Abstract
Many practitioners in marketing and policy are concerned with the means by which to encourage consumers to adopt more sustainable consumption patterns and lifestyles. Frequently utilized approaches emphasize personal benefits (e.g., healthier, more energy efficient) that are accompanied by green consumption alternatives. However, many sustainable products and services cannot provide added personal value to their nongreen counterparts, thereby leaving companies and policy with the question of how to encourage sustainable consumption in these domains. To this end, the current chapter aims to illuminate major research strands and empirical results that provide insights into the basic approaches of a normatively shaped motivation for sustainable consumption. Based on these approaches, the present chapter outlines potential means and activities that illustrate how these approaches might be implemented in marketing strategies. These illustrations are deemed to serve as starting points for further developments and adaptive extensions to the specific contexts that practitioners cope with.
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Additional Readings
Harrison, R., Newholm, T., & Shaw, D. (Eds.). (2005). The Ethical Consumer. Sage.
Devinney, T. M., Auger, P., & Eckhardt, G. M. (2010). The Myth of the Ethical Consumer. Cambridge University Press.
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Kilian, S., Pristl, AC., Mann, A. (2022). Understanding and Raising Consumers’ Normative Motivation for Sustainable Consumption. In: Bhattacharyya, J., Balaji, M.S., Jiang, Y., Azer, J., Hewege, C.R. (eds) Socially Responsible Consumption and Marketing in Practice. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6433-5_3
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