Multilevel implications for anti-consumption social marketing within the public policy framework for SDG realization: a systematic literature review

Abstract

This systematic literature review analyzes the topic of anti-consumption within the framework of public policy and discusses the multilevel implications for social marketing. Previous research provides a broader scope of analysis based on cases suggesting public policy implications of anti-consumption. However, the topic broadens into social issues and calls for the discussion of the social role and the relationship to sustainability. Building on the goal number 12—Responsible Consumption and Production—of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the authors analyzed 42 peer-reviewed papers to assess the relationship quantitatively and qualitatively between public policy and anti-consumption, pointing to future avenues of research. The results show how policymakers can address either disruptive or transitional approaches by considering systemic changes. Public infrastructure and public management are important factors to support policies aiming to achieve sustainable and replacement consumption. However, participatory and transparency mechanisms are needed to effect this social change, which reaffirms the importance of stakeholders and the analysis of their relationships. The impact of anti-consumption on macro and structural changes may be hard to measure, but should not be dismissed. This paper calls for a broad approach to anti-consumption and the mapping of stakeholders – including individuals, organizations, governments, researchers and the media – by applying a social marketing perspective to sustainability concerns. By linking anti-consumption both with social marketing and the contemporary challenge of environmental sustainability reflected on the SDGs, this paper bridges the gap between individual analysis of anti-consumption and its impact and potential to address sustainability challenges.