YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

310 Outward appearance was somewhat more important to young people in 2020 compared to 2010. When asked about interest in specific areas of life, young people showed a significant shift towards an increasing interest in shopping. This increase (of around 15%) points to two aspects of this phenomenon; on the one hand, there is a shift away from so-called ‘self-expressive value orienta- tions’ (Inglehart et al., 2004) towards more materialistic value orienta- tions, due to the increasing range of shopping possibilities, the increased importance of advertising (Luthar, 2010), the range and great diversifica- tion of product availability, and the possibility of consuming products and services. On the other hand, the increased interest in shopping can be explained through social factors and the increase in access to informa- tion, which allows for greater comparability of products and optimisation of the shopping experience and product prices. These two aspects are in- tertwined and complement each other, and their periods of intensity are also intertwined. Table 9.2: Interest in shopping among young people (15-29 years, in %), 2010-2020. 2010 2020 1 Not interested at all. 7.4 4.4 2 Not interested 26.6 18.5 3 Neither interested nor not interested. 37.2 33.7 4 Interested. 20.5 33.4 5 Very interested. 8.2 10.1 Sources: Mladina 2010, Mladina 2020. Inglehart and Welzel (2010, 2018) explain these periods in terms of in- tense periodic social changes resulting from various long-term (mul- ti-year) trends of economic, political, and developmental fluctuations between growth and crises. In crisis periods, trends away from self-ex- pressive values and shifts towards materialistic value orientations are observed, due to the emergence of fears about the potential loss of the material basis on which existing life-style or living practices are based.