174
skills and available information, in contrast to the situation for money, time, and
space. If anything, they would be increased. Skills and available information are
however a constraint to consumption of those goods that require a higher level of
skills or information.
Next to absolute limitations of personal aptitude, the necessary money and time
needed to acquire the specific skills can be a relevant obstacle to consumption.
Examples are leisure activities such as operating a small sailing boat, constructing
the own furniture, or playing the piano. However, the idea of a knowledge based
society and the growing offers of online courses for virtually everything and instructions and courses offered by do-it-yourself markets are however eroding the limitation of information.
At the same time, the process of learning the required skill may be a key part of
the activity and the success to have mastered the skill can be an important contribution to the individual’s needs fulfilment. Legend are however the households that
have a piano with nobody in the family being able to play it.
2.2.6 Access to Products
Similarly, limitations to access products are an obstacle, but they are not affected by
the consumption of individual other products, while the wider consumption pattern
can strongly affect them, particularly if consumption thresholds need to be surpassed to make them economically viable: A good example of such limitations is
the availability of car sharing outside the larger cities’ centre. Such access restrictions are partly a matter of relative demand limitations – while in a hen-and-egg
situation, where limited demand means that the necessary threshold is not achieved
to make the product available – but partly also absolute, where a frequent public
transport service would not be economically or even environmentally sensible for
very remote places with virtually no population.
2.2.7 Interchange Ability of Household Resources
While these household resources and other constraints have their own budget, we
note here that compensation across some of these is possible to a large extent, firstly
time and money: a consumer can free additional time by hiring another person for
cleaning or other household work, or by buying time-saving equipment. Similarly,
space and money: the available space can be extended by using some of the available household income for renting a larger flat or extra storage. And we have given
already the example of using time (and potentially money) to acquire new skills or
information. Finally, investment of time can mean to take up extra economic activities to increase the available household income.
However, where money transactions are involved – such as in the example of
contracting a cleaning service – the service provider received additional household
M.-A. Wolf and K. Chomkhamsri
skills and available information, in contrast to the situation for money, time, and
space. If anything, they would be increased. Skills and available information are
however a constraint to consumption of those goods that require a higher level of
skills or information.
Next to absolute limitations of personal aptitude, the necessary money and time
needed to acquire the specific skills can be a relevant obstacle to consumption.
Examples are leisure activities such as operating a small sailing boat, constructing
the own furniture, or playing the piano. However, the idea of a knowledge based
society and the growing offers of online courses for virtually everything and instructions and courses offered by do-it-yourself markets are however eroding the limitation of information.
At the same time, the process of learning the required skill may be a key part of
the activity and the success to have mastered the skill can be an important contribution to the individual’s needs fulfilment. Legend are however the households that
have a piano with nobody in the family being able to play it.
2.2.6 Access to Products
Similarly, limitations to access products are an obstacle, but they are not affected by
the consumption of individual other products, while the wider consumption pattern
can strongly affect them, particularly if consumption thresholds need to be surpassed to make them economically viable: A good example of such limitations is
the availability of car sharing outside the larger cities’ centre. Such access restrictions are partly a matter of relative demand limitations – while in a hen-and-egg
situation, where limited demand means that the necessary threshold is not achieved
to make the product available – but partly also absolute, where a frequent public
transport service would not be economically or even environmentally sensible for
very remote places with virtually no population.
2.2.7 Interchange Ability of Household Resources
While these household resources and other constraints have their own budget, we
note here that compensation across some of these is possible to a large extent, firstly
time and money: a consumer can free additional time by hiring another person for
cleaning or other household work, or by buying time-saving equipment. Similarly,
space and money: the available space can be extended by using some of the available household income for renting a larger flat or extra storage. And we have given
already the example of using time (and potentially money) to acquire new skills or
information. Finally, investment of time can mean to take up extra economic activities to increase the available household income.
However, where money transactions are involved – such as in the example of
contracting a cleaning service – the service provider received additional household
M.-A. Wolf and K. Chomkhamsri