Social influence on sustainable consumption: evidence from a behavioural experiment

Although social influence on consumers’ behaviour has been recognized and documented, the vast majority of empirical consumer studies about sustainable products considers mainly, if not only, individual characteristics (socio‐demographic attributes, individual environmental attitudes, etc.), to explain the decision to buy sustainable products. Making use of experimental methods, this paper studies the social influence that peer groups like colleagues, family and friends may exert in the decision to choose for environmentally friendly products rather than conventional ones. We also test for different types of social influence, in particular for ‘herd behaviour’ vs. ‘social learning’. In our experimental setting, the relevance of peer effects is corroborated. We find clear evidence for ‘herd behaviour’ and the data indirectly support the presence of ‘social learning’ effects. The results also suggest heterogeneous impact of specific social groups.     

Taboo in consumption: Social structure,gender and sustainable menstrual products

Although consumption taboos are prevalent in everyday life, consumer research interest in the topic remains scant and focuses mostly on taboo products. This research moves by focusing on taboo persons and explores how barriers are presented in consumption choices for such individuals. A qualitative research design was used in the study and in‐depth interviews were conducted with 31 women from middle and upper income classes who showed an inclination to purchase sustainable menstrual products (SMPs). This study analyses how the intimate and private consumption of SMPs gets transformed into a complex socially embedded consumption choice. The study explores how and why a social structure steeped in symbolic violence towards menstruating women constrains the consumption of SMPs. Disillusioned by patriarchal subordination, the women preferred to respect boundaries and maintain stability in their life. Despite their socialization and engagement in several sustainable consumption decisions prior to the consideration of SMPs, these women exhibited a lack of agency as they could not transgress orthodox gender boundaries even as their choice reinforced prevailing social inequalities. They sought to conform to the gendered habitus instead of engaging in an act of defiance. This act of self‐restraint, however, results in tensions as the women try to legitimize a consumption choice which is inconsistent with their attitude towards sustainable consumption. The study discusses the consequences of the new restrictions faced by the women as they reframe concerns about the environment and justify their choice.     

Effects of institutions on ecological attitudes and behaviour of consumers in a developing Asian country: the case of the Philippines

This study examines the effects of institutions emanating from the social environment on ecologically sustainable consumer behaviour in a developing country context. Drawing on the behavioural perspective model of consumer choice and institutional theory, this study argues that the regulative, normative and cognitive dimensions of the institutional environment play critical roles in shaping the pro‐environmental attitudes called eco‐attitudes of consumers. In turn, eco‐attitudes positively influence the eco‐behaviour of consumers. The structural equation modelling of data from a survey of 1045 consumers from the Philippines shows the significant and positive effects of the regulatory, normative and cognitive dimensions of the institutional environment on the eco‐attitudes of consumers, which in turn have strong positive influence on eco‐behaviour. The findings about the partial mediating role of eco‐attitudes offer a more nuanced explanation on how institutions explain the eco‐behaviour of consumers which is a topic that is less understood especially in a developing country context. The study highlights the theoretical, methodological, policy and future research implications of the findings.     

Modelling household conservation behaviour among ethnic consumers: the path from values to behaviours

This article tests a model that explains household conservation behaviour among ethnic consumers. Increasing immigration into Western countries has raised serious questions about the extent to which emerging ethnic communities contribute to environmental degradation or sustainability in their host countries. Previous research focused mainly on measuring ethnic consumers' environmental attitudes, worldviews and concerns, assuming that these ultimately lead to pro‐environmental behaviours. However, these studies overlooked the reality in which pro‐environmental attitudes are not automatically being translated into corresponding behaviours. This study explores the relationship between a set of factors that drive pro‐environmental behaviour, proposing a hierarchical model that depicts a flow from values to household conservation behaviours (i.e. recycling, water, electricity and energy conservation) and the intervening cognitive, affective and psychological variables. Results from a sample of 410 American Hispanic students indicate that the cultural value of collectivism influences conservation behaviour through the more specific factors of environmental values, environmental concern, perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) and concrete environmental knowledge. Interestingly, the influence of PCE was more apparent in routine, easy‐to‐perform behaviours such as water conservation and the behavioural aspect of electricity conservation. The influence of concrete environmental knowledge was more powerful in predicting recycling, the use of electricity‐efficient home appliances and energy conservation. Implications for the promotion of conservation behaviour and consumer education as well as directions for future research are discussed.     

A typology of Polish consumers and their behaviours in the market for sustainable textiles and clothing

The paper discusses Polish consumers' behaviours in the market for sustainable textiles and clothing. The analysis presented in this article was undertaken because of:

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Exit from the high street: an exploratory study of sustainable fashion consumption pioneers

In today's fashion system, dominated by business models predicated on continual consumption and globalized production systems that have major environmental and social impacts, the consumption of ‘sustainable fashion’ takes on an almost paradoxical quality. This paper explores this paradox by focusing on a previously under‐researched group of consumers – ‘sustainable fashion consumption pioneers’ who actively engage and shape their own discourse around the notion of sustainable fashion consumption. These pioneers actively create and communicate strategies for sustainable fashion behaviour that can overcome the nebulous and somewhat paradoxical reality that sustainable development in the fashion industry presents. Specifically, we use passive netnography and semi‐structured interviews to illuminate the role of motivational and contextual factors that help shape these consumers' definitions of sustainable fashion including such key behaviours as purchasing fewer garments of higher quality, exiting the retail market, purchasing only second‐hand fashion goods and sewing or upgrading their own clothing. Central to much of these behaviours is the notion that personal style, rather than fashion, can bridge the potential disconnect between sustainability and fashion while also facilitating a sense of well‐being not found in traditional fashion consumption. As such, our research suggests that for these consumers sustainability is as much about reducing measurable environmental or social impacts as it is about incorporating broader concepts through which to achieve goals beyond the pro‐environmental or ethical.     

The influence of a lockdown on consumption: An exploratory study on generation Z's consumers

The health crisis due to the recent pandemic influenced our lives and, consequently, our consumption. Despite prior investigations on exogenous crises and their effects on consumption, no studies to date have examined consumers' coping strategies to health crises that require social distancing and, more particularly, responses to such crises by focusing on Generation Z. The present study fills this gap by exploring how consumption evolved during a lockdown as a consequence of these consumers' attempts to cope with the crisis. Through a qualitative approach based on grounded theory and projective techniques, findings shed light on new meanings of resilience and nostalgia, which seem to characterize Generation Z's consumers' desires during a lockdown. Importantly, we introduce the concept of responsible hedonic consumption, which stems from Generation Z consumers' desire to search for experiences that are pleasant but also compatible with personal and societal wellbeing.     

Sustainable consumption: consumption,consumers and the commodity discourse

This paper examines the concept of sustainable consumption by focusing on the consumption habits of Irish consumers. The key research findings fit into three broad and interrelated categories. Firstly, whilst recent sustainable consumption literature suggests that new research should focus on the issue of consumption, in and of itself, our study shows that consumers themselves view environmental problems from a supply and not a demand perspective. They focus on issues such as recycling and waste and not consumption itself. Secondly, our study shows that consumers have green opinions about very diverse issues and these are directly related to the individuals' lifestyles. Finally, our research shows that “material green” consumers are buying into a particular image in their consumption practices. This is very much connected to the meanings of their consumption that are derived from the communication value they attach to commodities. As such our study provides support for earlier conceptual research which suggests that in order to encourage less consumption we must use existing commodity discourse to achieve such ends.     

Attitudes toward advertising held by the boomers and the busters: some facts and myths

In the United States one of the common perceptions of young consumers, called the baby busters or the Xers, is that they are more critical of advertising in general than the baby boomers. Unfortunately, however, little empirical evidence is available to back up this perception. This study compares the boomers and the busters in terms of their general attitude towards advertising and specific advertising beliefs. Contrary to popular press reports that busters have a more negative attitude towards advertising than baby boomers, no significant differences were found in the two groups' general attitude towards advertising and in four of five ad-belief factors. In fact, the busters were found to have more favourable beliefs about advertising's utility as a source of hedonic amusement, challenging the popular press portrayal of the busters as ‘cynical gripers’. On the other hand, consistent with the popular press reports, regression analysis showed that the busters are knowing consumers and they are perhaps more suspicious and critical of advertising hypes than the boomers. Since the findings may be relevant only in the US market, replications of the study in other countries would be an important contribution to global marketers.     

Towards sustainable consumption: an examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians

Environmental problems are mainly attributable to the impact of humans on natural systems. In the case of Malaysia, rapid urbanization and Malaysian consumer’ pursuit of consumption‐oriented lifestyles have intensified the solid‐waste management problem faced by the government. Increasing public environmental awareness is a potential way of addressing this. The objectives of the study described here were to assess the level of environmental knowledge among households in Selangor in Malaysia, examine the sources of their environmental knowledge, determine factors that lead to different levels of knowledge and analyse the relationship between knowledge and environmental attitude, behaviour and participation. The results of the study indicate that, in general, respondents’ basic or general environmental knowledge was high. However, when questioned on various scientific environmental terms, the majority of the respondents were not familiar with most of them. Respondents indicated that their main sources of environmental knowledge and information were newspapers, television and radio. Lower levels of education were reflected in the level of environmental knowledge. Participation in environmental activities had a positive influence on knowledge. The study also found that knowledge correlated positively with environmental attitudes, behaviours and participation.     

Place identity and sustainable consumption: implications for social marketing

Place identity is a self-identity dimension related to a physical setting. This study measured place identity relating to residential neighborhood, based on levels of attachment, continuity with personal past, perception of familiarity, cohesion and social acceptance. The study examined the proposition that people with strong place identity are committed to their neighborhoods, in turn leading to positive sustainable consumption attitude and behavior. Structural equation modeling empirically verified a theoretical model developed from the environmental psychology, consumer behavior and marketing literatures. A telephone survey was conducted of 409 residents in two suburbs in the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area, Malaysia. The finding that place identity and commitment to the residential suburb are strong motivational drivers of sustainable consumption-related attitude and behavior has important implications for social marketing.     

Determinants of how individuals choose,eat and waste: Providing common ground to enhance sustainable food consumption out‐of‐home

The transformation of food consumption in wealthy economies is regarded as an essential measure to reach global sustainability goals. However, existing policies and research activities to change food consumption in the increasingly relevant out‐of‐home sector relate to a wide set of options on how to influence behaviours and may be criticized to lack a general focus. Against this background, our study provides a structured review of the existing research body on the determinants of individuals’ food choices and food consumption out‐of‐home. It structures the various research approaches and findings for 110 selected papers according to a general ecological framework where personal, social and environmental determinants for food behaviours are considered. By providing a collective overview and linking results for different behavioural aspects and settings, this study supports a more general understanding of consumer food behaviour in out‐of‐home settings. Consequently, it also provides a means to identify research gaps and to suggest relevant aspects for future research to draw from the combination of findings and to enhance sustainability in food consumption.     

Gender differences in Egyptian consumers’ green purchase behaviour: the effects of environmental knowledge,concern and attitude

This study investigates the influence of three cognitive and attitudinal factors on gender differences in green purchase behaviour. Using a large sample size (n = 1093), a survey has been developed and administered across Egypt. The findings from the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) confirm the influence of consumers’ ecological knowledge, concern and attitude on gender differences in green purchase behaviour. Consistent with previous studies, this study found that women appeared to be less aware of environmental issues compared with men. However, contrary to other studies conducted in the West, men showed more environmental concern and more positive outlook towards green purchase compared with women. The study discusses how the present findings may help policy makers and marketers alike to fine‐tune their environmental and marketing programmes.     

Developing conditions for environmentally sustainable consumption: drawing insight from anti‐smoking policy

This paper starts from the premise that, particularly in industrialized countries, the consumption decisions made by individuals and households are a major source of environmental strain. Several international organizations and national governments have addressed this issue, but, thus far, their efforts have had minimal effect. This paper examines the conditions necessary for the implementation of policy able to effectively reduce the environmental impact of household consumption. It draws from the experience of American tobacco control, a relatively rare example of a public effort that succeeded in reducing the negative consequences of an entitled consumer behaviour. An extensive review of the tobacco control literature informs the conclusion that three fundamental changes brought about conditions conducive to a widespread reduction in smoking, namely, information about its negative effects became common knowledge and was widely believed as true; cigarettes became a target for taxes that raised the price of smoking while placing a penalty on a behaviour increasingly seen as ‘bad’; the public sentiment regarding smoking shifted, deglamourizing the behaviour. The paper further suggests that these changes, which were the result of a concerted public effort, have a similar potential in reducing environmentally unsustainable consumption. A closer tying of consumption to the issue of climate change is suggested as a primary facilitating strategy.     

Limits to labels: The role of eco‐labels in the assessment of product sustainability and routes to sustainable consumption

There has been rapid development in the methods, data and protocols for the assessment of product sustainability over the past decade. Notwithstanding this welcome development, the widespread provision of sustainable products has not occurred. Moreover, indications from a myriad of surveys suggest that consumers remain full of intent to purchase sustainably, yet these stated preferences have not translated into a widespread uptake in the purchase of more sustainable products. Heightened interest in climate change over the past couple of years has led to rising calls for labelling to allow consumers to differentiate between more or less sustainable options. Such calls apparently assume that if consumers are presented with appropriate label information their purchases will change and more sustainable purchasing will result. For many observers these calls bring more than a ring of déjà vu as the failures (or at least unfulfilled expectations) of environmental labelling schemes of the past spring to mind. A review and assessment of eco‐labelling schemes is presented. Discussion focuses on the history, successes and failures of such schemes, and consideration of their potential role (or not) in future shifts towards sustainable consumption. Behavioural, social practice, institutional and infrastructure factors are considered and labelling, legislation and other options are explored. Conclusions are drawn regarding potential routes to sustainable consumption, with particular reference to eco‐labels.     

Exploring the influence of family on adolescents’ seafood consumption choices

Seafood in the adolescent diet has many benefits, yet a number of adolescents do not consume the recommended levels. Despite this the consumption of seafood by younger consumers has received scant attention in the extant literature. Previous studies on adolescents’ food‐related behaviour tend to focus on general choice mechanisms or perceptions of food and mainly relate to fruit and vegetable intake. The present study seeks to address this gap through investigating the impact of family upon the consumption of seafood by younger consumers through exploring adolescents’ attitudes and behaviour in regard to eating seafood. Utilizing an exploratory qualitative methodology, seven focus groups of adolescents aged 13–19 years were conducted at two schools in South West England. Discussions covered a range of issues related to adolescent seafood consumption. The use of thematic content analysis found that the family, and parents in particular, exert high levels of influence over adolescents’ consumption of seafood both at home and when dining out. The parent who does the shopping and cooking has the greatest role. Sibling preferences and dietary choices also influence whether seafood is served in the home. Of value to researchers and management are the insights gleaned into the influences on adolescents’ attitudes towards and behaviour in regard to eating seafood. In particular, encouraging seafood consumption will rely upon interventions aimed at both parents and children and need to take into account adolescents’ diet and lifestyle preferences, while also acknowledging the influence of peers and the school food environment.     

Promoting sustainable financial behaviour: implications for education and research

The current financial crisis has clearly shown that national financial health is strongly tied to the household financial well‐being, and that most consumers were not well equipped with knowledge they needed to cope with this crisis. The failure of markets, institutions, businesses and households during the current financial crisis also revealed the serious economic risks posed by widespread unethical and irresponsible behaviour. The focus of this paper is to explore how, through financial education, we can improve the economic performance of individuals in the economy, both for their own well‐being and for the well‐being of society at large. However, for that to happen, the current approach to financial education will have to include the discussion of attitudes, values and beliefs that enable us to make financial decision that promote long‐term security for families and communities. After establishing the importance of financial education, the challenges and opportunities of the current status of financial education, with emphasis on the complexity of human and financial behaviour, are discussed. It, then, argues for the promotion of responsible behaviour by integrating fundamental values in financial education. Discussion of how selected learning theories can be used to develop effective teaching approaches and the implications for future research conclude the paper.     

Identity,self‐concept and young women’s engagement with collaborative,sustainable fashion consumption models

It is clear from extant theory that fashion consumption is intrinsically bound to self‐concept and social identity. As such, many individuals over consume in pursuit of ideal identities, particularly in periods of heightened awareness of identity development, such as their youth. This study thus takes one group of fashion over‐consumers, young females, and seeks to identify core motivations towards and barriers for collaborative consumption of clothing and fashion products, though the lens of self‐identity and social interaction. The study adopts a theory of planned behaviour approach, using in‐depth interviews to examine norms of behaviour in fashion consumption and develops a conceptual model for understanding of how these individuals construct a fashion identity within the social contexts of four alternative forms of consumption (renting, borrowing, swapping and purchasing second‐hand). Furthermore, the study examines perceived barriers to participation in these four alternative fashion consumption forms. The study finds that social and ethical implications of sustainable consumption behaviour are the least likely motivators towards engagement with collaborative fashion consumption models within this group, and that opportunities for individual identity expression are the most sought after benefits of such engagement. This research contributes to the literature regarding sustainability issues generally, in the context of fashion consumption, and deepens one’s understanding of young female consumers’ willingness to participate in sustainable consumption actions.     

Gender and Export Behaviour: Evidence from Women-Owned Enterprises

This article draws on the results of a qualitative, exploratory study of 20 Australian women business owners to demonstrate how using a ‹gender as social identity’ lens provides new insights into the influence of gender on exporting and entrepreneurial behaviour. Interview data reveal perceptions of gender identity and gender relations varied and influenced the interpretations which women business owners placed on their exporting activities. Women in the study used different terms to describe exporter and entrepreneurial characteristics to those found in extant literature. A strong theme was exporting as a life-changing experience that allowed the women to grow personally as well as grow the business and succeed as exporters.