am confident, in a very interesting way. Likewise, I am sure that the topics of consumer trust and dynamics of ordinary consumption will be supplementary to the breadth and the depth of the conference.

The latter item will perhaps remind us that the day-to-day regular consumer activities are still the most predominant. It may also bring to mind that not all consumers are in a situation with surplus spending power. There are groups and individuals that have enough in making ends meet. This is another issue that can not be elaborated here, but that it is important to remind of as a major concern in consumer politics as well as in consumer research.

There is a natural consequence of being here for a double purpose - a double conclusion: I will congratulate the Institute with its new localities and wish every one of our colleagues here the best of luck for their work in the new premises. Furthermore - and finally - I declare the conference opened. I hope - and trust - that it will contribute to our consumer research and to our knowledge basis, which represent so vital prerequisites for our consumer policy.