ABSTRACT
With the growing recognition of the consequences of man’s negative impact on the earth’s finely balanced ecosystem, people are encouraged to adopt behavioural patterns to minimise the use of natural resources. In a move towards more mindful consumption (Sheth, Sethia and Srinivas, 2011) we might be asked to eschew excess consumption, relinquish product ownership, or at the very least engage in recycling activities. Such actions are intended to limit, if not eliminate, demand for products that draw from finite natural resources. However, in some markets, demand is unlikely to drop and the notions of reuse and recycling bring with it particular challenges. One such sector is the funeral market place. In 2010 the world population stood at 6.9 billion and is expected to reach at least 9.7 billion by 2100 (Anonymous, 2014). As the world becomes increasingly populated, so the removal of human remains becomes a fundamental environmental issue with regards land use, material and resource consumption, waste and emissions (Canning and Szmigin, 2010). There is a substantial body of literature on death and dying within sociology and anthropology (e.g. Hockey and Hallam, 2001), but much of this draws from practices in Britain, North America and Australia to comment specifically on Anglo-Saxon death rituals (Vandenporpe, 2000). Added to this is the fact that there is a paucity of consumer research which examines disposal of the dead (Gentry, Hill and Kennedy, 1994; Gabel, Mansfield and Westbrook, 1996; Bonsu and Belk, 2003). Our chapter addresses these gaps by considering consumer response to cremation alternatives, focusing specifically on the Belgian marketplace and in doing so, drawing from selected literature on identity, sequestration (Mellor and Schilling, 1993) and disposal (Rumble et al., 2014) in relation to death. Belgium represents a particularly interesting setting because of the institutional and cultural differences between the Flemish and French-speaking regions of the country. We start by introducing the institutional setting of mortuary practice in Belgium, factors driving interest in disposal alternatives and we give a brief
description of two processes that might substitute existing cremation technology. We then consider French-speaking consumer responses to these alternatives and the implications for those in the funeral industry wishing to present cremation substitutes in Belgium.
