Abstract

This study investigates the elements that drive living a life in moderation or a life within a balance and not in extremes. These drivers include the benefits of living such a life (i.e., saving money, having a better quality of life, environmental preservation), role models (i.e., parents, the adoption of the sufficiency economy of King Bhumibol, and the company and the government), learning about the sufficiency economy in school, Buddhism, and advertising exposure through the media. The data were collected from interviews with 359 moderate adults that were at least 18 years of age and that had come to the randomly-selected shopping centers in Bangkok. The results from the multiple regression analysis indicated that saving money and learning about the sufficiency economy in school and from one’s parents were the positive drivers of living a life in moderation. The sole negative driver of living a life in moderation was the exposure to advertising through the media. Older people were seen to be more moderate than younger people and the never-married were more moderate than those that were married.

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