Social media, consumer culture and sustainable lifestyles: Some evidence from a youth civil society group

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Published: Mar 4, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/scad.44788
Keywords:
Consumer culture, consumer behaviour, sustainable lifestyles, youth, fast fashion
Κonstantinos Theodoridis
Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences,Athens, Greece
Abstract

Sustainability issues and sustainable lifestyles have been a crucial subject in the public sphere. There is a need to understand the
ways social media narratives might affect consumer culture and behaviour in relation to sustainable consumption practices and fashion. By focusing on a civil society group of young people on Instagram, this paper seeks to understand how young volunteers communicate to their audience about consumerism, unsustainable lifestyles and the need to reconsider everyday consumption practices. In particular, it explores the role of social media in the ways young people support and advocate for a socio-environmental change. Through a literature review and a thematic analysis of the posts, it is demonstrated how social media can be used by youth groups in order to challenge unsustainable practices, educate consumers and promote alternative consumer lifestyles.

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Author Biography
Κonstantinos Theodoridis, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences,Athens, Greece

Konstantinos Theodoridis is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Communication,
Media and Culture at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. He has received his
PhD from the Department of Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has taught in
the wider scientific area of Media and Culture at Panteion University, at the University of Patras
and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His research interests developed to a
more critical examination of consumption during the economic crisis in Greece and his research
explores young people’s identities and the changing nature of consumption as a social and
cultural phenomenon through the lens of digital space and social media. E-mail: k.theodoridis@
panteion.gr

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