Finland 1999: Consumer Habits and Lifestyle

The survey asked respondents to compare their expenditure and consumer behaviour (concerning e.g. food, housing, leisure activities, alcohol, travel) to those of the average consumer. The respondents were asked which things and household items they considered necessary and what they would do if they had more money. The survey carried a set of attitudinal statements about consumption and lifestyle (e.g. "I like to drink wine when eating" or "Quality is more important to me than price"). Some questions covered on what grounds respondents made decisions on economical, family or work matters. The extent to which the deep recession of the early 1990s had affected the household was examined. One theme pertained to community identification: whether the respondents felt they were part of their family, workplace, community, Finnish society, and how much their way of spending or borrowing money, etc. was similar to that of other people. The respondents were asked to define different generations and to assess whether there was any conflict between them. They rated the importance of various things (e.g. self-respect, world peace, prosperity, independence) to themselves and the safety of their own life, community, society and the world. Views were probed on how much insecurity e.g. pollution, cuts to certain public services and increasing the national debt would cause. Some questions covered personal feelings of insecurity concerning e.g. livelihood, finances, relationships. The respondents evaluated risks in the present-day society and rated the risk involved in different actions (e.g. contracting a loan, travelling, speeding, flying, using drugs, casual sex). The survey contained questions about the income, expenditure, savings and debts of the respondents and the household. Credit card use, defaults on payments/debts and the resulting bad credit were charted. The respondents were asked what their methods of coping were when short of money, that is, whether they would borrow, reduce expenditure, gamble, etc. Background variables included respondents' sex, tenure, marital status, household size, number of children, basic and vocational education, economic activity, occupation of the respondent, the spouse and parents, experiences of unemployment, financial circumstances, social class, voting in elections and party preference.

本调查旨在探究受访者将其在食品、住房、休闲活动、酒精、旅行等方面的支出与消费行为与普通消费者进行对比。受访者被询问他们认为哪些物品和家居用品是必需的，以及若拥有更多资金，他们会如何处置。调查包含了一系列关于消费和生活方式的态度陈述（例如：“我吃饭时喜欢喝红酒”或“对我来说，质量比价格更重要”）。部分问题涉及受访者基于何种理由在经济、家庭或工作事宜上做出决策。调查还考察了20世纪90年代初深度经济衰退对家庭的影响程度。其中一个主题涉及社区认同：受访者是否认为自己属于家庭、工作场所、社区、芬兰社会的一部分，以及他们的消费或借贷方式与其他人有多大的相似性。受访者被要求界定不同世代，并评估是否存在世代之间的冲突。他们对自己的自尊、世界和平、繁荣、独立等事物的重视程度以及对自己生活、社区、社会和世界的安全感进行了评估。调查还探讨了诸如污染、削减某些公共服务以及增加国债等不确定性因素可能引发的后果。部分问题涉及受访者对生计、财务、人际关系等方面的个人不安全感。受访者对当代社会中的风险进行了评估，并对不同行为（如贷款、旅行、超速、飞行、使用药物、发生性行为）所涉及的风险进行了评级。调查包含了关于受访者及其家庭收入、支出、储蓄和债务的问题。调查还记录了信用卡的使用情况、支付/债务违约以及由此产生的信用不良记录。受访者被问及在资金短缺时采取的应对措施，即他们是否会借款、减少支出、赌博等。背景变量包括受访者的性别、任期、婚姻状况、家庭规模、子女数量、基础教育和职业教育、经济活动、受访者的职业、配偶和父母的职业、失业经历、财务状况、社会阶层、选举投票和政党偏好。