Sustainable market transformation: A refined framework for analyzing causal loops in transitions to sustainability

Abstract

This article proposes a refined conceptual framework to understand and act upon sustainable market transformation processes. Currently, there is a knowledge gap between government-oriented approaches to transition management and market formation that is addressed in evolutionary economics. Consequently, this article builds upon literature in the field of evolutionary economics, systems theory and transition management, to conceptualize the causal loops which trigger collective behavior facing sustainability issues. Furthermore, it proposes how these causal loops can be altered by interventions of actors in four sequential transition phases and illustrates what kind of interventions are most effective to accelerate a sustainable market transformation process. Promising avenues for future empirical studies based on the suggested conceptual framework, are the investigation of how the concepts of sustainable market transformation are applied in different market contexts and the evaluation of whether the applied interventions actually alter the underlying causal loops.