Social pressures play a more significant role in influencing sustainable consumer behaviour than price or product information, a new study led by researchers from the Hamburg School of Business Administration (HSBA) has found.
The study, Attitude Without Action: What Really Hinders Ethical Consumption, which was published in the Journal of Business Ethics, examined why environmentally-conscious attitudes often fail to translate into action – in other words, why people that care about sustainability don’t always adopt sustainable shopping habits.
‘For instance, one can perceive ethical consumption as inconvenient because of the necessity to invest additional time or effort and nevertheless consume ethically,’ as the authors put it.
As it found, sustainable consumption ‘requires more social pressure’ – with sustainable shopping habits often shaped by social norms.
‘Genuine motivation’
“People are often willing to pay more or spend extra time searching for sustainable products if they are genuinely motivated to make environmentally conscious choices,” commented Zara Berberyan, a doctoral student at the Hamburg School of Business Administration and Leuphana University Lüneburg, and a co-lead on the study.
“But without pressure from others, even the strongest convictions cannot resist the temptations of cheap mass consumption.”
In other words, when there is little or no expectation from others to behave sustainably, personal motivation alone is often insufficient to change consumption patterns.
As the study notes, the urgency to change consumption habits has never been greater than it is today, and as such, social environments – whether friends, family, colleagues, or community members – have an important role to play a decisive role in normalising sustainable habits.
Fashion attitudes
The study also explores the role that marketers and policymakers can play in seeking to stimulate ethical consumption – in fashion, for example, consumers are not always willing to prioritise social or environmental benefits over their personal interests.
This presents a ‘need for more effective communication about ethical consumption attributes that are perceived as personally advantageous,’ the authors state.
‘Furthermore, as consumers are more likely to translate their ethical attitudes into behaviour if they perceive stronger social pressure, working with influencers who endorse ethical claims could be beneficial. Designing social media campaigns that stress the ethical fashion choices of celebrities and opinion leaders can amplify this effect.’ Read more here.
