Introduction

With the promotion of Agenda 2030 across the world, consumers are now more conscious of sustainability issues. A report from 2021 identified the fact that 32 percent of global consumers were engaged in adopting a more sustainable lifestyle (Deloitte, n.d.). The rate of change and the awareness, however, differ greatly between regions and countries. Continental Europe and the Nordic countries, in particular, have reached a higher level of acceptance and awareness regarding sustainability issues, while Asia generally has lower levels (Wolf et al., 2022). In order to achieve global change in the battle against climate change and environmental degradation, it is important that consumers in all parts of the world actively engage in more sustainable consumption.

Asia has been at the epicenter of economic growth in the world during recent decades. Over the next decade, it is expected that Asian consumption growth will account for 50 percent of the world total, while the United States and the European Union will account for 15 percent each (McKinsey, 2021). This trend not only infers opportunities, but also challenges. While Asia is a growing market for retailers, the diversity in income levels, consumer perceptions, and inequalities, and the magnitude of the environmental and social problems, put a limit to how much consumption can increase without radically disrupting these societies’ way of life and the world at large. Hence, a major dilemma in Asia is the conflict between the growing purchasing power of consumers and the rapidly growing sustainability problems. For example, Asia today accounts for over 50 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions while China alone accounts for over 30 percent (Statista, n.d.). There is emerging evidence of more sustainable consumption in Asia as the magnitude of the sustainability problems facing Asia has started to make Asian consumers more concerned and reflexive as customers. However, the United Nations (2019) notes that extra effort is needed on the part of Asian countries to get on track regarding sustainable consumption.

This chapter looks at some of the drivers of and impediments to sustainable consumption in Asia. Two countries, Taiwan and China, have been chosen in order to illustrate the various development patterns of sustainable consumption. Taiwan is a country which experienced a long period of rapid economic growth during the 1980–1990s, today being considered a modern advanced economy. Consumption has assumed features similar to other advanced nations, including an increased awareness of sustainability. China, the world’s most populous country, has also been growing rapidly until recently and, today being an upper middle income country, albeit with an unevenly distributed wealth structure. With a growing middle class accounting for almost half its population, this country’s consumption has risen (ChinaPower, n.d.). China’s trajectory from a developing nation to a global economic giant continues to face significant environmental and social challenges that risk dramatically changing society at a fundamental level. Given the transitory economic situation China is facing, the notion of sustainable consumption has yet to garner a broad level of attention among the general population. Changes are, however, slowly emerging. This chapter focuses on some of the major individual and institutional impediments to sustainable consumption in Taiwan and China.

Sustainable Consumption Factors

In this chapter, I refer to sustainable consumption as “doing more and better with less”. Such consumption can include, for example, switching to less polluting modes of transportation, using energy-efficient appliances, and housing, buying clothes that are produced more sustainably, or switching to organic food. It is understood that the daily consumption decisions individuals make have some indirect or direct impact on the environment. In Asia, the trend toward sustainable consumption is being driven naturally by environmental problems that are both noticeable and growing, but also by the increased empowerment of women in parts of Asia and a large number of scandals involving unscrupulous companies (see Li & Joffre, 2020). However, Asia is a very contrastive continent as regards consumption patterns and shifting consumer preferences, due to differences in urbanization levels, development status, income levels, gender inequalities, cultural practices, and sustainability challenges. As such, it is important to understand the major trends impacting consumption in Asia.

Recognition that sustainable consumption is contextually dependent has been seized on by many authors (e.g., Pekkanen, 2021). Explanations of why sustainable consumption patterns differ between contexts have centered on, for example, culture, psychology, business practices, or necessity. The pre-existing culture of a particular context can facilitate, or hinder, the adoption of such pressures, both through a norming effect (i.e., existent norms filtering adoption), and a conforming effect (i.e., influencing the extent to which actors are expected to adhere to social norms) (see Caprar & Neville, 2012). Sustainable consumerism can be implicitly embedded in social norms systems, such as has historically been the case in the Scandinavian countries, unlike more clearly self-regulated institutional contexts such as China, where practices have tended to be explicit. Hence, the adoption of sustainable consumption by various countries will reflect a historical legacy and differing cultural norms and values, due to such an important part of the formation of behaviors being the impact of the institutional environment (Pekkanen, 2021).

Sustainable consumption is also influenced by a set of factors identified by Young et al. (2010, p. 28), including: the consumer’s green value is strong; the consumer has purchase experience; the consumer has plenty of time for research and decision-making; he/she has good knowledge of the relevant environmental issues; green products are reasonably available and the consumer can afford, and is prepared for, the financial costs. These are associated with individual drivers of or impediments to sustainable consumption. In this chapter, a framework is used to indicate how sustainable consumption is impacted by institutional and individual factors. In Fig. 11.1 below, some of the main aspects are illustrated.

Fig. 11.1
A conceptual framework presents the institutional and individual factors that influence sustainable consumption. Institutional factors include culture, regulation, and state. Individual factors include education, materialism, and information.

Factors impacting sustainable consumption

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The institutional factors: The institutional setting emphasizes the normative factors, for example, regulations or other norms like culture impacting an individual’s decision, and are contextually dependent (Pekkanen, 2021). Regulatory factors can relate to rules and regulations that require individuals or corporations to change their behavior (Caprar & Neville, 2012). Normative factors are associated with the social obligations of the individual in certain contexts. As sustainable consumption often infers extra cost (either monetary or in terms of effort), the social contracts that are established within a society become important as regards driving behaviors. In the absence of strong social norms, government initiatives and incentives can play an important role in stimulating sustainable consumption, for example, via subsidies, regulations, or education.

The individual factors: The individuals’ propensity to consume sustainably relates to a number of personal factors and values (Young et al., 2010). Sustainable consumption is positively associated with changes in education, financial situation, or access to information. In particular, the importance of information has been highlighted by scholars as regards promoting sustainable consumer behavior. It is understood that information on the environmental impact of consumption influences consumer behavior. In the Asian context, it has also been described how the material aspects and how others perceive the consumer are important aspects of green consumerism (Liao & Wang, 2017; Nguyen, 2019).

Country Cases

Sustainable Consumption in Taiwan

Taiwan’s sustained economic growth, from the late 1970s until the global financial crisis of 2008, turned it into a high-income economy. Today, Taiwan has the highest percentage of middle class people, with the lowest percentage of people living under the poverty line in Asia (ChinaPower, n.d.). This means that Taiwanese consumers are in general financially well off in comparison with consumers in other Asian countries. Moreover, the extended period of economic development has also changed the lifestyle of the Taiwanese population so that it aligns more with those analogous with advanced Western countries. As such, the Taiwanese consumers’ awareness of environmental challenges has been increasing steadily over the past few years. An open democratic system in Taiwan has also led to an active open debate on issues related to societal development. Overall, though, Asian countries, including Taiwan, lag far behind European countries in the development of SDGs. On the Environment Performance Index of Yale and Columbia Universities, Taiwan ranked 74th in 2022 (Wolf et al., 2022). In Asia, three countries, that is, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, performed better. This suggests that there is still much work to be done in the Taiwanese context with respect to sustainable consumption. What, then, are the main individual and institutional factors that drive or impede sustainable consumption in Taiwan?

Individual Factors

As consumers, the Taiwanese are described as price-sensitive (Chang & Su, 2022). Other characteristics that have been assigned to contemporary Taiwanese consumers include; familiarity with online shopping and being technology savvy while, during recent years, convenience has been an important factor driving consumption in general (Shih & Garvi, 2022). This can be seen in the availability of convenience stores such as 7-Eleven or Family Mart on essentially every street corner of big cities. In total, there were close to 12,000 convenience stores in Taiwan in 2021 (Fulco, 2022). The growth of e-commerce, social media usage, and intermediary sales models, moreover, has eased the process of buying through curation and mediation. One important form of mediation is the semi-businesslike “community buying groups” whereby consumers form networks in order to purchase products in bulk. For the moderators of the networks, this also serves as a source of income from commissions. The logic of the business model is for the moderator(s) of the groups to constantly be looking for bargains, buying larger quantities and establishing loyal social media networks. Such examples of digitally enabled intermediation have boosted online sales while physical retail has been decreasing (Fulco, 2022). Online shopping in particular increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, convenience, for example, online or mediated shopping, has been an important factor generally driving consumption in Taiwan over the past decade. This has caused more problems related to sustainability, substantially adding to higher levels of pollution due to increased logistical activities and consumption for the sake of consumption.

However, overall household consumption decreased between 2020 and 2022 because of the COVID-pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic, in February 2020, Taiwanese household consumption was 51 percent of GDP, dipping to 43 percent in July 2021 (CEIC, n.d.). The economic downturn, amidst geopolitical tensions between China and the US and China’s toughening stance on Taiwan, further increased uncertainty among Taiwanese consumers. The structural economic challenges faced by Taiwan dampen the purchasing power of individual consumers, also leading to less consumption. This does not, however, equal an intrinsic motivation to consume sustainably and responsibly. For the consumer, less economic flexibility generally leads to fewer sustainable choices.

The drivers bringing changed behavior with regard to sustainable consumption have been a combination of increased environmental consciousness and cost concerns. For example, Chang and Su (2022: 7) note that, in the Taiwanese context, “discounts can effectively stimulate and enhance perceived value and are helpful in making purchase decisions”. Here, companies and government incentives have been important when it comes to stimulating more sustainable consumption. An example of this is how several supermarket and convenience store chains have introduced systems whereby products about to expire can be found via an app, and discounts can be made (Chang & Su, 2022). Greater awareness of health hazards has also been a low hanging fruit that has stimulated more responsible food purchases among Taiwanese consumers, especially among women and parents with younger children. This has meant buying more organic foods, seeking out information about production processes, and an increase in demand for various safety or standards certifications. Sustainable consumption has also been connected with materialism in Taiwan. Materialism being a significant factor in purchasing organic or sustainable products in Taiwan has been linked with status and the image of being trendy (Nguyen, 2019). True sustainable consumerism, however, is a grassroots movement in Taiwan. In this consumer segment, the drivers are associated with concerns for a deteriorating environment globally, as well as worries about local problems such as poor air and water quality.

Institutional Factors

Technology and social media platforms have enabled new business opportunities and have also been driving new consumption patterns. Retail sales have been increasing significantly since 2015 (Statista, n.d.) thanks to new methods of online shopping. In particular, social media promotions and e-commerce live sales have helped companies to find new avenues for reaching out to consumers. Internet platforms such as Momoshop or Shopee Taiwan, as well as communication apps such as Line have enabled a number of new functions and methods of selling and buying (Fulco, 2022). To the dismay of sustainability advocates, such platforms have also increased the consumption of consumable products, in particular, boosting the national economy and business wealth.

Overall, the push toward more sustainable consumption is being driven by the government. Although certain government agencies have strongly been promoting consumption and online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased, for instance, the demand for food delivery services (with the majority of these food deliverers riding on gasoline-fueled scooters), the general trend is a pro-active government strategy in the sphere of the SDGs (Fulco, 2022). The Taiwanese government, together with many city governments, has taken important steps to reduce waste and improve public transport, and has been working diligently to raise awareness of sustainability issues through public marketing campaigns and school education. A number of policies and new legislations have been implemented, affecting a number of issues such as reducing the use of plastics, recycling, incentivizing, or requiring companies and organizations to implement various sustainability-related measures.

As the general understanding of sustainability in Taiwan is lower than in Western countries, awareness-raising measures and education are important factors when it comes to continuing to move forward (Shih & Garvi, 2022). While a high rate of digitalization in the realm of retail has increased consumption, it can also serve as an important avenue for peer learning and consumer education. Here, interesting educational initiatives have been undertaken during recent years by companies such as ACER and ASUS, as well as the Taiwanese government, in order to increase digital literacy and the understanding of sustainability.

Sustainable Consumption in China

Sustained economic growth over the past four decades has taken China from a backwater economy in the 1980s to the world’s second largest economy. Some economists have also projected China to become the world’s largest economy within a few years. While the Chinese government still characterizes China as a developing country, advancements in science and technology, economic growth and innovation all show a different picture. In 2019, over half of the population was defined as belonging to the middle class, but back in 2000, only 3 percent were (ChinaPower, n.d.). The growth in disposable income has, of course, led to increased consumption. At the same time, China has some of the largest environmental problems in the world. This is largely associated with much of China’s economic growth having come from resource-intensive and polluting activities. China is currently the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world (Statista, n.d.).

Due to the extensive environmental deterioration taking place in China, affecting health and life in general, the Chinese government has taken extensive steps to promote the transition to a more sustainable economy. While some major legislative efforts have been made to improve the situation, the level of environmental degradation is still considerable. In 2020, the Chinese government also made it known that the country would not achieve carbon neutrality until 2060 (CIKD, 2021). During the Chinese Communist Party Congress of 2022, the most important event on the Chinese political calendar, it was emphasized by Xi Jinping, moreover, that a continued focus on increasing domestic consumption was a necessity in order to promote continued economic growth. Household consumption currently stands at 38 percent of GDP (compared to 51 percent in the European Union) (CEIC, n.d.). This puts China in a severely precarious situation: On the one hand, there is a significant need to develop sustainably, while on the other, China’s economic growth will largely depend on increasing domestic consumption. Against this backdrop, what are the major individual and institutional factors driving or impeding sustainable consumption in China?

Individual Factors

Although Chinese consumers save a large proportion of their income (around 45 percent), China’s growing middle class and urban population has significantly increased its consumption levels nationally. On the consumer side, small steps have been made to raise awareness of sustainability: However, the average Chinese consumer has a weak grasp of sustainable consumption. China’s growing middle class is still undergoing a “catching up phase” with regard to consumption, which is characteristic of newly developed countries. Most Chinese consumers still belong to the lower income middle class. The difference between affluent urban areas and the countryside also infers major contrasts with respect to sustainable demand. This includes great price-sensitivity and a lack of awareness of sustainability (McKinsey, 2021). This observation aligns with China’s overall performance in sustainability. For example, on the Environment Performance Index in 2022, China ranked 160th—ahead of Nigeria and after the Philippines (Wolf et al., 2022).

The sustainable consumption trends that can be seen in China are more pronounced in urban areas, especially as regards food purchases (Shao, 2019). This behavior, however, seems to be more motivated by food safety concerns than by sustainability concerns. A number of food scandals have resulted in more cautious buying habits of women in particular. One scandal that unraveled in 2008 concerned the major domestic dairy producer Sanlu, which was using melamine in its infant formula to give the appearance of having a higher protein content in order to satisfy regulatory requirements. The contaminated baby formula resulted in the deaths of 6 infants (Pavlovich et al., 2016). Nonetheless, this awareness has acted as a double-edged sword. Consumers have been making more conscious choices, buying trusted products using a more environmentally friendly production process. But this has also entailed more health products and children’s products being imported from abroad. There is also a strong link between materialism and pro-sustainable consumer behavior in China (Dermody et al., 2015). The link between materialism and sustainable consumption has been described as needing status and the image of being modern (Liao & Wang, 2017).

Moreover, research has noted that Chinese consumers are willing to pay a premium for products on the basis of higher levels of product information transparency and information (Shao, 2019). The problem, however, is that it is still difficult to get reliable information in order to make informed choices in China. Although transparency has increased over the last few years, much still needs to be done. Consumer generally gain their information from reference groups (i.e., other green consumers), or form trusted sources such as certifications (Shao, 2019). However, the pressure to continue growing economically has made the Chinese Communist Party leadership reluctant to push sustainability in the realm of consumption: Instead, the Chinese government has continued to push for increased domestic consumption. The focus on increasing domestic consumption was obvious in Xi Jinping’s address to the Party Congress in 2022 (Andersson et al., 2022). This puts limits on how much of an impact grassroots initiatives can have due to China’s authoritarian mode of governance.

Institutional Factors

As stated earlier, one main government policy is increasing domestic consumption. The Chinese government has stated, during recent years, that China needs to increase its domestic consumption and to redirect consumption patterns (from foreign to local) in order to create a more robust domestic market (Andersson et al., 2022). This goal has led to increased levels of all sorts of consumption, including commodities and services. An example of this could be seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, when retail sales of consumer goods steadily increased in China despite draconian lock-down measures and the strictest quarantine rules in the world. Year-on-year growth during August 2022 was still 5.4 percent (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2022). Growth was primarily seen in commodity retail, but also to some extent in food delivery services (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2022).

Government goals relating to increased domestic household consumption are happening at a time when China is experiencing significant sustainability problems. Moreover, the general level of sustainability in China is much lower than the world average, ranking in the lower half among other Asian countries (Wolf et al., 2022). Much of the sustainability awareness of the Chinese public relates primarily to a deteriorating local environment that is causing consumers to act on matters relating to issues such as food security, air pollution, and poor water quality. Here, China’s political institutions put restrictions on how vocal and critical citizens can be. China’s authoritarian system restricts open debate; However, in the areas above, there has been more room for public criticism. Against this backdrop, awareness-raising measures and consumer action are contingent upon the will of the Chinese Communist Party to allow certain discussions about certain issues.

Nonetheless, further awareness-raising measures and education are two important factors in dealing with the disconnect between consumption patterns and sustainability. A number of government policies and new legislations have been implemented that affect a number of issues, for example, increased transparency during the product production process and the increased use of electric vehicles. These areas have been carefully selected in order to manage immediate problems relating to air pollution, water shortages, extreme weather events, and energy use (CIKD, 2021). China’s authoritarian model allows it to implement regulations at a much higher discretionary level than is the case in democratic states. While this mode of governance increases streamlining, it also reduces transparency, accountability, and open stakeholder engagement, and negatively impacts the rule of law. In China’s progress report to the United Nations on the SDGs, it was stated that, “authoritative information on ecological and environmental issues has been released through multiple platforms and ways in a timely manner” (CIKD, 2021: 114). This top-down led form of guidance has been important in the Chinese authoritarian context when it comes to supporting the changes that need to be made. However, there has not been any mention of the SDGs in the working report of the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress, or in the 14th five-year plan, which are the main guiding documents of Chinese policy over the coming years.

Concluding Discussion

The increased level of global awareness of sustainability is evident. However, overall, much more needs to be done in order to achieve the UN goals relating to sustainable development, including the one relating to sustainable consumption. Globally, the awareness and implementation of sustainable consumption varies greatly between regions and countries. In general, Continental Europe and the Nordic countries, in particular, have reached a higher level of awareness compared to other regions in the world. To achieve global change in order to battle climate change and environmental degradation, it is important for consumers all over the world to engage in actively promoting more sustainable consumption. Asia is particularly important. Many Asian countries, for example, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, Singapore, Indonesia, and India, have experienced impressive growth during recent decades. This development has also led to increased consumption, as would be expected when economies and middle classes grow. It is projected that 90 percent of the global growth in consumption will occur in Asia over the next decade (McKinsey, 2021). One consequence of this trend is Asia increasing its already high levels of pollution. Today, this continent accounts for over 50 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, with China alone accounting for over 30 percent. Asia is not, however, an evenly shaped monolith, it encompasses a number of countries that are vastly different in their economic development, cultures, and political systems.

This chapter has looked at two countries in Asia, for example, Taiwan and China, which share similar cultures and languages, but which differ in terms of size of population, economic development, and political system. These cases illustrate some of the variances seen in sustainable consumption, including drivers and impediments. While there is evidence of more sustainable consumption in Taiwan and China, the drivers and impediments differ to some extent from those of the West, and also between these two countries.

In general, the main drivers of sustainable consumption in Taiwan and China are consumer concerns over food safety and toxic living conditions. This means that there has been more awareness of buying organic products, the toxins used to produce food, and the impact of these toxins on the environment. Immediate environmental concerns often relate to issues such as poor water or air quality, prompting government actors to implement regulations relating to cleaner air and water, as well as the reduction of plastics and waste. Here, the consumers of both countries are generally more concerned about their wellbeing and safety than the impact of their consumption choices on the environment. Another driver seen is the fact that the responsible consumption push being conducted in many areas seems to be primarily driven by government policy rather than by consumer groups per se, in China and Taiwan.

However, there are differences between China and Taiwan. Consumers in Taiwan generally have a higher level of understanding of sustainability, both through education and living in a more economically advanced society. China is still undergoing a transitional stage (today being an upper middle income country, but with major differences between cities and the countryside) whereby some consumer groups have only recently become aware of their environmental impact. Changes will require a much greater government push, in particular due to the lack of open debate in Chinese society. In Taiwan, SDGs have been increasingly recognized by society due to a strong government push, while the focus on these in the Chinese context has not been so apparent.