Sustainable Consumption for a Better Life: Consumer Well-Being—A Review and Research Agenda

International Journal of Consumer Studies

Studies on consumer responsible behavior (CRB) and consumer well-being (CWB) have grown exponentially over the past 20 years. Although these lines of research have been developed independently, an important number of studies have focused on the connections between them. This article offers a systematic review of the existing literature at the intersection between CRB and CWB. Following the theory-context-characteristics-methods (TCCM) framework, proposed by Paul and Rosado-Serrano, and using SciMAT software for thematic analysis, we analyze and synthesize 79 articles published in high-quality peer-reviewed journals. Our findings show that personal values and self-determination theories are central in the literature, while the food, clothing, and tourism sectors prevail in empirical studies. We provide a comprehensive overview of the most influential theoretical approaches, most frequently studied contexts (e.g., countries and industries), key constructs, and methodological designs. We propose future research avenues for each TCCM dimension. Among them, we emphasize the need to research underrepresented regions, such as Africa and Latin America, and adopt more advanced methods that can capture the complex relationships between CRB and CWB. This review contributes to a better understanding of how responsible consumption influences well-being and paves the way for sustainability-oriented policy development and transformative consumer research.