Sustainable Consumption

(A paper review of Articles published in 2015 & 2017)

Abstract
The great American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson once quoted “Adopt the pace of nature,
her secret is patience”.
This quote truly resonates with the core fundamentals of sustainable consumption and also
highlights the impatience of man through the ages to live lavishly which has resulted in a dire
need of sustainable consumption.
Fast forwarding to the recent 5 years, we can clearly agree about the fact that sustainable
consumption practices have not only become an integral part of marketing academia but they
are practices that need to be inculcated similarly to the idea of hygiene. This article tries to
find common themes and new methods of sustainable consumption as exemplified by recent
publications in some of the most highly rated journals and in addition to that, aggregate them
for the reader and create a simplified perspective of sustainable consumption while
highlighting its importance in the 21st century and finally create an agenda for future research
based on current world developments such as the inception of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), and
how it has provided mankind with a perspective of resource consumption in a sustainable
fashion for the future and the significance of sustainable consumption during this deadly
pandemic.

Introduction
According to marketing academia, consumers are driven by tangible personal benefits that
are more certain, rather than invisible long-term risks; businesses are driven by profit; and
policy makers by the next election[ CITATION Bas15 \l 1033 ]. However, these definitions are
slowly becoming flexible with the growing trend and requirement of sustainability.
Sustainable consumption has evolved from being a single practice-oriented research topic
into diverse topics studied in a systematized manner, involving the key factors of
sustainability, consumption behavior, energy utilization and environmental impact[ CITATION
Liu17 \l 1033 ].
The roots of the concept of sustainable consumption develop from sustainable development
which is most frequently described by the well-known definition by Brundtland
report[CITATION Oxf87 \l 1033 ] which states that sustainable development is the form of
development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”. This definition had become the foundation for the
current sustainability concepts.
In the face of global changes and the vision of socio-economic global crisis, the concept of
sustainable development is one of the instruments to provide the current contemporary world
with a new direction.
The main responsible area for a global situation is consumption, which in modern reflection
is the omnipresent culture of consumptionism [ CITATION Hen17 \l 1033 ]. Consumption
practices show a strong presence of crystallized social understandings, organizing rules and
permanent ways of acting that prevent individuals from changing towards more sustainable
habits[ CITATION Amo17 \l 1033 ] thus creating the need for sustainable consumption as the
resources are being depleted uncontrollably over time. Thus, in 2012, the United Nations
envisioned a Ten-Year framework on SCP (Sustainable Consumption Practices) [CITATION
Uni12 \l 1033 ] to amalgamate policies and take actions accordingly on SCP.
Articles recently published about sustainable consumption talk about different parameters and
frameworks to measure sustainable consumption, in addition to that these articles also talk
about different factors whose build up led to this dire need of SCP especially in growing
economies.
Increasing consumption is often masked by the potential positive social effects such as
accelerated income growth because of which SCP wasn’t something to be stressed upon,
however unsustainable consumption had led to increased environmental pressures such as
growing carbon footprints, SO2 and CO2 levels [CITATION Wen151 \t \l 1033 ] which is a
growing concern every day.

TWO PERSPECTIVES, TWO THEMES

The work aforementioned gives us a timeline of sustainable consumption and brings us to the
current scenario where we talk about the research done in the past few years.
We’ll be talking about sustainable consumption further through down along two different
perspectives and find similar themes for the same in articles published in the accredited
Journals.
We have divided it into two perspectives as to better understand the themes involved in the
articles since they talk about sustainable consumption through the perspective of the
Government and businesses as well as through the lens of the general consumer.
This enables us to reach at a constructive agenda for future research through a dissected road
of information.

PERSPECTIVE 1: The Government and businesses

We begin our study through the government and business perspective as they are an integral
part of the community which can induce change through the different decisions and policies
they can introduce to change the direction towards sustainability.
Governments and businesses are clubbed together as they both go hand in hand with each
other in terms of influencing a country.
Governments provide necessary framework for the businesses to function and in turn
businesses create growth in the economy as they both work in synergy.
In the context of sustainable consumption, both governments and businesses each have roles
to fulfill and we will try to understand their roles further below through two different themes
across different articles published in the year 2015 and 2017.

Theme 1: Sustainable consumption as a platform for improving cross-border relations

among countries and businesses including boosting CSR practices.
Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbour of Sao Paulo state university talks on sustainable
consumption and production in growing economies in his article [ CITATION Cha15 \l 1033 ]
about the sustainable consumption challenges that emerging economies are facing, especially
the rapid-growing BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China). He mentions that sharing
knowledge and breaking down barriers is integral to co-development as well as decreasing
the environmental strain. A study in India by Dubey et al. mentioned in the same article on
green supply chain management (GSCM) practices highlighted that manufacturing firms that
adopt GSCM practices enjoy several benefits such as improved business and environmental
performance.
Businesses also have an important role in sustainable consumption through business-led
initiatives, social marketing and innovative business models [ CITATION Boc17 \l
1033 ].These initiatives by businesses can create impact on a particular target segment for
e.g.: Adolescents.
Mangla, Kannan, Sunil [ CITATION Man17 \l 1033 ] in their article talk about supply chain
barriers starting from their identification to finally providing a model using a fuzzy analytical
hierarchy process with the objective of improving the overall performance. This work by
them brings in light the most important barriers to manage SCP initiatives efficiently. The
proposed model by them is useful for regulatory bodies, policy makers, and industry
managers/practitioners not only to recognize barriers which they might encounter but also to
provide a means by which to structure their efforts for the effective accomplishment of SCP
in a supply chain context. Further, when we talk about SCP in the business context, we think
about CSR (Corporate social responsibility) which in turn creates a perspective in our minds
that CSR are rather considered as necessary obligations by businesses but,
Nancy Bocken [CITATION Nan17 \t \l 1033 ] talks about the importance of companies in
driving sustainable consumption patterns. In her article she also mentions valuable insights of
the potential of business-led sustainable consumption initiatives and the strategies to be used.
She comes to a conclusion that companies are making important steps to encourage
sustainable consumption, but initiatives have not yet achieved the scale to significantly
transform consumption patterns.
Tseng, Ming-Lang, Chiu, Anthony S.F., Liang, Dong [ CITATION Tse17 \l 1033 ] clearly
highlight in their article that sustainable consumption and production (SCP) is one of the
most pressing challenges among the current development goals. They also discuss the idea of
enhancing business decision models and aligning them with the needs of SCP.
Tseng found that SCP is not merely a top-down effort of government, industries and firms,
rather it is a bottom-up effort between firms, industries and government.
But it is still emphasized that there should be synergy between the government level and the
business sectors for the business models to function optimally.
There are many underdeveloped countries which still need to build this synergy and requires
external assistance to do so which is again promoting cross-border relations.
Leading by example is Switch-Asia[ CITATION Swi07 \l 1033 ] which is a European union
assisted organisation who has been devoted since 2007 to help underdeveloped and
developing nations by:
 Promoting sustainable development

 Contribute to economic prosperity and poverty reduction in Asia and Central Asia.

 Contribute to a transition towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient and circular

economy.
Leonardo L. Sta. Romana [ CITATION Leo17 \l 1033 ] praises the efforts made by Switch
-Asia in the development of Philippines and also helping it recover from its unenviable
reputation as the “laggard of East Asia”.
Switch-Asia’s efforts included involvement at the government level through policy support
and piloting of projects at the enterprise level which can serve as example for future
involvements and projects in other undeveloped or developing parts of the world.
An article on influencing factors to facilitate sustainable consumption from experts viewpoint
[ CITATION Sha171 \l 1033 ] can serve as a prototype for governments or businesses to
develop related public or industrial policies.
It can also serve as a grail of insights through which the it can be understood that consumers
are increasingly concerned of a social impacts of a product in its production phase and thus
require more information and transparency which brings us to the next theme of how this
sustainable transparency could be used in the field of marketing academia.
Theme 2: Sustainable consumption as a marketing tool
A greener supply chain and environment friendly products are more favourable to consumers
especially to the upcoming generations. In a research article on sustainable consumption
behaviour in retail stores by Matthias Lehner[ CITATION Mat15 \l 1033 ], he mentions that
consumers were more likely attracted towards local or organic products and all of his
observed consumers chose stores which made an effort to communicate sustainability to their
customer.
Another study on promoting sustainable consumption among adolescents concluded that
adolescents were willing to purchase sustainable products if the environmental performance
of such products can be demonstrated [ CITATION Gen17 \l 1033 ].
Additionally, data supported the association between gender and sustainable consumption
behavior. Women showed a higher level of sustainable consumption behavior both in overall
behavior and tendency to reuse products [ CITATION Bul17 \l 1033 ].
According to a qualitative and quantitative research [ CITATION And17 \l 1033 ] in the journal
of marketing management, an analysis conducted using a mixed-method approach involving
segmentation on the basis of motives and heuristic cues concluded that consumers were
motivated by self-interest and environmental motives and that they use simple heuristic cues
to make purchase decisions which are quick and satisfying and thus this provides an
opportunity for both manufacturers and retailers to use these insights to seize the opportunity
of increasing the market for sustainable personal care products.
Similarly, in an article on sustainable consumption about behavior in a realistic online
shopping environment in the Journal of Environmental Psychology [ CITATION Chr15 \l
1033 ] research shows that even during online shopping which attracts the younger
populations more, every year there were increasing number of green or eco labelled product
consumers. Student consumers were willing to buy at least 1 green product or products with
“eco-labeling” on them and spend 10% more money to do so.
Furthermore, Weng Marc Lim [ CITATION Wen17 \l 1033 ] mentions three theoretical
perspectives of consumer behavior in his article: responsible consumption, anti-consumption,
and mindful consumption. Each perspective can help a researcher better understand how
consumers engage in sustainable consumption practices which helps develop insights from
multiple theoretical perspectives.

With new techniques coming, it is becoming easier for businesses to understand the consumer
better and cater to them while implementing SCP.
New methods such as Q and Q-R methodology are being applied to overcome the limitations
of conventional evidence-based research in the area of sustainable consumption. [ CITATION
Son17 \l 1033 ].
Furthermore, a simple conceptual framework has been provided by Wenling Liu, Peter
Oosterveer and Gert Spaargen which puts sustainable consumption practices at the center of
analysis. This is an example of sustainability practice studies implemented by researchers in
China which can provide a basis for further improved models.
 Fig. A conceptual framework of sustainable consumption analysis
[CITATION Wen15 \l 1033 ]
PERSPECTIVE 2: The Consumers
At the end of the day we all are consumers of some type of resource which makes
understanding sustainable consumption through the lens of a general consumer highly
important.
Till now we had talked about the initiatives and steps businesses and governments as bodies
take to ensure SCP through referencing different articles.
Now we will dive inside the mind of a general consumer for which the aforementioned
marketing techniques and business models have been implemented.
The perspective of a consumer, after reviewing several articles will include two themes which
would talk about the moral beliefs and other values of the consumers which create their
stance on sustainable consumption.

Theme 1: Influence of personal beliefs and values over sustainable consumption

If we talked about consumer values and beliefs among both the genders, Daniel Roos and
Rüdiger Hahn talked about how shared consumption affected the consumer’s values, attitudes
and norms [ CITATION Roo17 \l 1033 ].The results of this study showed a positive correlation
between shared consumption and the consumer’s values, attitudes and norms thus the more
they engaged in shared consumption the more they cared for each other but it didn’t affect
their concern for the environment or themselves.
According to demographic research in an article on Gender, generation and sustainable
consumption: Exploring the behavior of consumers from Izmir, Turkey [ CITATION
Zek17 \l 1033 ], consumers who were Baby Boomers were found to have the highest level
of unneeded consumption behavior while Gen-Zer’s (Generation Z) had the fewest and were
more oriented towards greener products.
An example of a study of values influencing sustainable consumption is available[ CITATION
Fis171 \l 1033 ] where they discussed what is mindfulness as the Buddhists described it and
how does help nurture non-materialistic values, coherence, enhance well-being and foster
pro-social behaviour which in turn also affects the people’s stance on sustainable
consumption.
Values deeply influence the consumption pattern of a consumer [ CITATION Raj17 \l
1033 ],the survey research concluded that attitude is more likely to moderate the relationship
for internally oriented values than externally oriented values. Thus the relationship between
internal values and sustainable consumption play an important role for researchers aiming to
create sustainable products in different cultural contexts.
Another research on the importance of personal norms while studying the perception on
electric fuel vehicles [ CITATION Joh17 \l 1033 ] concluded that both interpersonal influence
and attitudinal factors as drivers for eco-innovation adoption are equally important, it also
confirmed the important of personal norms.
When we talk about values and norms shaping sustainable consumption, we have to take in
account the youth as they are the ones that the current resources are being rationed for and
thus they need to learn about sustainable consumption for the generations to come after them.
[ CITATION Dua17 \l 1033 ] focuses on the fact that really limited studies have been done on
how to motive young consumers about sustainable consumption in developing countries and
young consumers usually tend to the idea of sustainability but it still remains unclear whether
they completely understand the concept of sustainable consumption.
The upcoming generation’s values and beliefs should be moulded around the concept of
sustainable consumption from a young age for long term benefits.
This brings us to the next theme that has been discussed among various articles i.e inculcating
the habit of sustainable consumption among consumers and shaping their perspective parallel
to SCP.

Theme 2: Embedding sustainable consumption as a routine among consumers

We previously talked about different perspectives from consumers to businesses to
governments, all that that talked about people being aware of sustainable consumption
however, there is lack of mainstream action and thus below we discuss some options given by
different researchers as well as lessons taught to us towards sustainable consumption from
something that is invisible to the human eye.
[ CITATION Bra15 \l 1033 ] mentions that there is inadequate knowledge of consumers green
purchase intentions and thus in their article try to find the impact of cultural values,
environmental advertising and environmental knowledge and determine the moderating effect
of income level, education level and gender.
This is integral so that businesses can create models on the basis of the appeal of the
consumers while doing SCP. This is a win-win situation. The consumers demand for
sustainable products can be identified only when their opinions and knowledge on the matter
is brought to light.
This will help manufacturers and governments to create products and policies which would
be helpful in creating knowledge on SCP for both the sides i.e. consumers and businesses,
governments.
Although it’s a not an easy road,[ CITATION Lea15 \l 1033 ] talks in their article that
encouraging change towards sustainable ways of living is a very complex progress. Some
part of this complexity has to do with understanding motives and values that drive the
behavioral change towards SCP. Different political orientations and cultures change the
behavior towards sustainable consumption and thus they provide some insights which can be
a prototype for future effective communication strategies.
Although, there are some common behavioral patterns which can be capitalized upon, for
example, a research done by [ CITATION Eli17 \l 1033 ] concluded that sustainability
behaviors have looked uncertainty avoidance as a cultural dimension, another dimension
which came up important was pragmatism. The more pragmatic a country is, the more likely
it is for the consumers of that country most beneficial to the micro environment although
these behaviors were not carried to the macro environment.
Over different articles researchers have pressed on the issue of embedding sustainable
consumption among the consumers, and the test of humanity for this is going on right now in
2020, The CoVID-19(Coronavirus) has crippled the world to its knees, with more than 2
million confirmed cases and more than 140,000 deaths[CITATION Joh20 \l 1033 ], coronavirus
has put humanity in a situation where resources are becoming scarce for general consumers.
With many countries going into lockdown, people are left to ration their supplies for a
timeline they don’t know the end of.
This phase of our world has really challenged all the people to practice sustainable
consumption of resources and provided people with a new perspective and in a way a lesson.
A THIRD PERSPECTIVE?
Theme: Sustainable consumption as a dilemma!?
There is one part of the equation of sustainable consumption which was talked above in
different articles which highlight the benefits of sustainable consumption and businesses
marketing themselves as well as adopting environment efficient practices.
The other part of this equation is the loss of jobs if sustainable measures are put in place.
Meltem Türe in his article on waste management and consumption culture [ CITATION
Mel15 \l 1033 ] in the Journal of Consumption Markets and Culture rightly puts forward a
provocative question in the face of sustainable consumption: What would happen to millions
of people who earn their lives from farming, manufacturing etc. if we cut these down to
enhance sustainability?
How to relocate these people, who mostly live in hand-to-mouth in underdeveloped and
developed regions.
Perhaps, in addition to redesigning current businesses to be more sustainable, we also need to
think of creating new jobs around innovative waste management systems. This way the
resources can be allocated globally and decrease the potential burden from a bunch of
countries.
Another dilemma mentioned by [ CITATION Kee17 \l 1033 ] is that consumers are caught in
moral dilemma in which they weigh sustainability products against their individual financial
costs and also consider the consequences of restricting other’s freedom of choice.
Another dilemma by [ CITATION Cri19 \l 1033 ] reveals a dark side to people’s knowledge
which leads to ‘self-inflicted sustainable consumption paradox’ in their attempts to lead a
sustainable consumption lifestyle.

Conclusion
But in the end we need to look sustainable consumption on a weighing scale and try to look
that clearly the benefits outweigh the negatives.
This trend of increasing purchases of greener products by the upcoming and young
generations should serve as an opportunity for businesses to cater to them as well as create a
greener and logistics network while keeping sustainable consumption of resources in mind.
The youth can be targeted to create awareness about sustainable consumption by businesses
as well as practice it simultaneously which can be more appealing to the upcoming generation
through a marketing perspective as well as beneficial to the environment and its resources to
gain regain vitality.
People should be made understood the importance of sustainable consumption not by force
by giving an example of crisis like the present Coronavirus.
This article can serve are a future reference for researchers to get an aggregated insight on the
recent developments in this field.

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