Areas of Individual Consumption Reduction: A Focus on Implemented Restrictions and Willingness for Further Cut-Backs

Lisbeth Weitensfelder (), Karen Heesch, Elisabeth Arnold, Martin Schwarz, Kathrin Lemmerer and Hans-Peter Hutter
Additional contact information
Lisbeth Weitensfelder: Department of Environmental Health, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Karen Heesch: Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Kassel, 34127 Kassel, Germany
Elisabeth Arnold: Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Martin Schwarz: Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Kathrin Lemmerer: Department of Environmental Health, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Hans-Peter Hutter: Department of Environmental Health, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-21

Abstract: To reduce the high amount of Greenhouse Gas emissions, a more sustainable individual lifestyle is crucial. However, existing research regarding pro-environmental behaviors rarely focuses on a reduction in consumption. Hence, this study investigated different variables (e.g., habits, estimated efficacy of measures, estimated danger of climate change) that might enhance people’s willingness to cut back on several private consumptions for the sake of the environment. In a German-speaking online survey ( n = 435), different areas of consumption were looked at separately in different regression models. Additionally, we investigated whether a randomized highlighting of climate change consequences could further increase willingness to implement private cut-backs, which could not be confirmed in subsequent variance analyses. Overall, some variables seem to be connected with a higher willingness to implement cut-backs in most consumption areas and on several levels (e.g., estimated efficacy); other predictors are only involved in specific cut-backs and specific levels (e.g., materialism). Furthermore, different variables seem to be of importance when it comes to already implemented consumption restrictions as opposed to willingness to implement further cut-backs. These results lead to the conclusion that, in order to maximize mitigation potential, it is important to tailor suggestions to the area of consumption. Additionally, for most areas, awareness of the mitigation efficacy of the respective behavior seems crucial.

Keywords: consumption reduction; climate change mitigation; meat consumption; air travel reduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/4956/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/4956/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:4956-:d:1093668

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().