Sustainable decision making: empirical studies on psychological factors

Abstract

Sustainable decision making is a key element in the fight against natural disasters, shrinking habitats, famine, and poverty. In western economies, such as the social market economy, all players – i.e., consumers, businesses, and governments – must be responsible for sustainable decision making. Examining consumer choices, this dissertation comprises three empirical studies to analyze decision making in shopping situations. The studies aim to provide new insights into predisposing factors of sustainable consumer decision making. These insights are used to deduce recommendations for policymakers to foster sustainable consumption. Study 1 focuses on the effect of the Big Five personality traits, delay-discounting tendencies, and materialism on the consideration of sustainability in buying decisions. Study 2 builds on Study 1 by adding altruism and general self-efficacy as potential predictors and decision-making abilities as possible moderators. The assessment of considering sustainability in buying decisions (by means of choice-based conjoint tasks) is complemented by measures of attitudes toward sustainability (by means of questionnaires) in Study 2. Since Studies 1 and 2 reveal a considerable influence of materialistic and altruistic tendencies, Study 3 was designed to examine the interplay of these two characteristics in the prediction of considering environmental, social, and economic sustainability in more general buying decisions. Results indicate high potential of unequivocal sustainability information in shopping situations. Further, discounting tendencies and materialism affect the consideration of sustainability in buying decisions negatively, while conscientiousness, openness to experience, and altruism have a positive effect. Decision-making abilities moderate the effect of altruism on attitudes toward sustainability, while general self-efficacy has no effect on the consideration of sustainability in buying decisions or attitudes toward sustainability. It is recommended to increase the availability of unambiguous sustainability information in stores and online shops to enable consumers to make an informed decision. Further, materialistic reinforcements in society (e.g., in media and public communication) should be limited to stop persuading consumers to buy unneeded products. Instead, altruistic tendencies should be strongly reinforced in society. Future studies are advised to examine nudge strategies to promote sustainable buying decisions in consumers with personality structures that do not favor a sustainable lifestyle. Furthermore, the role of situational factors of consumer decision making that have not been investigated should be addressed in future research, such as consumer knowledge and understanding.