Sustainable Consumption Practices Research Articles

An Investigation Approach for Assessing Challenges to Sustainable Consumption and Production Practices in the Leather Goods Industry

Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) practices in the leather goods industry is a new trend in the developing and developed countries and it is becoming more popular by the day. It is essential to introduce SCP practices for the production in the sub-sector of leather products in Bangladesh. The relevance of SCP activities to the leather goods industry is emphasized in this article. The previous work emphasised other industrial fields. Results reveal that the lack of technological up-gradation, lack of customer attitude and behaviour towards SCP, lack of incentives for/motivation of business organizations, lack of top management commitment, support, dedication and involvement, and customers who are attracted towards cheap products come under causal group challenges, which can help the decision makers formulate a policy for a successful implementation of SCP practices that will help achieve sustainable development goals.

An Ethnographic Study of Collaborative Fashion Consumption: The Case of Temporary Clothing Swapping

This is the first research that has examined temporary swapping, a form of collaborative fashion consumption, that involves clothing exchange between two people that does not require the transfer of product ownership or monetary compensation. In this ethnographic study, we explored benefits, risks, and the meanings constructed by eight women before, during, and after exchanging parts of their wardrobes with a swap partner. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was used to organize the results of interpretation of participant diaries with photographs of swapped garments and created outfits over a six-month period. While the swapping experience addressed basic physiological needs and secured free resources (more clothing to wear) for all participants, the more advanced psychological (social, self-esteem) and personal growth needs (self-actualization, transcendence) were met for only some of them. Similarly, women perceived different risks (safety and self-esteem risks). Through a holistic interpretation of the results, we discovered two critical factors determining overall temporary swapping satisfaction and success: (1) closeness of the relationship between the swap partners and (2) participant love for clothes. Temporary swapping might play a critical role in the fashion marketplace transition to sustainable consumption practices because it provides a middle ground between product ownership and non-ownership and thus facilitates gradual dematerialization of consumer lifestyle.

Sustainable consumption practices in Indian households: a saga of environment management linked to Indian ethos and generational differences

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the domestic sustainable consumption practices in Indian households and the motivations to do so. These practices also contribute to environment management and its impact on Indian society through the action of reusing, reducing and recycling of consumed products for two generations, namely, the Baby Boomer and the Generation Z.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory qualitative research was undertaken in which the data were collected through personal interview technique with 64 respondents including males and females from the generations of Baby Boomers and Generation Z of Indian households.FindingsThe theoretical framework of the 3R was extended to inculcate broader themes like awareness, action and motivation for the domestic sustainable activities. The findings conclude that the domestic sustainable consumption practices of Baby Boomers in India were far more advanced than their Generation Z counterparts. These two generations differed in their awareness sources, actions of sustainability and the motivations for undergoing the domestic sustainable activities. Managerial implications have been framed for organisations like start-ups, sustainable firms, government organisations and second-hand product vendors. These practices in such organisations could help in the enhancement of circular economy through the domestic waste disposal.Practical implicationsPractical implications are for organisations that can consider the domestic sustainability consumption practices while planning their strategies to maximise stakeholder satisfaction through their corporate social responsibility initiatives and create more goodwill and growth avenues for their businesses.Originality/valueWhere most of the past literature concentrates on the supply chain and manufacturing initiatives of sustainability or sustainable consumption, very few studies look at the angle of domestic sustainability initiative and how they could be linked to the initiative of circular economy. This paper fills this gap in past literature.

Sustainable Consumption Practices – A Leveraging Factor of Atmanirbhar Bharat

This study applies the theory of consumption value perceptions to adjudicate the influence of such values on sustainable consumption decisions which is gradually becoming an indispensable measure for creation of a sustainable economy. The study aims to ascertain the urgency of green consumerism towards deployment of green management practice, an indispensable tool to make Sustainable ‘Atmanirbhar’ India. The deleterious impact of unsustainable consumption on environment has been a matter of painstaking concern and to supersede such predicament the need to assess the impact of economic variables assessing the role of consumption on environment needs contemplation. The study thus tries to adopt a modelling framework to assess the impact of consumption value perceptions as major predictor variables on adoption of sustainable consumption practices which shall eventually lead to the transition of sustainable lifestyle practices in an emerging economy.

Developing environmental collaboration among supply chain partners for sustainable consumption & production: Insights from an auto sector supply chain

This study aims to investigate the role of environmental orientation and environmental collaboration practices in addressing sustainable consumption and production goals in the supply chain. The case study has been conducted using situation–actor–process (SAP) and learning–action–performance (LAP) model to systematically inquire the association between environmental collaboration and sustainable consumption and production goals in an auto sector supply chain. Using the SAP-LAP model, we tried to understand the complexities and interactions among the current situation, involved actors and processes influencing environmental collaboration for attaining sustainable consumption and production for the case study in an automobile firm. The SAP analysis presents a condition of environmental collaboration practices for sustainable consumption and production goal in the automobile supply chain in India. Then, LAP provides the learning followed by the suggested actions that can be taken to improve the performance of environmental collaboration for sustainable consumption and production goal. Therefore, the findings underscore the strategic significance for a firm to collaborate with its suppliers, customers and internal departments to improve performance in the supply chain. We have also developed propositions to underscore the association between environmental orientation, environmental collaboration, and sustainable consumption and production practices. The study will guide practitioners and policymakers to understand the significance of environmental collaboration for accomplishing sustainable consumption and production goal.

Food Sharing Platforms: Emerging Evidence from Italian and German Users

Among the most challenging problems of the 21st century, the fight against food waste and losses is still one of the biggest concerns researchers and policy makers are trying to solve. The latest United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s report (UNEP, 2021) estimates that around 931 million tons of food waste were generated in 2019, and the majority came from households. As a consequence of the negative social, economic and environmental effects of this phenomenon, numerous actions have been launched by policymakers aiming to try to reduce the volume of food waste also through the donation of surplus food. At the same time, digital transformation and the advent of the sharing economy have boosted the launch of startups with disruptive business models creating a secondary market for the distribution of food surplus, thus trying to spread the practice of sustainable and collaborative consumption. Extant literature on the topic is relatively new. Despite a few recent attempts to study food sharing digital platforms, our knowledge is still limited (either in terms of platforms considered and of users’ nationality). This paper aims therefore at shedding new light on the proposed issue by providing a first attempt to study the behavior of Italian and German users of food sharing digital platforms. Data collected through an ad-hoc developed survey have been analyzed through a cluster analysis and preliminary results about users’ habits discussed. In doing so, we also provide insights about the critical issues that need to be considered to boost the adoption/diffusion of such platforms, i.e. logistics-related problems to reach full extensiveness of the service.

Investigating the role of celebrity institutional entrepreneur in reducing the attitude-behavior gap in sustainable consumption

PurposeAnthropogenic activities such as unsustainable consumption pattern is one of the reasons responsible for the ongoing environmental issues. Although, consumers are becoming increasingly aware and concerned about environmental problems their attitudes are not resulting in sustainable consumption behavior (SCB). Celebrity institutional entrepreneurs can engage and inspire the public at large and contribute to institutional change. Hence, this study aims to explore the potential of celebrity institutional entrepreneurship in galvanizing mainstream SCB by increasing the awareness of environmental issues and their consequences.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines the actor's influence by conducting a netnographic analysis of Leonardo DiCaprio's Instagram account. Further, qualitative interviews of account followers were also conducted to evaluate the influence of account on their awareness levels and consumption practices.FindingsOur findings indicate that account had a significant impact on consumers' environmental awareness and engagement with environmental issues. However, a partial impact was seen in case of their sustainable consumption practices. Our study concludes that celebrity institutional entrepreneurship can help in addressing the attitude-behavior gap in sustainability research.Originality/valueThis study is amongst the few studies that attempted to explore the ways to reduce the attitude-behavior gap in SCB. It examines the potential of celebrity institutional entrepreneurship to galvanize mainstream sustainable consumption. The results of this study are useful to key stakeholders (policymakers, marketers, social-environmental groups etc.) in the development of more effective strategies for sustainable development.

Moderating reference group and message framing influences on sustainable surplus food consumption advertising appeals

ABSTRACT This paper examines how injunctive, descriptive, and benefit appeals encourage consumers to engage in unfamiliar ‘sustainable behaviours’ – specifically, the consumption of surplus food, defined as edible foods that are never sold to or consumed by targeted customers. Three experiments involving 815 participants were run to assess reference group and message framing types as moderators of advertising appeal influence. Results indicate a significant interactive effect between reference group and advertising appeal on sustainable food consumption practices. For descriptive appeals, membership groups were the most effective for promoting sustainable food consumption; for injunctive and benefit appeals, aspirational groups were the most effective. Interaction between advertising appeal and message framing also exerted a significant effect on sustainable food consumption behaviours, with descriptive and benefit appeals the most effective when used with positive message framing, and injunctive appeals the most effective when used with negative message framing.

The role and potential of tripartite partnerships to promote strong sustainable consumption in the context of Brazil: an evaluation of possibilities and risks

ABSTRACT The growing concern about persisting environmental problems caused by overconsumption in the context of Brazil must be understood as an issue of democratic character. However, there is a gap in research examining models that can drive change of sustainable-related issues such as sustainable consumption. Critically evaluating existing literature, we discuss the potential of tripartite partnerships (TPPs) to advance sustainable consumption practices. We argue that multi-sector partnership approaches such as TPPs involving multiple actors can strengthen a socio-political basis for the advancement of public policies and inter-sectorial dynamics offering mechanisms that can foster sustainable consumption. By applying a TPP model as analytical lens, we explore prevalent possibilities and risks of promoting sustainable consumption in the context of Brazil.

Addressing Sustainability within Public Procurement of Food: A Systematic Literature Review

Public procurement has been recognized as a tool to promote more sustainable production and consumption practices. As such, an increasing body of literature has become available in recent years focusing on the sustainable public procurement of food. This article reviews the literature on the sustainable public procurement of food with the aim to analyze how sustainability is framed. This is done by analyzing what aspects of sustainability are emphasized and what practices are identified as sustainable. A systematic literature review was conducted between the years 2000 and 2020, identifying 103 articles. Results from the literature review indicate that the focus has primarily been on studies to evaluate and explore policy and good practices for procuring sustainable foods. A dominant focus on specific foods types and origins, e.g., those locally sourced and organic foods, is highlighted by a large share of the literature to address all three sustainability pillars. We observed that most articles focus on all three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic), addressing different aspects and types of foods, although the focus varied depending upon geographic location. Despite many studies identifying opportunities and potential, few articles assess the sustainability or outcomes of procurement processes through quantitative or qualitative methods or how actors in the procurement process can improve procurement toward more sustainable foods. This indicates a need for further case studies and guidelines to measure the development, progress, and performance of public food procurement.

‘Surely I would have preferred to clear it away in the right manner’: When social norms interfere with the practice of waste sorting: A case study

Waste sorting is part of the transition to circular and sustainable economies, and households play an important role. This paper is based on qualitative studies with 12 Danish households and reveals that sorting has become part of everyday life practice. However, in certain situations, which comprise the empirical focus of this analysis, participants set aside their well-established sorting practices. They do so despite their belief that sorting is the proper way to discard waste. Rather than approaching this as a value-action gap in individual behaviour, we turn our attention to the socio-material surroundings and how these condition waste practices. The analysed empirical situations are social gatherings of different kinds. Approaching them as critical incidents, we evince how participants' perception of these situations and especially the associated norms orchestrating social interactions obstruct their normal principles and practices of sorting. This obstruction is depicted as the outcome of a situated negotiation between an ‘ethic of sorting’ and an ‘ethic of care’ related to personal relationships. We propose that the latter is likely to conflict with more types of sustainable consumption practices in a wider range of situations. Hence, the paper suggests an avenue for further research on how cultural norms connected to the way we care for our relationships may more generally be breaking the transition of everyday life practices towards more sustainability.

Consumer Sustainable Shopping Practices for Small Business during COVID-19

The purpose of this study was to understand the factors that attract consumers to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic to assist with small businesses. Factors of interest included emotional (positive and negative) and cognitive experiences (resilience, optimism) during the pandemic and demographic characteristics (gender, generation, education, income, and employment status). Using a convenience survey sample in U.S. (N = 315), this study found that positive and negative emotions, active resilience, and demographic characteristics (generation, education, income, and employment status) can explain consumer shopping frequency and number of services used with small businesses during a pandemic. Small businesses may seek to trigger active resilience and emotions (negative and positive) in their marketing/advertising avenues to attract consumers’ sustainable consumption practices and may consider pivoting to attract particular consumer segments that are more likely to lend favorable actions toward sustainable consumption.

Care, Gender, and Change in the Study of Sustainable Consumption: A Critical Review of the Literature

In Western countries, moving toward more sustainable lifestyles often involves the disruption of well-established routines and habits in relation to consumption domains such as food, washing and cleaning, heating and cooling, transportation, and managing “stuff” more generally. These activities are deeply embedded in our everyday lives and often tied to care, which is the work invested in maintaining the well-being of oneself and others. In this paper, we are interested in the ways sustainable consumption and care interlock within the household, how they relate to gender inequalities, and how change toward more sustainable lifestyles can both impact and be impacted by these inequalities. With this in mind, we conducted a critical review of the academic literature by analyzing a corpus of 75 papers on household consumption and sustainability, paying particular attention to the role authors attribute to care and gender. The analysis shines light on the relational character of care and consumption, emphasizing the ways sustainable consumption is dependent on relationships within and outside the home. We suggest that care often acts as a barrier to the establishment of more sustainable consumption practice. Care work, per definition, upholds routines and habits while mobilizing the very resources that are needed to transform them. This insight invites us to rethink the role of households as a site for change. We suggest that the transition toward more sustainable consumption practices within the home relies on reducing and redistributing care work, transforming the world of work, and actively promoting an ethos of care that includes people, other beings, the material world and the planet.

Mapping evidence of individuals’ sustainable consumption behaviour and energy or transport use in Africa: A scoping review

The study aims to systematically map and describe the evidence on individual’s sustainable consumption behaviour and energy and transport use in Africa. The paper employed Arskey and O’Malley’s’ framework of 2005 as a guide to conduct a scoping review. Using keywords separated by Boolean terms (AND/OR) with all limiters removed, relevant published studies in Science Direct, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar were searched. Full-text screening guided by the inclusion criteria was independently conducted and data extraction was done using a piloted form to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data. The results revealed that out of 176 studies, six met this study’s inclusion criteria and were included for data extraction. Among the six included studies, two were multi-country studies involving African countries, and study each was conducted in Ghana, Mauritius, South Africa, and Egypt. Of the included studies, five were on sustainable energy consumption domain, one on energy use and recycling behaviour, and the factors influencing sustainable energy consumption; price, income, urbanization, intention, attitudes, subjective norms and personal values. However, we found no evidence on individual’s sustainable consumption behaviour and transport use. Concluding, the results suggest that limited studies on sustainable consumption behaviour of energy and transport use are found in Africa. Therefore, further studies are needed to protect the gains made so far on environmental sustainability as well as to encourage and improve the individual’s sustainable consumption practices.

Cultural Dynamics and Sustainable Consumption: a Perception of Brazilian Students in Germany

The present study analyzed the influence of cultural determinants on the sustainable consumption behavior of individuals temporarily immersed in a foreign culture. Based on the framework proposed by Ceglia et al. (2015) for cross-cultural research on sustainable consumption, the study investigated the influence of material culture and communication and language systems on the sustainable consumption behavior of Brazilian exchange students living in Germany. The research adopted a qualitative interpretive design through an exploratory and descriptive approach. Data were collected through participant and non-participant observations and in-depth interviews with ten business students (six women) aged between 22 and 26. Students had to have studied at German universities for at least one semester to participate in the study. The results show that participants perceive the influence of cultural differences on their consumption behavior. In addition, both material culture (e.g., objects, institutions, and organizations) and language and communication systems (e.g., verbal and non-verbal communication) influence their sustainable consumption practices. Ultimately, this configures a dynamic process of adaptation to the new cultural context in which they live. The study innovates by bringing an empirical analysis of yet ill-understood cultural components. Such efforts complement current research and try to consolidate a broader cross-cultural research agenda on sustainable consumption.

Sustainable travel through experienced tourists’ desire for eudaemonia and immersion

ABSTRACT Consumption paradoxes create challenges for truly sustainable production and consumption practices across industries. This is also visible in tourism. Although today’s consumers have a greater consciousness of their own environmental footprints, demand for leisure travel appears insatiable as expressed in constantly growing international tourism until 2019. With the aim to achieve transformation towards more sustainability in future tourism, the lens has turned towards the consumer’s central role in the fulfilment of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This article puts experienced tourists into the spotlight and aims to explore whether and how the experienced tourist’s desire for eudaemonic and immersive experiences can contribute to more sustainable travel patterns. It adopts a supply-demand perspective through a mixed-methods research design implemented in Germany and New Zealand. Results demonstrate that tourists with higher self-assessed experience levels are more likely to travel for eudaemonic reasons and adopt sustainable travel patterns compared to less experienced tourists. This article argues that experienced tourists are central in the transformation towards more sustainable tourism futures and that a better understanding of them is needed. These novel insights advance theory and practice, contributing to closing existing knowledge gaps related to sustainable consumption in a tourism context.

Tourists as reflexive agents of change: proposing a conceptual framework towards sustainable consumption

ABSTRACT The transformation of the tourism industry to ensure more sustainable consumption and production practices also requires the transformation of tourists. Tourism is assumed to possess the potential for cathartic experiences that can positively influence individual transformation. This individual transformation is often overlooked in the sustainability debate. As tourists can accelerate system transformation and contribute to the fulfilment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, more research is needed to understand individual transformation. This conceptual paper puts tourists into the spotlight and adopts a sociopsychological lens to explore how experience-based reflexivity can contribute to individual transformation towards sustainable travel. We argue that two interrelated perspectives are needed as analytical tools, i.e. process and systemic perspectives, and propose two models: The Reflected-Self-Model and the Reflexive-Agent-Model. We suggest that reflection needs to be understood as a critical component in building awareness and changing attitudes, actions, and practices that translate into individual transformation. With the limitations of this conceptual paper in mind, several thought-provoking avenues for future research are proposed. We argue that more research is needed that investigates intermediate stages in the attitude–behaviour gap, bridges individual and system transformation, integrates experiences in travel and home environments, and explores individual resilience.

Trade Effects of Geographical Indications on Turkish Agricultural Products and Foodstuff

Environmental concerns together with social and ethical issues raise consumers’ interest in sustainable production and consumption practices. With rising trends of fair trade and high popularity of organic and local production in recent years, the demand for geographical indication registration has also increased by agricultural producers as a way of transmitting further information to raise reputation of their products. This research aims to assess the impact of geographical indications on export performance of Turkish agricultural products and foodstuffs. Findings reveal that geographical indications increase export revenues. Results communicate an important message to policy makers to promote the protection of geographical indications.

Secure and sustainable but not as prominent among the ambivalent: Attachment style and proenvironmental consumption

Human activity has degraded the environment and contributed to numerous public health hazards. Thus, the United Nations recently made an urgent call to develop sustainable consumption practices. Although existing literature has acknowledged attachment style as a potential predictor of certain consumption responses, its influence on proenvironmental consumption has not yet been examined. We conducted a large-sampled study (N = 1397) on this topic and found securely attached individuals to report significantly higher scores on a scale measuring proenvironmental consumption compared to people with anxious/ambivalent and avoidant attachment styles, respectively. The latter two groups did not differ significantly, although anxious/ambivalent individuals reported the lowest average propensity to buy and use goods and services sustainably. Our findings provide preliminary evidence for the notion that attachment styles may meaningfully predict proenvironmental consumption responses. Given that modern psychometric tools can predict Big Five personality traits from digital behavioral footprints, these tools may also predict a person's attachment style and thus facilitate more effective, tailor-made communication campaigns to promote sustainable consumption.

Predicting sustainable consumption behavior: knowledge-based, value-based, emotional and rational influences on mobile phone, food and fashion consumption

ABSTRACT Increasing sustainable consumption practices of individuals constitutes a crucial pillar of the global sustainable development strategy. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine psychological influences from different research streams and their incremental predictive value for sustainable consumption. In two studies, knowledge-based, value-based, emotional and rational factors were considered to predict sustainable consumption behavior of mobile phones, food and fashion. Survey data were obtained from an online panel (Study 1: N = 101, Study 2: N = 304). Multiple regression results showed that value-based, emotional and rational factors contributed significantly to the prediction of sustainable consumption in both studies and all product groups. Problem awareness was a significant predictor only for food consumption. To improve the explained variance and detect different patterns of prediction, influencing factors were included into the prediction in varying order. Hierarchical regression results showed that a joint consideration of factors from different theoretical streams improved the prediction and that product-specific patterns emerged. The findings support the need to jointly consider different influencing factors for the prediction of sustainable consumption. Understanding the drivers and obstacles of sustainable consumption constitutes the basis for educational measures or marketing interventions. The present study contributes to gaining product-specific knowledge which is pivotal for tailoring such measures to different consumption areas.