Individual strategies for sustainable consumption

McDonald, Seonaidh; Oates, Caroline; Alevizou, Panayiota J.; Young, William; Hwang, Kumju

doi:10.1080/0267257x.2012.658839

Cited by 134 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…This complexity in decoding information falls under the complexity of sustainable consumption decision making as argued by a number of researchers in the past [64,[71][72][73]. In other words we argue that consumers will never be/or should not be up to date with current and fast changing labelling developments but they have a right to truthful, useful and substantiated on-pack information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Well(s) of Knowledge: The Decoding of Sustainability Claims in the UK and in Greece

2015

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Sustainability claims have existed on fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) for over four decades and there is evidence that they are increasing. Research suggests that consumers have a low level of knowledge and understanding of such labels. It has been found that environmental and labelling knowledge may influence consumption behaviour but the findings so far have been inconsistent. Furthermore, the issue of knowledge and particularly sense making of the variety of claims found on FMCGs today is somewhat under researched. In this paper we investigate the types of knowledge consumers draw upon in order to decode and make sense of different types of labels across two countries. We carried out a qualitative study in the UK and Greece with 12 focus groups and utilised concepts of knowledge to investigate consumer decoding of labelling. We found that overall consumers have limited labelling knowledge and understanding even though their environmental knowledge may vary. This limited labelling knowledge makes consumers feel unsettled and unsure about their shopping decisions. Finally, we identified areas where consumers demonstrated limited knowledge and requested further information and education. This has important implications for companies, marketers, and policy makers if sustainability claims are to promote and support sustainable consumption.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Well(s) of Knowledge: The Decoding of Sustainability Claims in the UK and in Greece

2015

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“…The respondents were self-selected in that they volunteered themselves for the study and identified themselves as green consumers (see below). There is no agreed definition of what is meant by green consumer and different literatures use overlapping terms (McDonald, Oates, Alevizou, Young, & Hwang, 2012). Our understanding of this term is someone who deliberately seeks to reduce the environmental and/or negative social impact of their own consumption.…”

Section: Methods: Eliciting Rationalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The interview followed a protocol developed by members of the research team for an earlier project (McDonald et al, 2012). The interviews were designed to elicit detailed descriptions of the decision-making processes surrounding recent vacation or business travel purchases.…”

Section: Methods: Eliciting Rationalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast to discussions about short-haul flights, it was very rare to find consumers who considered alternatives to long-haul flights. It may be the case that long-haul flights are simply accepted as non-green and, as a result, purchased without reference to green criteria (McDonald et al, 2012). One green consumer did consider the possibility of travelling by boat and train from the UK to Japan, but this was certainly an exception.…”

Section: Not Flyingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flying in the face of environmental concern: why green consumers continue to fly

McDonald

Oates

Thyne

et al. 2015

Journal of Marketing Management

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131

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“…As the issue of meat consumption is a specific part of sustainable food consumption, we could improve our understanding of the characteristics of meat-reducing consumers by taking note of a number of other tripartite classifications. For instance, the three approaches to sustainability as described by Hopwood et al (2005); the three groups of sustainable consumers as divided and defined by Seyfang (2007), McDonald et al (2012), and Verain et al (2012); or the three forms of voluntary simplicity developed by Etzioni (2003) are possibly helpful to further research that tries to gain insight into flexitarians.…”

Section: Modes Of Meat Reduction In Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability and meat consumption: is reduction realistic?

Dagevos

Voordouw

2013

Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy

129

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Meat is critical with respect to sustainability because meat products are among the most energy-intensive and ecologically burdensome foods. Empirical studies of the meat-consumption frequency of Dutch consumers show that, apart from meat-avoiders and meat-eaters, many people are meat-reducers that eat no meat at least one day per week. Meat-consumption frequencies provide empirical evidence for different modes of "flexitarianism," including light, medium, and heavy flexitarians. In particular, the existence of heavy flexitarians suggests that the customary position of meat and other animal-based dietary products in the food hierarchy is not inviolable. To improve our understanding of meat reduction, cluster analysis adds information about differences across flexitarians. Given the enormous environmental impact of animal-protein consumption and the apparent sympathy of consumers for meat reduction, it is surprising that politicians and policy makers demonstrate little, if any, interest in strategies to reduce meat consumption and to encourage more sustainable eating practices.

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Individual strategies for sustainable consumption

Cited by 134 publications

References 55 publications

The Well(s) of Knowledge: The Decoding of Sustainability Claims in the UK and in Greece

The Well(s) of Knowledge: The Decoding of Sustainability Claims in the UK and in Greece

Flying in the face of environmental concern: why green consumers continue to fly

Sustainability and meat consumption: is reduction realistic?

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