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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2022) | Viewed by 31655

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Anat Tchetchik

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Guest Editor

Geography and Environment, Bar-Ilan university, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Interests: environmental economics; sustainable/green consumption; pro-environmental decision making
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is little doubt that the Earth is facing an environmental crisis due to humanity’s disproportionate pressure on the planet. This crisis bears worldwide catastrophic consequences, including global warming along with the resultant melting of glaciers in the poles; serious threats to global biodiversity; tremendous overuse of natural resources. In particular, human consumption of natural resources, combined with very low global repair and recycling rates, has led to a waste crisis.

In light of these alarming environmental threats, policy makers at all levels are trying to mitigate anthropogenic pressure by various means, including the imposition of regulations. However, the effectiveness and efficiency of measures such as “command and control” and market-based tools are limited. It is becoming clear that a global improvement in the environment will not be realized without truly harnessing consumers. The accumulated effects of billions of individual decisions have major impacts on the environment and these are projected to be exacerbated as both the size and wealth of the human population continue to grow. Encouraging green consumption, thus, is considered a key challenge in addressing the environmental crisis and mitigating climate change.

Plastic probably presents the largest challenge. Plastics make up 85% of beach litter across the world and micro-plastics have been found in the air, water, and soil. Nevertheless, plastic is of huge convenience to consumers and is characterized by a large benefit–cost ratio. Given the obstacles to enacting and effectively enforcing hard regulation, reducing the consumption of plastics—as well as other harmful environmental habits—may require a mix of hard and soft regulatory measures. These issues have not received enough attention in the literature.

Another issue, which has largely been neglected, is the effect of policy measures and other interventions aimed at evoking green consumption among minorities and faith-based communities. Recent evidence indicates that COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted racial and ethnic minorities. At the same time, the outbreak of COVID-19 has been indirectly linked to climate change. This creates a window of opportunity to evoke behavioral change among minority and faith-based communities.

This Special Issue welcomes theoretical and empirical contributions that will identify and strive to bridge these and other gaps in current knowledge. Contributions can be drawn from behavioral economics, psychology and economics, and related fields. Contributions should have a clear policy and/or managerial implications and should help to guide decision-makers, at all levels, towards sustainable consumption and, ultimately, efficient growth.

Dr. Anat Tchetchik
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

green consumption
sustainable consumption
pro-environmental consumption
consumption reduction
single-use plastics
soft regulation
green nudges

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 933 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sharing Is Caring: An Economic Analysis of Consumer Engagement in an Electric Vehicle Sharing Service

by Marie Briguglio and Glenn Formosa

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5502; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15065502 - 21 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1417

Abstract

A growing population and increasing consumer demand have created unprecedented pressures on the environment and natural resources. The private vehicles market, one of the largest markets in the world, is associated with considerable environmental costs. Sharing electric vehicles, where consumers can enjoy the benefits of a greener vehicle without owning it, has emerged as an innovation that can reduce some of the environmental costs of ownership. However, uncertainty around the determinants of participation remain. This study employs an econometric model using survey and experimental data that were collected at the initial stages of the roll-out of an electric-vehicle-sharing service in Malta, in order to identify the psychological factors that determine the willingness to use and to pay for such a service, the propensity to walk to a car-sharing station, as well as the likelihood of scrapping a privately owned vehicle. The findings suggest that engagement in the car-sharing market is more likely to take place among those who have a lower psychological attachment to the private car, are already using multiple transport methods and are sharing a car with other household members. A large number of cars per household and a high use are negatively associated with uptake. The results also suggest that consumers who care about the environment are more likely to engage in car sharing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Preferences towards Green Consumption)

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22 pages, 7673 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Humor Helps: An Experimental Analysis of Pro-Environmental Social Media Communication

by Therese Bonnici, Marie Briguglio and Glen William Spiteri

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5157; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15065157 - 14 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2976

Abstract

Communication-based interventions are popular among both governmental and non-governmental organizations in many environmental domains. Yet, studies on the role of humor in social media communication to stimulate pro-environmental behavior have received limited attention. This study employs an experimental approach to assess the effect of using humor (in the form of satirical cartoons) either alongside, or in place of, factual pro-environmental messages in social media communication. It assesses the impact of humor in stimulating a reaction to a pro-environmental message on social media, a share, or a declared intent to change behavior. Our findings reveal that the inclusion of humor elicits a greater response than a factual message alone but that combining a humorous cartoon with a factual text creates the greatest difference. These findings are fairly consistent across six environmental domains and survive formal regression analysis which controlled for the impacts of co-determinants such as age, gender, education, social media engagement, and environmental preferences. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Preferences towards Green Consumption)

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13 pages, 347 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Consumer, Retailer, and Producer Green Orientation as a Marketing Driver: An Empirical Study in an Urban Food Market

by Duarte Xara-Brasil, João Pedro Cordeiro, Luísa Cagica Carvalho, Pedro Pardal and Paulo Duarte Silveira

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3439; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15043439 - 13 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1379

Abstract

This article analyzes consumer, local producer, and retailer green orientation regarding local food production and consumption in an urban food market context. This approach extends previous research, mainly focused on green orientation of consumers, by including a broader analysis of the perceptions of different relevant stakeholders. For this purpose, an empirical study was carried out in the context of a local urban market of a medium-sized city through the application of a survey to producers, retailers, and consumers, which included a green orientation scale. Results showed that local consumers and local retailers have a similar high level of green orientation, while local producers are less green-oriented. These conclusions highlight the importance of the green “values” in local communities and the need to reinforce marketing efforts and specific training programs to different stakeholders, namely local producers focused on sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Preferences towards Green Consumption)

19 pages, 568 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Time for Tea: Factors of Service Quality, Memorable Tourism Experience and Loyalty in Sustainable Tea Tourism Destination

by Siew Imm Ng, Xin-Jean Lim, C. Michael Hall, Keng Kok Tee, Norazlyn Kamal Basha, Wan Siti Nabilah Binti Ibrahim and Sara Naderi Koupaei

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14327; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142114327 - 02 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2888

Abstract

Underpinned by Script Theory and the S-O-R model, this research enhances the green tourism consumption literature to identify how destination service quality contributes to visitors’ memorable experiences and loyalty towards a place-based food tourism attraction. A total of 202 tourists who visited the Best of Highlands tea plantation in Malaysia were surveyed using an online questionnaire. Using PLS-SEM, this study has several notable findings: (i) destination service quality factors: activities, cleanliness, language, and security emerged as predictors of memorable tourism experiences; (ii) memorable tourism experiences strongly predicted destination loyalty; and (iii) memorable tourism experiences mediate the path between destination service quality and destination loyalty. This study therefore provides new insights into both sustainable tea tourism and script theory with respect to how memories guide future decision making. These results also provide insights for tea tourism providers in designing an unforgettable destination that stimulates the tourist’s intention to revisit the destination and to communicate it to others. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Preferences towards Green Consumption)

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18 pages, 3135 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Group Consumption and Ecological Footprint: The Effect of Habits and Lifestyle

by Shlomit Flint Ashery

Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13270; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142013270 - 15 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1353

Abstract

Different religious communities seem to tell different tales about the influence of consumption on the ecological footprint, and the boundaries created between consumption and places. Our case study, Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood in Jerusalem, is highly segregated and provides us with a unique opportunity to examine the consumption habits of essential products and disposable utensils, as well as the circumstances, barriers, and facilitators that contribute to the production and maintenance of ecological footprints. Using a door-to-door survey, our findings hint at a link between multi-generational consumption habits of certain essential products, including unhealthy food and disposable utensils and low family income, health, and environmental impacts. Aside from affecting an individual’s health, these choices also have a greater footprint. As the Haredi demographic becomes more prominent in Israeli society, its influence on the environment grows. lifestyle characteristics and habits are not merely a product of limited resources and residents may prefer to consume low-quality foods or spend money on plastic even when they can afford other alternatives. Such preferences at the household level affect the larger components of the neighbourhood and affect the entire urban matrix as a whole. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Preferences towards Green Consumption)

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23 pages, 761 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Consumers Purchase Intentions of Green Electric Vehicles: The Influence of Consumers Technological and Environmental Considerations

by Bireswar Dutta and Hsin-Ginn Hwang

Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 12025; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132112025 - 30 Oct 2021

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 14327

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to explore barriers influencing consumers’ intention to adopt sustainable electric vehicles (EV) based on the modified theory of planned behavior (TPB) model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were employed to analyze the research model, using 262 valid responses. The findings of the current study explored how attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) significantly influenced users’ sustainable consumption intentions. The finding also explored ways in which environmental concern significantly influenced ATT, SN, PBC, and sustainable consumption intention of the users. Not only measurements of vehicle performance, namely safety, reliability, and range, but other factors, such as purchasing price, charging facility, and maintenance and battery cost also influenced consumers’ sustainable consumption intentions. The predictive power of the proposed model (R2 = 63.5) was better than the original TPB (R2 = 53.6). Results also indicated that Taiwanese are primarily concerned about the greenhouse effects on the environment, which reflected their sustainable consumption intentions. The conclusions of the current study could assist government and policymakers in designing sustainable programs, which could improve consumers’ sustainable consumption intentions to prevent further air pollution and reduce CO₂ emissions from the transportation sector. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Preferences towards Green Consumption)

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19 pages, 571 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Green Attributes in Young Consumers’ Purchase Intentions: A Cross-Country, Cross-Product Comparative Study Using a Discrete Choice Experiment

by Chi Thao Dinh, Takuro Uehara and Takahiro Tsuge

Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9825; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13179825 - 01 Sep 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5906

Abstract

As consumption behavior is one of the key human activities destabilizing the Earth system, green consumption is expected to increase. However, although consumers often show interest in green consumption, they tend to choose non-green alternatives. Presuming that one of the reasons for their inconsistency lies in the trade-offs between green attributes and other attributes (e.g., brand, performance, and price), this study adopted a discrete choice experiment to understand how green attributes play a role in consumers’ purchase decisions. To obtain a deeper understanding, the study conducted a cross-country (young Japanese [n = 370] and Vietnamese [n = 403] consumers) and product (water bottles and T-shirts) comparative analysis. The findings showed that for both products, Japanese respondents were less appreciative of green attributes in both relative and absolute terms than Vietnamese respondents. Furthermore, the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for a low environmental impact was the highest among the other attributes in both products for Vietnamese respondents, while this was not the case for Japanese respondents. Utilizing the findings obtained from the conditional logit models and MWTP, this study proposes several policy implications for the promotion of green purchases suitable for each country’s unique situation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Preferences towards Green Consumption)

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