Sustainable Consumption Policies Research Articles

Carbon Neutrality and the Transition to a Circular Economy: The EU Sustainable Consumption Policy and Legislative Trends

Carbon Neutrality and the Transition to a Circular Economy: The EU Sustainable Consumption Policy and Legislative Trends

How does the government's sustainable consumption policy enkindle sustainable consumption behaviors in the consumer public?

Sustainable consumption is increasingly considered critical for the sustainable growth of developing countries. Consequently, these countries exert significant efforts to foster sustainable consumption behaviors among the consumer public to maximize their sustainability outcomes. This research, while making appeals to the sustainable consumption theory and the stakeholder theory, aims to determine the role of a few critical antecedents, namely the attitude of consumers towards sustainable consumption, their overall satisfaction with the consumption of sustainable products/services, consumers' environmental knowledge and sustainable consumption promotions together with social media influence in engendering sustainable consumption behaviors among consumer publics, along with the role of governments' sustainable consumption policies in enabling such effects. After performing PLS-based structural equation modeling on 500 data points, we found a significant positive role in the consumers' attitude towards sustainable consumption, their sustainable consumption promotions, the impact of social media, and the environmental knowledge possessed by the consumers in inducing sustainable consumption behaviors. In addition, the mediating effects of sustainable consumption promotions and the instrumental role of the government's sustainable consumption policy have also been empirically substantiated. Besides contributing to advancing the body of knowledge encompassing sustainable consumption and sustainable growth/development, the study puts forward several practical implications for the consumers, practitioners, and public policymakers to transmogrify sustainable consumption behaviors by influencing consumers' attitudes, enhancing their environmental knowledge and social media enabled discourse enkindled by an efficacious sustainable consumption policy put in place by the government.

Effects of public policy interventions for environmentally sustainable food consumption: a systematic map of available evidence

BackgroundThe global food system is inflicting substantial environmental harm, necessitating a shift towards more environmentally sustainable food consumption practices. Policy interventions, for example, information campaigns, taxes and subsidies and changes in the choice context are essential to stimulate sustainable change, but their effectiveness in achieving environmental goals remains inadequately understood. Existing literature lacks a comprehensive synthesis of evidence on the role of public policies in promoting sustainable food consumption. Our systematic map addressed this gap by collecting and categorising research evidence on public policy interventions aimed at establishing environmentally sustainable food consumption patterns, in order to answer the primary research question: What evidence exists on the effects of public policy interventions for achieving environmentally sustainable food consumption?MethodsSearches for relevant records (in English) were performed in WoS, Scopus, ASSIA, ProQuest Dissertation and Theses, EconLit, Google Scholar and in bibliographies of relevant reviews. A grey literature search was also performed on 28 specialist websites (searches were made in the original language of the webpages and publications in English, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian were eligible) and Google Scholar (search in English). Screening was performed at title/abstract and full-text levels, with machine learning-aided priority screening at title/abstract level. Eligibility criteria encompassed settings, interventions (public policies on sustainable food consumption), target groups and outcomes. No critical appraisal of study validity was conducted. Data coding covered bibliographic details, study characteristics, intervention types and outcomes. Evidence was categorised into intervention types and subcategories. Visual representation utilised bar plots, diagrams, heatmaps and an evidence atlas. This produced a comprehensive overview of effects of public policy interventions on sustainable food consumption patterns.Review findingsThe evidence base included 227 articles (267 interventions), with 92% of studies in high-income countries and only 4% in low-income countries. Quantitative studies dominated (83%), followed by mixed methods (16%) and qualitative studies (1%). Most interventions were information-based and 50% of reviewed studies looked at labels. Information campaigns/education interventions constituted 10% of the sample, and menu design changes and restriction/editing of choice context 8% each. Market-based interventions represented 13% of total interventions, of which two-thirds were taxes. Administrative interventions were rare (< 1%). Proxies for environmental impact (85%) were more frequent outcome measures than direct impacts (15%). Animal-source food consumption was commonly used (19%) for effects of interventions on, for example, greenhouse gas emissions. Most studies used stated preferences (61%) to evaluate interventions.ConclusionsThe literature assessing policies for sustainable food consumption is dominated by studies on non-intrusive policy instruments; labels, information campaigns, menu design changes and editing choice contexts. There is a strong need for research on sustainable food policies to leave the lab and enter the real world, which will require support and cooperation of public and private sector stakeholders. Impact evaluations of large-scale interventions require scaling-up of available research funding and stronger multidisciplinary research, including collaborations with industry and other societal actors. Future research in this field should also go beyond the European and North American context, to obtain evidence on how to counteract increasing environmental pressures from food consumption worldwide.

What makes the provincial inequality of natural gas consumption in China? Evidence from Gini-coefficient approach

Many researchers have focused on inequalities in income and energy consumption, but research on the regional disparities in natural gas consumption (NGC) is insufficient, which presents a gap about the development of informed policies for sustainable consumption. Increasing provincial NGC is a substantial measure to improve environmental protection, clean production, and the living standards of local citizens. It is necessary to determine the leading causes of inequality in gas consumption to improve the NGC in China’s provinces. To fill this research gap, we use the Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve to measure NGC inequality and apply hierarchical cluster analysis and a regression model with Partial R2 to estimate the factors of provincial NGC. The empirical results show a consistently increasing trend in China’s NGC over 1997–2019, which has not been accompanied by a steady decrease in inequality, and low inequality is mainly caused by several major natural gas-consuming provinces. Further, the NGC in coastal provinces is more significantly affected by GDP, foreign direct investment, and financial liberation, and the impact of urbanization level and population on provincial NGC has different patterns.

Did the COVID-19 transform consumers’ orthodox behavior?: A systematic literature review

The study aimed to explore new aspects and dimensions of consumer behavior during COVID-19. Hence, significant changes in consumer behavior were identified, and the characteristics, similarities, and differences of these behavioral approaches were discovered to obtain the purpose. The systematic literature review was conducted using the PRISMA-ScR method, which is a systematic procedure for screening and analyzing the chosen literature. The study found four major changes in consumer behavior; panic buying (large volume, short-run), stockpiling (large volume, long-run), impulse buying (small volume, short-run), and sustainable buying behavior (small volume, long-run). Moreover, this study explored the correlations and differences among these behaviors. The authors constructed an innovative framework that examines the characteristics of panic buying, stockpiling, impulse buying, and sustainable buying behavior, drawing upon existing work in the field. As this paper explains the characteristics and underlying reason for the transformed behavior, this paper can contribute to the literature on consumer behavior during uncertain situations. This study can help marketers, government, and policymakers to understand consumer behavior changes and their causes in any emergency circumstance. Furthermore, using this study's findings, decision-makers could develop and adopt inventory management, supply chain management, and sustainable consumption policies and strategies to address the crisis.

Policy for sustainable consumption – an assessment of Swedish municipalities

IntroductionMunicipalities have a key role to play in developing and implementing policy for sustainable consumption, yet the evidence on the extent of municipalities’ work in this area and the constraining and enabling factors they face in this endeavor is sparse. This study examines municipal policies for sustainable consumption and their implementation, using food consumption in Sweden as an example.MethodIt combines data from a nationwide survey, policy document analysis, and a two-year in-depth investigation into two municipalities that serve as case studies.ResultsFindings show that Swedish municipalities have several policies in place related to sustainable food consumption. They use multiple policy instruments to target specific areas of food consumption, and are positive about their current and potential impact in specific areas such as sustainable school meals and tackling food waste. However, municipalities face multiple challenges in delivering sustainable food consumption, including lack of resources and knowledge in some areas. If there is a lack of political support, it can also be a major inhibiting factor. The municipalities welcome national-level strategy, rules and regulations that are supportive of their goals. They rely on good data collection and strong networks and stakeholder relationships to enable their work.DiscussionMany of the latest recommendations for a comprehensive policy approach to sustainable food consumption are yet to be applied at the municipal level in Sweden. There was little evidence of the use of systems thinking and practices-based approaches for policy design for example. Likewise, strong visions and strategic approaches to food were also lacking. The least coercive, informative policy instruments remain most popular. However, this study did reveal several existing areas where there are strong policy foundations from which these approaches might be developed, such as innovative ways to engage different target groups and a suitable policy mix to deliver specific objectives. Tackling the identified constraints and expanding the enabling factors could further the work on sustainable food consumption at the municipal level in Sweden and provide insights for other countries and studies at the local level.

Really That Sustainable? Exploring Costa Ricans’ Green Product Involvement

Before governments formulate sustainable consumption policies, people's environmental attitudes must be ascertained. This study explores Costa Ricans’ interest in green products, those with a reduced ecological impact. A large sample is used, N = 1,036, representative of the country's adult population. Analyses indicate that consumers that are female, Generation Z, university-educated, and mid-high socio-economically have significantly higher Green Product Involvement/GPI levels. Surprisingly, Millennial and high-class GPI levels were but average. Overall GPI was also low, just 44%. Despite Costa Rica's stellar sustainability reputation, green products are hardly relevant to its people. This hinders the country from being truly sustainable. Counter to some views, bi/multivariate results indicate that demographic variables still play a key role in establishing (un)sustainable consumer profiles. Demographic indicators are simple, convenient, and effective segmentation criteria. They should not be discounted, especially by resource-strapped developing countries. Some preliminary suggestions indicate how Costa Rican consumption might be made more sustainable.

Supporting national-level policies for sustainable consumption in Portugal: A socio-economic Ecological Footprint analysis

National level Ecological Footprint studies have highlighted disparities among countries. This assessment has proved essential to accurately characterize ecological impacts to specific countries but often ignore the heterogeneity within national spaces. Population groups within a country engage in different behaviors and consumption patterns that have a distinct impact on the environment. Understanding the contribution of each group and decomposing their consumption of distinct products is critical to helping environmental organizations and policy makers design more efficient policies and communication strategies that will change critical patterns of human demand. In the current study, national household consumption is split into different population groups corresponding to four particular socio-economic dimensions: main sources of income, age, number of members in the household, and levels of education of the population. The aim is to identify critical groups to provide better ground to generate targeted policies that can achieve better environmental results. Results highlight how diverse ecological impacts can occur among distinct population groups, with the highest per capita Footprint values found in households with higher education level, smaller size and those living from Capital/Property Transfers. These results constitute a new possibility to analyze the impact of policies that tackle specific behaviors of distinct population groups.

Consumer Psychology on Food Choice Editing in Favor of Sustainability

This article examines rationale behind consumers’ vote for or against choice editing (reducing food choice) in favor of sustainable consumption to inform marketing communication strategies and sustainability policies. Based on a Qualitative analysis of free-text comments in a UK nationwide survey on sustainable healthy food consumption using inductive thematic analysis, we found that the majority (55.4%) disagreed with governments being given the right to minimize food choice options available to consumers by requesting that food industry players supply only sustainable food products whereas only 44.6% agreed with the idea. In-depth thematic analysis revealed that those who disagreed with it expressed the reasons to be “Freedom of choice”, “Individual choice to decide and responsibility”; “Producers to be encouraged to develop sustainable products”; “Need for education”; “Consumers have power”; “Consumers should be made to fund health conditions they develop from unhealthy food.”; “Government should fund production of sustainable foods”; and “this will lead to less competition within the market”. On the other hand, the agreement expressed by respondents gave reasons such as, “Food industry’s notorious for selling unhealthy food”; “Need to keep the price of sustainable products down.”; “Government should legislate.”; “All food sold should be whole natural food.”; “Retailers should produce more healthy food as obesity is a problem.”; “Healthy food is good for us.”; “Government’s obligation.”; and “GMO foods, foods grown using artificial methods, harm the environment and humans.” Our analysis revealed that change interventions have slowly reduced the pace of growth in the food industry, partially because of consumer awareness at a gradual rate. Moreover, sustainable food products are viewed as ineffective in the short run while market share for sustainable items remains substantially low. The implications of the results include inclusive policies for sustainable consumption, government intervention by making it mandatory to consume and produce sustainable items, accountability measures for food producers, the introduction of a rebate system for sustainable production, and the monitoring of food prices ensuring organic food is affordable to all.

Unmasking the Middle Class in the Philippines: Aspirations, Lifestyles and Prospects for Sustainable Consumption

ABSTRACT The lifestyles of the growing middle classes in the Philippines have a potentially significant impact on the environment. To what extent and how this happens depends on the attitudes, aspirations and actual consumption practices of the middle classes. Environmental knowledge, environmental concern, wealth and international experience present the key concepts for the exploratory analysis of consumer behaviour. This contribution draws on a unique combination of quantitative and qualitative data, using national and city-level household surveys as well as insights from focus group discussions. The study finds that higher wealth levels and environmental concern influence reported energy saving behaviours. Younger, female and environmentally concerned consumers also tend to choose more sustainable modes of transport, but the correlation is weak. Overall, more carbon intensive, unsustainable consumption patterns can be expected as households move up the socioeconomic ladder. While the middle classes score fairly highly on the measurement scales of environmental concern and knowledge, education, savings and income security matter more to them in day-to-day life. For prospective sustainable consumption policies, our results imply that more action that draws on behavioural insights is needed to overcome the knowledge–action gap.

Building the bridge between Protected Needs and consumption corridors

The concept of consumption corridors (CC) provides a fundament for developing sustainable consumption policies. It suggests to determine minima and maxima of consumption. Its implementation would lead to numerous policies covering a broad range of dimensions of consumption. To serve this purpose, the concept must proceed from a broad conceptualization of consumption that convincingly links a human-action lens and a natural-environment lens. The concept of CC is informed by the goal of ensuring quality of life for every human being living now and in the future. Accordingly, quality of life should be the criterion used to justify and determine corridors of consumption. This necessitates firmly linking consumption and a salutogenic definition of quality of life. This article explores how the theory of Protected Needs (PN), a quality-of-life-theory that has been specifically developed for the context of sustainability, contributes to advancing the concept of CC. In addition, drawing on the results of a Swiss survey, we show that embracing the existence of universal and incontestable human needs and endorsing the idea of limiting consumption might be part of the same worldview. The article concludes by identifying conceptual challenges to approach with a view to building a robust bridge from needs to lower and upper limits of consumption.

Stakeholder Perceptions of Policy Tools in Support of Sustainable Food Consumption in Europe: Policy Implications

Transitioning agri-food systems towards increased sustainability and resilience requires that attention be paid to sustainable food consumption policies. Policy-making processes often require the engagement and acceptance of key stakeholders. This study analyses stakeholders’ solutions for creating sustainable agri-food systems, through interviews with a broad range of stakeholders including food value chain actors, non-governmental organizations, governmental institutions, research institutions and academic experts. The study draws on 38 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in four European countries: France, Iceland, Italy and the UK, as well as three interviews with high-level EU experts. The interviewees’ solutions were analysed according to a five-category typology of policy tools, encompassing direct activity regulations, and market-based, knowledge-based, governance and strategic policy tools. Most of the identified solutions were located in the strategic tools category, reflecting shared recognition of the need to integrate food policy to achieve long-term goals. Emerging solutions—those which were most commonly identified among the different national contexts—were then used to derive empirically-grounded and more universally applicable recommendations for the advancement of sustainable food consumption policies.

The Development and Promotion of Sweet Potato Yoghurt in Ghana: Implications for Sustainable Production and Consumption Policies

This paper analyzes how a newly developed food product (potagurt) with nutritional and health benefits can be promoted in Ghana. We employ the hedonic modeling and contingent valuation methods to estimate monetary values attached to the product’s attributes using 400 consumers in the Ashanti, Eastern, and Greater Accra regions of Ghana. The findings reveal that consumers have positive perceptions on the health and nutritional benefits of the product. Buyers place a higher value on potagurt relative to normal yogurt. The high value attached to potagurt is mainly linked to the health, nutritional, food safety, and quality attributes of the product, as well as perception. Consumers’ socioeconomic factors such as income, educational, and awareness levels also play a significant role in explaining their choice of the product. The practical implication is that the development and promotion of potagurt could stimulate sustainable economic development through better consumer health and improvement in the livelihoods of many players in the sweet potato value chain, especially the producers of potagurt and sweet potato farmers. We conclude that the promotion of the innovative food product could contribute to sustainable production and consumption of sweet potatoes.

Informing Sustainable Consumption in Urban Districts: A Method for Transforming Household Expenditures into Physical Quantities

Interventions targeted at district-level are a potentially effective way to reduce consumption-based urban impacts; however, a systematic method for accounting these impacts at district scale has not yet been developed. This article outlines a method for transforming household expenditure data into consumption quantified on a physical basis. Data sources are combined to calculate monetary value per unit mass for different products consumed by households. Socio-economic household archetypes are selected, and typical consumption for these archetypes is calculated by combining expenditure data from a household budget survey with the calculated monetary values per unit mass. The resulting physical quantities of different products consumed are envisaged as an essential part of performing district scale material flow analysis and urban metabolism studies, also as an input for assessing consumption-based environmental impacts and for designing sustainable consumption policies. The method was applied to characterise consumption in urban districts. The obtained results were used to assess of districts’ consumption-based impacts with life cycle assessment (LCA) and to inform design of sharing economy. The method was found to be an effective way to evaluate the demand for products in different districts; this in turn could inform objective measures to aid more sustainable urban consumption.

The consumer footprint: Monitoring sustainable development goal 12 with process-based life cycle assessment.

Sustainable and responsible production and consumption are at the heart of sustainable development, explicitly mentioned as one of the sustainable development goals (SDG12). Life cycle assessment, with its integrated holistic approach, is considered a reference method for the assessment of the environmental impact of production and consumption. This paper presents a study on the environmental impacts of final consumption in Europe in five areas of consumption: food, mobility, housing, household goods, and appliances. Based on the selection of a set of representative products to meet food, mobility, housing, and other consumers’ needs, environmental impacts of products are assessed over their full life cycle: from raw material extraction to production, distribution, use, and end-of-life phase. Life cycle inventories of representative products are multiplied by consumption statistics to assess the impact of an average European citizen in 2010 and 2015. Impacts are assessed considering the sixteen impact categories of the Environmental Footprint method. Results reveal that food is the most relevant area of consumption driving environmental impacts. Use phase is the most important life cycle stage for many impact categories, especially for the areas of consumption housing, mobility, and appliances. For the areas of consumption food and household goods, the most important life cycle phase is related to upstream processes, which corresponds to agricultural activities for food and manufacturing of products components for household goods. Apart from the results, the paper includes a detailed discussion on further methodological improvements and research needs to make use of the Consumer Footprint as an indicator for monitoring SDG 12 and for supporting sustainable production and consumption policies.

Many faces of dismantling: hiding policy change in non-legislative acts in EU environmental policy

ABSTRACT Research on the termination or reduction of policies under the header of policy dismantling is becoming increasingly relevant within public policy analysis. To foster the understanding of dismantling this paper proposes to analyse post-legislative measures defining the setting of policy instruments and to look closely into how this phase provides room and opportunities for dismantling attempts. We investigate dismantling in EU sustainable consumption policy and concentrate on measures implementing the two major instruments in this area: the command-and-control ecodesign policy aiming at producers and the soft information instrument ecolabel aiming at consumers. While the legislative development of the two policies shows no sign of dismantling along the dimensions of policy intensity and density, investigating the respective implementation measures in three crucial product groups of electronic equipment the analysis points to a change in the instrument setting. Thus, the cases studied suggest that the dismantling research benefits from in-depth policy research uncover dismantling strategies that easily remain hidden from political attention.

Introducing Phenomenological Research Methodology in Sustainable Consumption Literature: Illustrations From India

In this age of rising consumerism, it is evident that we need to move toward a more environmentally sustainable and socially just form of consumption patterns by surpassing the impasse currently faced by various sustainable consumption policies. Without any further delay, we need to embrace an apt methodological orientation to gain a better socioculturally situated conceptual understanding of consumers and a means to obtain empirical insights into drivers of socioenvironmentally impactful consumption patterns to be able to proceed toward efficacious sustainable consumption policies. This article proposes a phenomenological research methodology–based conceptual framing and a step-by-step methodological approach based on that framing to gain an in-depth understanding of how consumers being socioculturally situated identity projects–driven subjects embed consumer goods as integral parts of their life narratives and how that in turn acts as the drivers of their consumption. The elaborated steps of interpreting collected consumer narratives are presented with examples from an empirical research conducted in a few Indian cities. Critical reflections on diverse issues that may arise while employing this methodology in similar contexts like India are then discussed. The conclusion highlights how this understanding of consumer could make a novel contribution to sustainable consumption literature.

Measure or Management?—Resource Use Indicators for Policymakers Based on Microdata by Households

Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) requires sustainable production and consumption. One indicator named in the SDG for resource use is the (national) material footprint. A method and disaggregated data basis that differentiates the material footprint for production and consumption according to, e.g., sectors, fields of consumption as well as socioeconomic criteria does not yet exist. We present two methods and its results for analyzing resource the consumption of private households based on microdata: (1) an indicator based on representative expenditure data in Germany and (2) an indicator based on survey data from a web tool. By these means, we aim to contribute to monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals, especially the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. Indicators based on microdata ensure that indicators can be disaggregated by socioeconomic characteristics like age, sex, income, or geographic location. Results from both methods show a right-skewed distribution of the Material Footprint in Germany and, for instance, an increasing Material Footprint with increasing household income. The methods enable researchers and policymakers to evaluate trends in resource use and to differentiate between lifestyles and along socioeconomic characteristics. This, in turn, would allow us to tailor sustainable consumption policies to household needs and restrictions.

N. Obukhova, D. Prima, Strategy of sustainable marketing as part of the overall program of sedentary development.

The article considers the essence of the principles of sustainable development and analyzes the systems of challenges that influenced the emergence of this concept. The article notes the effectiveness of the use of sedentary-based interaction tools between economic entities of economic systems. Sustainable production is aimed at improving products and / or production processes in order to reduce resource consumption, the use of hazardous materials and the production of waste and pollutants in the provision of products. It is researched that the use of sustainable marketing in enterprises provides a competitive advantage, increases the positive impact on the development of society and the environment. It has been determined that sustainable marketing is a holistic, integrative approach that provides equal emphasis on environmental, social justice and economic issues in the development of marketing strategies. The article defines the essence of the concept of reasonable as a tool to counteract environmental, social and economic irresponsibility. As a result, sustainable consumption policies and initiatives are growing, given the impact of processes, as well as products, services, and goods. The authors noted that stimulating innovation based on sustainability attributes, companies can also consider actions based on existing products. It has been proven that a larger portfolio transformation can be developed by rebranding or re-categorizing existing sustainable products (services). Stable marketing practices imply even greater importance and relevance in developing countries. Marketing, like other functional areas of the business, contributes to the environmental, social and economic problems facing today's world, іncluding the problem of developing and implementing a sustainable marketing strategy for an enterprise within the overall family development program, which should be consistent with its use.

On the estimation of potential food waste reduction to support sustainable production and consumption policies

Reducing food losses (FL) has been identified as an essential means of increasing food security, while reducing pressure on natural resources. To assess the reliability of future strategies to reduce and manage FL along the food supply chain (FSC), not only their quantification but also the ‘qualification’ in both economic and nutritional terms must be considered. The methodology proposed in this work allows to quantify FL at the distinct stages of the FSC (agricultural production, postharvest and storage, processing, distribution, households and extradomestic consumption). In addition, economic and nutritional FL are estimated. A Nutritional Food Losses Footprint (NFLF) index is proposed to assess and balance the variables described. This index is used to define food recovery strategies focused on those food categories and stages of the FSC with lesser efficiency. NFLF distinguishes between food losses from cradle to gate (FL-ctog) and food losses from gate to grave (FL-gtog) depending on the scope of the analysis. The former provides information to producers, while the latter creates awareness among consumers. Furthermore, the potential for FL reduction is estimated through the quantification of avoidable and unavoidable FL.Our study is focused on the Mediterranean region, in particular on Spain. Almost 20% of the national food production is estimated to be lost or wasted. Vegetables, fruits and meat result the food categories less efficient. Household consumption is the main responsible of FL generation, followed by agricultural production. Each Spanish citizen is estimated to throw away around 180€ per year, while a 76% could be saved.