What GDR consumers want

GDR citizens will soon adapt to West German consumer habits. The consumption gap will not last long. Two out of five GDR citizens (39 %) - like many West German consumers (45 %) - only want one thing: "experience consumption". This is the result of a recent representative survey conducted by the BAT Leisure Research Institute among people aged 14 and over in the GDR.

Consumerism East - Consumerism West

In April 1990, the BAT Institute simultaneously surveyed 1,000 GDR citizens and 2,000 German citizens on a representative basis about their attitudes towards consumption in their leisure time. The results of the survey indicate that the desire to consume in the East and the desire to consume in the West are not far apart. 59 per cent of the GDR population and 54 per cent of German citizens only buy what they need to live, they have to or want to save. In both countries, the "average consumer" sets the tone. Even in their leisure time, normal consumers consume as they do in everyday life: one type of beer or cola is enough for them and not an overabundance of different flavour lines and packaging systems. In both countries, consumers are divided into two camps: Into utility consumers (predominantly older generation) and experience consumers (predominantly younger generation).

"Similar consumer desires are based on common cultural norms and traditions," says Prof Dr Horst W. Opaschowski, Director of the BAT Institute. Even 45 years of different post-war histories cannot prevent certain cultural traditions and expectations of life from being passed on from one generation to the next. International research into culture and changing values has shown that there are enduring cultural norms that continue to have an effect in the long term, regardless of different political and economic developments. Early learning experiences in childhood and adolescence characterise the lifestyle habits of an entire generation and tend to be passed on to the next generation.

Economic and monetary union will revive such cultural traditions (including consumer habits). The GDR consumer will therefore not be a "new unknown entity". If economic and income conditions allow, consumer habits in both countries will quickly harmonise. Cheap goods will be just as much in demand as quality products.

On the other hand, the pent-up demand among GDR consumers appears to be particularly high: Only 6 per cent (German citizens 12 %) can still get excited about saving. They have probably saved long enough in their lives: now they want to afford things that "make their lives more beautiful" (25%). But the desire to consume has its financial limits: Beyond the necessities of life, only 5 per cent of the GDR citizens surveyed want to "afford something new more often" (German citizens: 7 %) and occasionally spend too much. And 97 per cent of GDR citizens can only dream of luxury consumption, although "luxury" will have a different meaning to ours, at least in the transition period.

East Berliners in consumption fever? Regional imbalances in consumer habits

In the GDR, 39 per cent of consumers are leisure consumers, for whom shopping is already a leisure experience.

However, this assessment reveals strong regional imbalances: East Berlin outstrips all other GDR regions. If you want to experience and enjoy shopping in your free time, you probably have to live in East Berlin. In no other region are there as many fans of experiential consumption as here (71 %). The experience value of shopping in the GDR capital is twice as high as in Brandenburg (35 %), Thuringia (34 %) or Mecklenburg (32 %). East Berlin's immediate neighbourhood to West Berlin makes it almost unconcerned about food: while two thirds (66 %) of Thuringians and Mecklenburgers still have to worry about their daily food consumption, this only applies to a minority (29 %) of East Berliners. Professor Opaschowski comments: "This is a snapshot of the consumer climate and consumer choice in April of this year." With the introduction of the DM, the entire consumer market will change, as will the purchasing and consumption habits of GDR citizens. As the borders fall, consumers will become more mobile and more selective: they will then be able to choose between Rostock and Kiel or Leipzig and Hanover.

Technical data of the survey:

Number and representation of respondents:
1,000 people aged 14 and over in the GDR,
2,000 people aged 14 and over in Germany and West Berlin

Survey period: 14 to 23 April 1990

Survey institute: SAMPLE INSTITUT on behalf of the BAT Leisure Research Institute

Interviewer team: 210 specially trained interviewers