Van Living More Sustainable Economically and Environmentally ?

Bob Wells, the founder of the non-profit Homes on Wheels Alliance, has his own Youtube channel where he educates viewers on how to adopt the nomad-van style of living. In the NPR podcast interview, Well’s describes his own experience of doing all the right things, getting married, having a job, having kids, and still ending up in a van and going through a divorce. He emphasizes how society did not prepare him for this difficult time in his life, and how he felt like a failure at first; but grew into loving the lifestyle because it provided him a way to save. Bob’s experiment in mobile living for more than two decades gave him the experiences and ability to be able to help others facing potential homelessness, and change people’s perspectives about van life. In the interview, Bob explained that the 2008 financial crisis turned many Americans towards mobile living as a viable alternative option. Bob helps people learn that they can live well and teaches skills about how to accomplish this.

This podcast and article touched on many concepts of marketing including the environmental forces that affect customers. Specifically the macro and micro-economic conditions that would influence customers to alter their lifestyle such as unemployment, price changes and income. Additionally, the attitudes that people have about van life are changing as more people recognize that van life may be a more sustainable way of living both financially and with respect to the environment. I thought this podcast was a perfect example of consumer behavior. Bob Wells went through the five steps in the purchase decision process to determine that van living was the best alternative option or even best option for him. He took this even further to be able to market this lifestyle to others through physiographic segmentation and behavioral segmentation. Bob recognized the problem of not being able to afford living in an apartment, did an external search where he could find value in what he could afford, found the van, saw it as the best alternative, made the purchase decision and finally was satisfied with his choice. The most impressive aspect of this story is Bob’s postpurchase behavior that allowed him to influence others to follow his lead and convince people of the value of van living. In the podcast Bob mentioned that the current target market is single middle aged women. I would think that more younger people and possibly out of college students would also be thinking about van living as an option in the future. This article is related to sustainability because van living can also mean using less resources and having a smaller carbon footprint. This behavior is much more environmentally friendly than traditional living. This would be an example of strong sustainability because Bob is influencing socio-technical change in the way that people view having a home. It is a form of preparation for civizational transition in that it is a response to environmental forces.

Horowitz-Ghazi, A., & Smith, S. (2021, February 23). Seeking refuge on the open road. Retrieved March 03, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/2021/02/23/970726684/seeking-refuge-on-the-open-road

Picture from: Mktgadmin. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved March 03, 2021, from https://homesonwheelsalliance.org/