Minimalism practice: identifying its behavioral representations through a survey of urban youth in Vietnam

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Introduction

Minimalism, which comprises voluntary reduction of consumption, minimizing, limiting, or keeping the number of possessions to a minimum, has a motivation for environmental protection [Martin 2022]. A “minimalistic lifestyle” involves living with less, focusing on what is significant, and eliminating excessive items and clutter from one’s life [Chen et al. 2024; Shukla et al. 2024].

Minimalism has emerged as an important phenomenon in people's lives, beginning in Asian countries like Japan [Kang et al. 2021] and is now becoming popular all over the world. This lifestyle has recently become a new lifestyle in Vietnam. Remarkably, socio-economic changes over the past decades have transformed Vietnam from a poor country to a lower-middle-income country, leading to changes in the consumption habits of Vietnamese people [Nguyen Nhat Nguyen et al. 2017], including young people. Urban youth tend to prefer to experience new lifestyles, have the ability to pay for their needs, and express their personal identity through consumption activities [Lê Thị Trang 2025; Nguyen Nhat Nguyen et al. 2017]. Nevertheless, some negative aspects of a consumer society, such as hedonistic lifestyles, material consumption and the desire for ostentation, are changing the perceptions and consumption habits of many young people [Lê Thị Trang 2025]. While some studies have shown that consumerism and overconsumption overload human consumption and negatively impact the environment [Bradshaw 2019], materialist values negatively impact both relational satisfaction and mental health [Michelle 2020], and human well-being or happiness [Sabrina et al. 2019]. In contrast, the minimalist lifestyle has recently attracted widespread global attention because of its benefits to individuals, society, and the environment [Chen et al. 2024]. Moreover, a minimalistic lifestyle was a tool to eliminate life’s excess, focus on the essentials, and find happiness, fulfillment, health, relationships, passion, growth, contribution, and freedom [Millburn, Nicodemus 2016; Jain et al. 2023; Malik, Ishaq 2023]. However, research on minimalistic lifestyles in Vietnam has been limited; some related studies have focused on topics such as ethical consumption [Nguyễn Thị Minh Thư et al. 2022], green consumption [Hoang Tuan Dung et al. 2025; Nguyễn Văn Nên et al. 2021], and sustainable consumption [Rydström 2020]. Besides, there have been no systematic studies on practicing minimalism in daily life. Along with the lack of research among Vietnamese youth, research on this topic is essential to understand youth lifestyles and help to guide the lifestyles and consumption patterns of young people in the coming years, especially in an emerging consumption-driven society like Vietnam.

This study aimed to provide an overview of how minimalistic lifestyles have been measured in previous studies and to apply these indicators to measure in practice through an exploratory study with a group of volunteer participants, who are Vietnamese urban youth. To achieve this objective, this paper addressed two main contents, namely a literature review of minimalism practices and the current state of that among Vietnamese urban youth.

Literature review: How to measure the minimalistic lifestyle in practice

In early studies, the minimalistic lifestyle was mainly considered in material aspects. Kang et al. [2021] analyzed this concept through four dimensions: avoiding clutter, cautious shopping, using products as much (and for as long) as possible, and self-sufficiency (recycling and reuse). Wilson and Bellezza [2021] developed the Minimalist Consumer Scale including reducing the number of possessions, a sparse aesthetic, and mindfully curated consumption. Then, some studies mentioned that the consequence of de-focusing on material life helps individuals focus more on essential things, achieve wellbeing, and a sense of feeling of happiness [Millburn, Nicodemus 2016], and increase the quality of life by giving up indulgence in consumerism [Shafqat et al. 2023]. These ideas might be related to the non-material aspects. Similar to material minimalism, non-material minimalism also involves reducing unnecessary things such as superfluous relationships, time, and thoughts, etc, thereby helping individuals focus more on their life goals and values, and increasing the quality of life.

From the above analysis, it can be seen that minimalism can be understood in both material and non-material aspects. To clarify these aspects, the synthesis of indicators below was also divided into these two main categories.

About a material-minimalistic lifestyle

Błoński and Witek [2019] defined minimalist living as anti-consumerism, voluntary simplicity, and reduced consumption. Minimalism means intentional consumption while emphasizing responsible decision-making in this field. Minimalists only buy necessary items, based on the idea that “less is more” [Dopierała 2017: 67]. The most common manifestations of material minimalism mainly refer to limitations in terms of quantity [Elgin 1981; Błoński, Witek 2019; Kang et al. 2021; Martin 2022].

Minimalism was about reducing consumption, which was expressed in decreasing expenditure and time spent on shopping [Etzioni 1998; Chen et al. 2021]. The more assets one has, the more time it takes to manage. Thus, reducing one's assets was a time management strategy that allowed people to focus on more important things [Uggla 2019]. Besides, minimalist consumers voluntarily adopt a low-consumption lifestyle, such as limiting spending and reducing material purchases [Lloyd, Pennington 2020], managing expenses carefully [Mohammad et al. 2022; Martin 2022], and reducing exposure to commercial advertising [Altinbasak, Burnaz 2019; followed by Chen et al. 2021].

Another characteristic of a materialistic minimalist was shopping for function instead of other criteria. "Function-based" meant that when purchasing a product or service, function was the most important [Shama 1985]. Due to this factor, minimalists should choose products with a simple pattern, easy to use, and coordinate with other items, as a motto “simplicity as beauty” [Chen et al. 2021].

Concerning minimalism in spatial use, it was mainly reflected in the way people organize space in detail. Therefore, tidying up one’s possessions [Johnston, Burton 2003; Uggla 2019; Kang et al. 2021; Martin 2022] was also an expression of a minimalistic lifestyle. In terms of space, people may prefer a smaller house, which can save space, and try to make it look more "sophisticated" [Elgaaïed 2016]. Minimalistic consumption had a certain detail orientation, which meant paying more attention to the details, craftsmanship, and quality of the product [Shama 1985; Chen et al. 2021].

About a non-material-minimalistic lifestyle

In addition to the material minimalistic aspects, Chen et al. (2021) also pointed out three manifestations of an individual's non-material minimalism, which were related to minimalism in self-relationship, social relationship (interpersonal), and human-nature relationship.

Firstly, the manifestation of minimalism in terms of self-relationship was called “self-reflection” (or self-esteem) by Chen et al. [2021]. Accordingly, people should practice self-criticism, introspection, thinking deeply, meditating, and reminiscing, which are all about enhancing self-awareness [Lloyd, Pennington 2020] and living more consciously [Mohammad et al. 2022]. The essential role of minimalism was that it guided consumers to find their true selves. The spiritual relationship with oneself was expressed in the choice, arrangement, and direction of energy, as well as the restraint of one's own needs to focus on the richness of life in other aspects (rather than material enjoyment) [Gregg 2009]. Moreover, a minimalist lifestyle serves as a premise for personal development is a premise for personal development - that is, reducing dependence on the material world leading to a more autonomous and independent life [Chen et al. 2021]. Similar to this view, Zavestoski [2002] argued that minimizing the consumption of material goods was a good way to exercise self-reliance and develop intellect and other non-material facets of human existence. Studies have shown that the purpose of adopting minimalist practice was to create more enjoyable experiences for individuals and improve subjective well-being [Wu et al. 2013]. In terms of time use, minimalism also expressed time cherishing, which meant spending time to promote personal growth [Huneke 2005; Jain et al. 2023].

Secondly, from a social perspective, the consequence of minimalism is that individuals save more resources and time, and direct their attention to prioritized relationships that are important to them, such as strengthening intimacy with family members [Rebouças et al. 2021]. It can be seen that although minimalism is an individual lifestyle, it is not an isolated lifestyle but rather a "glue" that promotes coexistence and participation of members in society [Chen et al. 2021]. Although a minimalistic relationship was in the spiritual aspect, the idea of minimizing relationships still aimed towards the ultimate goal of the quality of life and important core values.

Finally, regarding the human-nature relationship, previous studies have discussed minimalist lifestyles as environmentally friendly and sustainable lifestyles, accompanied by ecological awareness. According to Chen et al. [2021], when consumers pay more attention to the natural environment and ecological systems, they have already been involved in a voluntary simplicity, minimalism, and sustainable lifestyle. Minimalist consumers have higher ecological awareness and take more beneficial actions to save natural resources, maintain ecological balance, and protect the natural environment [Lloyd, Pennington 2020; McDonald et al. 2006: 516; Dopierała 2017; Mohammad et al. 2022]. Martin's study [2022] found that people practice a minimalistic lifestyle by considering the environment when consuming. Kasser [2017] revealed that minimalists were more likely to buy second-hand products to maximize resource use. Thus, a minimalist lifestyle not only has many personal benefits, such as health, finance, and social relationships, but also has crucial benefits for the environment.

In summary, the above studies have provided notable aspects of measuring a minimalist lifestyle in terms of material aspects (minimalism in consumption, minimalism in property ownership and space management) and non-material aspects (minimalism in the self-relationship, social-relationship, and human-nature relationship). Hence, these are the 5 main areas discussed by many previous studies, so they will be the factors to measure the practice of a minimalist lifestyle.

Materials and methods of empirical study

Scale

The scale on minimalist lifestyle practices was built mainly based on the synthesis of indicators mentioned from the previous studies, specifically as shown in the following table:

Table 1: Summary of minimalism lifestyle practice

The study examines the practice of minimalistic lifestyles. This scale was applied using a 5-point Likert scale (from 0 to 4 points) to measure the behavioral frequency of minimalism practice. Which, a score of 0 corresponds to “never” and a score of 4 means “always”.

The scale with 21 observed variables had a Cronbach alpha of 0.943; the scale is acceptable in terms of reliability.

Design

Until now, the minimalistic lifestyle has been understood in many ways, so finding a sample of people who are currently practicing this lifestyle is not feasible. Hence, the study selected a community of people participating in the minimalist lifestyle group on the social network, Facebook. The reason is that the group’s members are interested in this lifestyle, so they have certain knowledge and experience in this lifestyle. In this way, the respondents can provide qualified and reliable quantitative information related to their minimalist practice. This study chose the minimalist community on the Facebook page named "Lối sống tối giản - Minimalism lifestyle". This page was established in 2017 with over 146 thousand members participating. Its purpose is to create a community for people interested in minimalism to share opinions and experiences about practicing a minimalist lifestyle.

Participants and Procedure

The survey was conducted via Google form, and the link was posted publicly on the page to find candidates who are interested in and volunteer to participate in the study. The sample size was 196 volunteers participating in the study. Participants are between 18 and 35 years old, currently living in Hanoi.

Table 2. Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents

To supplement qualitative information aimed at understanding the reasons young people practice a minimalistic lifestyle, the study conducted 10 semi-structured interviews with those who had the characteristics mentioned above.

Results

Vietnamese Urban Youth in practicing a material-minimalistic lifestyle

The results below show the material-minimalism practice in consumption and managing possessions and space.

Table 3. Material minimalism practices of Vietnamese urban youth

The results showed the diversity of youth responses in terms of consumption (from no.1 to 8), and the standard deviation (SD) indicated a relatively high degree of dispersion in the responses (SD ≥ 1). Overall, the behaviors most frequently exhibited were “buy only essentials” (2.77/4) and “buy higher-quality products” (2.61/4). Youth buying essential products steers them toward consumption based on the product's function rather than consumption driven by other motivations (such as following trends – influenced by others, or for pleasure – consumerism). This action itself also helped reduce the number of possessions owned by young consumers. Furthermore, purchasing higher-quality products led to longer product lifespan, fewer replacements and purchases, resulting in positive outcomes for a minimalist lifestyle, as well as environmental benefits.

A noteworthy feature of these results is that the practice level of “Not to spend free time shopping online” was the lowest (1.89), showing the influence of e-commerce on young people. Although “surfing the internet” to view e-commerce sites did not always directly lead to purchase, it is a risk factor for a minimalistic lifestyle, as it wastes time, distracts from other essential activities, and can stimulate consumers to spend on products that make them happy or excited, instead of things they need. Notably, young people in the survey do not have a habit of making specific spending plans (1.97). This is also a risk that they may overspend, spend unnecessarily or inappropriately.

On another aspect, the material minimalism lifestyle of youth was also measured through their control of belongings and spatial arrangement. Overall, those practices showed relatively even levels across categories, with the highest being the indicator “Neatly arrange one’s belongings” (2.61/4). In addition, other indicators indicated that respondents were aware of a minimalistic lifestyle through very simple daily activities such as removing unnecessary items to create more space, regularly clearing the spaces, donating unnecessary items to others to reuse, and even using electronic alternatives to reduce the volume of items. These actions all aim to minimize the accumulation of belongings, create a more spacious living space to alleviate the feeling of confinement, and relieve mental stress from living in an environment with too many belongings.

Vietnamese Urban Youth in practicing a non-material-minimalistic lifestyle

In this study, the concept of non-material minimalism was synthesized from various previous studies, relating to prioritizing and focusing on important plans and values ​​in life, turning inward, involving introspection, self-reflection, and paying attention to one's own thoughts, feelings, and experiences rather than external distractions, for personal growth and healing.

Table 4. Non-material minimalism practices of Vietnamese urban youth

The results showed that youth primarily practiced “focusing on important and priority relationships” (2.81/4) and “try to think positively and optimistically” (2.82/4).

Meanwhile, young people did not regularly dedicate time to meditation or self-introspection (2.15/4). This indicator was found in many previous studies, but in this research, it seemed to be understood as a “Yoga mental practice” or a form of spiritual exercise rather than a lifestyle (from semi-structured interviews).

Overall, the average scores of non-material minimalism are higher than those for material minimalism. This result reveals an interesting paradox: while Vietnamese urban youth often associate a minimalistic lifestyle primarily with material dimensions– reflecting the familiarity of the concept (from semi-structured interviews), non-material minimalism seems more clearly demonstrated in daily practice. Because the study measured practical behavior rather than requiring respondents to define minimalism. It was evident that many young people, even those who don't identify as minimalists, were practicing it. The higher score for spiritual minimalism also reflected the context of Vietnamese urban life, with its fast pace and increasingly convenient consumption, making it difficult to change material consumption habits. Conversely, the pressures of this fast-paced lifestyle and consumption pushed individuals towards intrinsic values, re-establishing their relationship with themselves and the world around them.

Conclusions

In summary, using secondary document analysis, this study has analyzed several previous studies related to the minimalistic lifestyle, including how to define the concept and the scale to measure it. Minimalism was first seen in terms of material aspects. Later, there were many studies that indirectly mentioned the non-material aspect of this lifestyle. However, the research gap is that there has not been any study providing a comprehensive scale of both aspects. It therefore suggested synthesizing a minimalism lifestyle scale of these two and applying the scale to exploratory empirical research with a group of urban youth in Vietnam.

In terms of practicing consumption minimalism, the most frequent behaviors were "only buying essential products" and "buying higher-quality products"—these were important indicators for starting to reduce the accumulation of possessions and focusing on function. Regarding the practice of minimalism in using belongings and space, indicators show that a minimalistic lifestyle was clearly demonstrated through daily and regular activities such as "tidying up belongings" and "regularly cleaning living and working spaces". Regarding the practice of a minimalistic lifestyle in the non-material aspect, the two most frequently practiced indicators are "focusing on important and priority relationships" and "thinking more positively and optimistically".

The study's limitation was the small sample size due to the use of voluntary sampling. However, this was an exploratory study, and the group of minimalist young people was a hard-to-reach population. This sampling method was appropriate for describing the research issue, but not for performing inferential statistics to generalize the problem. Therefore, further studies could be developed and validated with a larger sample size, as well as examining factors influencing the practice of minimalist lifestyles among urban youth in Vietnam.

About the authors

Thuy Hang Dao

Author for correspondence.
Email: daothuyhang1906@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6071-895X

Ph.D., University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work

References

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