To keep, or not to keep? That is the question. Studying divestment from a cross-cultural approach

The aim of this paper is to present preliminary findings of a study that is focused on divestment, its elements and the relationship with sociocultural context. Divestment is a concept that comprises those activities that include emotional and physical disposal of material possessions. This paper explores divestment within the context of sustainable consumption, as well as the potential for design disciplines to contribute to the creation of new solutions for the development of sustainable communities. The research was carried out within a cross-cultural framework acknowledging the relevance of contextual and cultural factors involved in the divestment processes: this was accomplished by comparing two countries; Mexico and United Kingdom. This work can contribute to design interventions to affect divestment decision-making process by identifying culturally dependent and independent elements that can impact the pre and post-consumption stages. The outcomes also enable ways of creating and promoting new commercialisation channels.