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This article introduces the concept of sustainability-rooted anticonsumption (SRAC), which refers to consumers' anticonsumption practices of voluntary simplicity in living and, on a smaller level, collaborative consumption and boycotting with the goal of supporting sustainable economic development. The SRAC measurement approach is validated based on three empirical studies. Results of a representative German sample (Study 2) reveal that SRAC is predominantly negatively linked to consumer overconsumption dispositions. Exemplary, voluntary simplification and boycott intention may result in declining levels of indebtedness. Study 3 shows that psychosocial well-being is positively related to SRAC and overconsumption. However, a simplified lifestyle and a greater willingness to boycott are not necessarily associated with psychosocial well-being. This article provides insights for practitioners and policymakers to leverage existing SRAC values via “new” business models (sharing offers) or to influence the existing level of consciousness to effectively pave the way for solid progress in the sustainability movement.
Studien im Bereich des fairen Handels schätzen oftmals hohe Zahlungsbereitschaften der Kon-sumenten. Die geringen Marktanteile für fair gehandelte Produkte liefern jedoch ein anderes Bild und lassen auf eine hohe soziale Wünschbarkeit in den Antworten schließen. Ziel dieser Studie war es mittels Discrete-Choice-Analyse den Probanden in einer realitätsnahen Kaufsitua-tion sozialverträgliche Produkte anzubieten. Im Rahmen der Diskreten Entscheidungsanalyse wurden Kaufwahrscheinlichkeiten und Marktanteile für die einzelnen Produkte geschätzt. Ins-besondere in Kombination mit einem Markenprodukt lassen die ermittelten Mehrpreisbereit-schaften auf nicht unerhebliche Marktchancen für gesiegelte Produkte schließen. Die Ergebnis-se zeigen auch, dass mehr Informationen und höheres Vertrauen der Konsumenten über Fair Trade zu einer gesteigerten Preisbereitschaft führen. Als Resultat der Zertifizierung mit Fair Trade Siegeln wurden nicht zu unterschätzende Wettbewerbsvorteile für Produzenten von Kon-sumgütern festgestellt.
To purchase or not?
(2017)
Although ecologically and socially responsible consumption helps to reduce the harmful effects of resource use for both nature and society, all types of consumption (whether green or fair) deplete valuable resources. At the same time, to maintain household financial sustainability, spending should not exceed a household's financial resources. Thus, economically sustainable consumption is related to the consumer's decision to not buy products and the disposition to forgo specific purchases. Based on a means-end chain approach, this study investigates consumer cognitive decision-making structures related to six distinct options for economically (non-)sustainable consumption. Whereas saving motives, waste concerns, and avoidance motivations support economically sustainable decisions, economically non-sustainable decision-making is directly linked to attaining overall life goals. By clustering respondents based on the elicited means-end chains, the study discloses four consumer groups with distinctive motivational structures. The study also reveals several obstacles to promoting economic sustainability, indicates methods to overcome such obstacles, and suggests avenues for future research.
There are two fundamental ways in which consumers can express their concerns and obligations for society through their consumption decisions: They can boycott companies that they deem to be irresponsible or they may deliberately buy from companies that they perceive to act responsibly (‘buycott’). It has been largely ignored that individuals are driven by different motivational mechanisms to join boycotts and buycotts (punishment vs. reward of corporate behaviors), and thus, these mechanisms have disparate implications for the participating individual (e.g., high vs. low subjective costs because of a restriction in consumption habits). This paper fills this void and develops a framework suggesting that the extent to which consumers translate their concerns and obligations for society into a willingness to boycott and/or buycott is bounded by self-interest. Using a unique, representative sample of 1833 German consumers, this study reveals that the effects of environmental concerns and universalism on buycotting are amplified by hedonism, while the effects of social concern on buycotting and boycotting are attenuated by hedonism and simplicity, respectively. These results have far-reaching implications for organizations and policy planners who aim to change corporate behavior.
This article introduces the concept of sustainability-rooted anticonsumption (SRAC), which refers to consumers' anticonsumption practices of voluntary simplicity in living and, on a smaller level, collaborative consumption and boycotting with the goal of supporting sustainable economic development. The SRAC measurement approach is validated based on three empirical studies. Results of a representative German sample (Study 2) reveal that SRAC is predominantly negatively linked to consumer overconsumption dispositions. Exemplary, voluntary simplification and boycott intention may result in declining levels of indebtedness. Study 3 shows that psychosocial well-being is positively related to SRAC and overconsumption. However, a simplified lifestyle and a greater willingness to boycott are not necessarily associated with psychosocial well-being. This article provides insights for practitioners and policymakers to leverage existing SRAC values via “new” business models (sharing offers) or to influence the existing level of consciousness to effectively pave the way for solid progress in the sustainability movement.
Responding to the global call for a "sustainable economy" requires meaningful insights into sustainability-conscious consumers and their actual buying behaviors. Sustainable consumption is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon because it encompasses several distinct behavioral patterns and consumption types. Therefore, companies are well advised to recognize multiple types of sustainability-conscious consumers with different expectations, attitudes, and values and to implement targeting strategies that do not rest on the assumption of homogeneity. Thus, the objective of this study is to provide a more fine-grained picture of (un)sustainable consumer segments and their differentiated effects in different product markets. Based on three large datasets, we create a robust six-segment typology of consumer consciousness regarding sustainable consumption. By using panel data on actual purchases, the results show not only that sustainability concerns significantly positively influence actual sustainable purchases, as expected, but also that sustainable buying can occur independently of sustainability concerns.
Consciousness for fair consumption : conceptualization, scale development and empirical validation
(2013)
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.
Consciousness for fair consumption - conceptualization, scale development and empirical validation
(2013)
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.