2011 Volume 4 Pages 1-12
The unsustainable consumption pattern is argued as a driving factor of the environmental loads; however, hardly any relevant quantitative results are available. Quantifying the consumer behavior is particularly required for facilitating the contemporary unsustainable consumption pattern. This paper aims at developing two types of the consumer behavior model, comprising of the linear expenditure system (LES) model and the multinomial logit (MNL) model, to analyze the individual’s consumption expenditure hierarchically in light of the changes in lifestyle. The models are validated for the case of Taiwan where the economy is growing rapidly and making dents on every phase of life. Analysis results present the structure of an individual’s consumption preferences during the study period. Mainly, the individual’s consumption expenditures on “food” and “housing” occupy the most portions in his/her subsistence level while the individual spends more on “housing,” “medicines & medical care” and “amusement & education” in his/her non-subsistence level. In addition, the consumer behavior model is coupled with the municipal solid waste (MSW) discard model, which was established in the authors’ earlier study, to consecutively estimate an individual’s consumption expenditure and the amount of his/her MSW discards by waste fraction. By using the coupled model, a more sustainable consumption pattern and lifestyle can be proposed, and the corresponding MSW management system can be planned so as to develop the sustainable lifestyle and a low-waste-discard society.
