Transformative Topics April

As we look back on April as Earth Day, a time dedicated to raising environmental awareness and encouraging actions that can promote a healthier planet, we feature the Special Issue on "Behaviour Change for Sustainable Consumption," edited by Wencke Gwozdz, Lucia Reisch, John Thøgersen in the Journal of Consumer Policy.

In reflecting on the special issue, John describes their aims and what the special issue uncovered in its featured articles:

This special issue (SI) is the most recent (but definitely not the last) of a range of SIs in the Journal of Consumer Policy on understanding and promoting sustainable consumption. Like the previsious SIs, this one focuses on strategies to induce behaviour changes for sustainable consumption in private households and on key motivational and contextual prerequisites. Our aim was to provide insights on instruments and prerequisites for radical behaviour changes, for which the included papers draw on a variety of theoretical and methodological angles and approaches. They cover policy interventions for constraining over-consumption, behaviour-specific instruments to produce voluntary behaviour change (de-hassling and eco-labelling), and consumers’ willingness to adopt interventions, such as ‘consumption corridors’.

Overall, this special issue contributes to many aspects of existing literature and opens future avenues. One important takeaway is that consumer acceptance and adoption of sustainable behaviour depend on both, lowering the barriers to perform those behaviours as well as finding well-targeted means—whether traditional or creative—to reach consumers. The articles in this special issue show the manifold and creative ways sustainable consumption behaviour can be influenced in order to limit private households’ contribution to global warming.

Summary of articles:

De Vries, G., Rietkerk, M., & Kooger, R. (2019). The hassle factor as a psychological barrier to a green home. Journal of Consumer Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-019-09410-7.

Defila, R., & Di Giulio, A. (2020). The concept of “consumption corridors” meets society: How an idea for fundamental changes in consumption is received. Journal of Consumer Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-019-09437-w

Eastman, J. K., Modi, P., & Gordon-Wilson, S. (2019). The impact of future time perspective and personality on the sustainable behaviours of seniors. Journal of Consumer Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-019-09440-1

Gåvertsson, I., Milios, L., & Dalhammar, C. (2018). Quality labelling for re-used ICT equipment to support consumer choice in the circular economy. Journal of Consumer Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-018-9397-9

Koivula, A., Kukkonen, I., Sivonen, J., & Räsänen, P. (2019). Is there room for ethical consumers on the Finnish political spectrum? Journal of Consumer Policy.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-019-09414-3

Kuchler, F., Bowman, M., Sweitzer, M., & Greene, C. (2018). Evidence from retail food markets that consumers are confused by natural and organic food labels. Journal of Consumer Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-018-9396-x

Rich, S. A., Wright, B. J., & Bennett, P. C. (2019). Development of the Voluntary Simplicity Engagement Scale: measuring low-consumption lifestyles. Journal of Consumer Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-018-9400-5

Read: Gwozdz, Wencke, Lucia A. Reisch, and John Thøgersen. "Behaviour change for sustainable consumption." Journal of Consumer Policy 43 (2020): 249-253.

Abstract:

The Paris Agreement goal to limit global warming to 1.5 C by 2100 translates into a carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emission reduction from around 40 gigatons in 2020 to around 5 gigatons (Rockström et al. 2017). As part of a long-term strategy to achieve this goal, technological innovations are necessary, but not sufficient. Another necessary element is changes in consumer and household behaviours, which cannot wait for the long term. In the EU, for example, households account for nearly 20% of total CO2 emissions (Eurostat 2017). Furthermore, there is a large variation in private households’ consumption patterns, which shows that demand-side interventions targeted at private households are indeed promising (Dubois et al. 2019). The largest contributions to CO2 emissions from private households come from personal transport, thermal energy use, electricity consumption, and accommodation as well as consumption of food and consumer goods and services (Kalbar et al. 2016; Steen-Olsen and Hertwich 2015). Private households can substantially reduce their CO2 emissions by adopting new or altering the use of in-home and transportation-related technologies or changing consumption patterns related to food and other consumer goods (Gardner and Stern 2008).

This special issue focuses on strategies to induce behaviour changes for sustainable consumption in private households and on key motivational and contextual prerequisites. The aim is to provide insights on instruments and prerequisites for radical behaviour changes, for which the included papers draw on a variety of theoretical and methodological angles and approaches.