New Trends and Patterns in Sustainable Consumption: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Giulia Sesini, Cinzia Castiglioni and Edoardo Lozza
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Giulia Sesini: Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica, L.go Gemelli 1, 20123 Milano, Italy
Cinzia Castiglioni: Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica, L.go Gemelli 1, 20123 Milano, Italy
Edoardo Lozza: Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica, L.go Gemelli 1, 20123 Milano, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-25

Abstract: The challenge of sustainable development and consumption is to meet current wants without impoverishing future generations and the planet in the long term. Therefore, new patterns of sustainable practices are increasingly promoted. The purpose of the present study is to realize a systematic review aimed to analyze the contents and features of articles dealing with new trends in consumers’ sustainable consumption. One hundred and four papers published in the last five years were retrieved and analyzed through a lexicographical analysis using the software T-LAB. The results show that, even if most of the current studies focus almost exclusively on the environmental impact of sustainability, the social perspective is also recently taking hold. Evidence suggests prevailing attention towards consumers’ appeal and consumption of eco-friendly food products, together with a growing interest in the last years in consumers’ practices in other key sectors, such as tourism, commerce, and clothing. Future research should spotlight the less explored frameworks, looking at the economic and social sides of sustainability in a variety of contextual settings. At the same time, consumer-focused research should not forget to look at consumers’ sustainable behavior as a whole and its impacts from the perspective of planet, people, and profit.

Keywords: sustainability; consumer behavior; review; new trends; computer-assisted content analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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