TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Appenfeller, Dennis T1 - A social marketing approach to voluntary simplicity BT - communicating to consume less JF - Sustainability N2 - Higher eco-efficiency will not be enough to slow global warming caused by climate change. To keep global warming to 2 degrees, people also need to reduce their consumption. At present, however, many who would be able to do so seem unwilling to comply. Given the threats of a runaway climate change, urgent measures are needed to promote less personal consumption. This study, therefore, examines whether social marketing consume-less appeals can be used to encourage consumers to voluntarily abstain from consumption. As part of an online experiment with nearly 2000 randomly sampled users of an online platform for sustainable consumption, we tested the effectiveness of five different “consume-less” appeals based on traditional advertising formats (including emotional, informational, and social claims). The study shows that consume-less appeals are capable of limiting personal desire to buy. However, significant differences in the effectiveness of the appeal formats used in this study were observed. In addition, we found evidence of rebound effects, which leads us to critically evaluate the overall potential of social marketing to promote more resource-conserving lifestyles. While commercial consumer-free appeals have previously been studied (e.g., Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy This Jacked”), this study on the effectiveness of non-commercial consume-free appeals is novel and provides new insights. KW - social marketing KW - voluntary simplicity KW - spending patterns KW - donation behavior KW - sustainability KW - randomized trial KW - rebound-effect Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032302 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 15 IS - 3 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Lee, Michael S. W. A1 - Seegebarth, Barbara A1 - Peyer, Mathias T1 - A sustainable pathway to consumer wellbeing BT - the role of anticonsumption and consumer empowerment JF - The Journal of consumer affairs N2 - This study investigates the effect of different anticonsumption constructs on consumer wellbeing. The study assumes that people will only lower their level of consumption if doing so does not also lower personal wellbeing. More precisely, this research investigates how specific subtypes of sustainable anticonsumption (e.g., voluntary simplicity, collaborative consumption, and debt-free living) relate to different states of consumer's wellbeing (e.g., financial, psychosocial, and subjective wellbeing). This work also examines whether consumer empowerment can improve personal wellbeing and strengthen the anticonsumption wellbeing relationship. The results show that voluntarily foregoing consumption does not reduce wellbeing and consumer empowerment plays a significant role in supporting sustainable pathways to consumer wellbeing. This study reasons that empowerment improves consumer sovereignty, but may be detrimental for consumers heavily concerned about debt-free living. The present investigation concludes by proposing implications for public and consumer policymakers wishing to promote appropriate sustainable (anticonsumption) pathways to consumer wellbeing. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12278 SN - 0022-0078 SN - 1745-6606 VL - 54 IS - 2 SP - 456 EP - 488 PB - Wiley CY - Malden, Mass. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziesemer, Florence A1 - Hüttel, Alexandra A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo T1 - Anti-Consumption JF - Sustainability N2 - Transcending the conventional debate around efficiency in sustainable consumption, anti-consumption patterns leading to decreased levels of material consumption have been gaining importance. Change agents are crucial for the promotion of such patterns, so there may be lessons for governance interventions that can be learnt from the every-day experiences of those who actively implement and promote sustainability in the field of anti-consumption. Eighteen social innovation pioneers, who engage in and diffuse practices of voluntary simplicity and collaborative consumption as sustainable options of anti-consumption share their knowledge and personal insights in expert interviews for this research. Our qualitative content analysis reveals drivers, barriers, and governance strategies to strengthen anti-consumption patterns, which are negotiated between the market, the state, and civil society. Recommendations derived from the interviews concern entrepreneurship, municipal infrastructures in support of local grassroots projects, regulative policy measures, more positive communication to strengthen the visibility of initiatives and emphasize individual benefits, establishing a sense of community, anti-consumer activism, and education. We argue for complementary action between top-down strategies, bottom-up initiatives, corporate activities, and consumer behavior. The results are valuable to researchers, activists, marketers, and policymakers who seek to enhance their understanding of materially reduced consumption patterns based on the real-life experiences of active pioneers in the field. KW - social innovation KW - sufficiency KW - collaborative consumption KW - expert interview KW - consumer behavior KW - sustainability KW - innovation policy KW - governance for sustainable development KW - consumer education Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236663 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 11 IS - 23 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Hedergott, Doreen A1 - Peyer, Mathias T1 - Choice-based Conjointanalyse JF - Conjointanalyse : Methoden, Anwendungen, Praxisbeispiele Y1 - 2008 UR - http://www.springerlink.com/content/p07141pq37n7n51v/fulltext.pdf SN - 978-3-642-00753-8 SP - 129 EP - 146 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Peyer, Mathias A1 - Paulssen, Marcel T1 - Consciousness for fair consumption - conceptualization, scale development and empirical validation JF - International journal of consumer studies N2 - Sustainable consumption means that consumers act in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Compared with the vast amount of studies concerning environmentally conscious consumer behaviour, relatively little is known about socially conscious consumption. The present paper focuses on fair consumption as an important aspect of social consumption. In our study, consciousness for fair consumption (CFC) is defined as a latent disposition of consumers to prefer products that are produced and traded in compliance with fair labour and business practices. A scale to measure CFC was conceptualized and tested in three independent empirical studies. Two studies were conducted at European universities (2010 and 2012) and used 352 and 362 undergraduate business students respectively. The third study, conducted in 2011, used 141 employees at a European university. The results confirmed the reliability and validity of the new CFC scale across samples. While being moderately related to other aspects of sustainable consumption such as ecological concern and moral reasoning, CFC was significantly distinct from those concepts. Most importantly, it was established that the CFC, as measured by the new CFC scale, is a strong determinant of consumption of fair trade products that has been neglected in existing research. KW - Sustainable consumption KW - socially conscious consumption KW - consciousness for fair consumption KW - scale development KW - fair trade Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12030 SN - 1470-6423 VL - 37 IS - 5 SP - 546 EP - 555 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Peyer, Mathias A1 - Paulssen, Marcel T1 - Consciousness for fair consumption : conceptualization, scale development and empirical validation JF - International Journal of Consumer Studies N2 - Sustainable consumption means that consumers act in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Compared with the vast amount of studies concerning environmentally conscious consumer behaviour, relatively little is known about socially conscious consumption. The present paper focuses on fair consumption as an important aspect of social consumption. In our study, consciousness for fair consumption (CFC) is defined as a latent disposition of consumers to prefer products that are produced and traded in compliance with fair labour and business practices. A scale to measure CFC was conceptualized and tested in three independent empirical studies. Two studies were conducted at European universities (2010 and 2012) and used 352 and 362 undergraduate business students respectively. The third study, conducted in 2011, used 141 employees at a European university. The results confirmed the reliability and validity of the new CFC scale across samples. While being moderately related to other aspects of sustainable consumption such as ecological concern and moral reasoning, CFC was significantly distinct from those concepts. Most importantly, it was established that the CFC, as measured by the new CFC scale, is a strong determinant of consumption of fair trade products that has been neglected in existing research. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12030 SN - 1470-6431 SN - 1470-6423 VL - 37 IS - 5 SP - 546 EP - 555 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Buerke, Anja A1 - Kirchgeorg, Manfred A1 - Peyer, Mathias A1 - Seegebarth, Barbara A1 - Wiedmann, Klaus-Peter T1 - Consciousness for sustainable consumption : scale development and new insights in the economic dimension of consumers’ sustainability JF - AMS review : official publication of the Academy of Marketing Scienc N2 - The “triple bottom line” concept (planet, people, and profit) represents an important guideline for the sustainable, hence future-oriented, development of societies and for the behaviors of all societal members. For institutions promoting societal change, as well as for companies being confronted with growing expectations regarding compelling contributions to sustainable changes, it is of great importance to know if, and to what extent, consumers have already internalized the idea of sustainability. Against the background of existing research gaps regarding a comprehensive measurement of the consciousness for sustainable consumption (CSC), the authors present the result of a scale development. Consciousness was operationalized by weighting personal beliefs with the importance attached by consumers to sustainability dimensions. Four separate tests of the CSC scale indicated an appropriate psychometric quality of the scale and provided support for this new measurement approach that incorporates the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. KW - Sustainability KW - Consciousness for sustainable consumption KW - Scale development Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-013-0057-6 SN - 1869-814X SN - 1869-8182 VL - 3 IS - 4 SP - 181 EP - 192 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Scholderer, Joachim T1 - Consumer information stategies for genetically modified food products Y1 - 1999 SN - 3- 00-004187-7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo A1 - Mennicken, Claudia T1 - Ecological risk and crisis management: a behavioral approach Y1 - 1997 SN - 3-87988-250-9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balderjahn, Ingo T1 - Empirical analysis of price response functions Y1 - 1998 ER -