Should the Same Products Consumed in Different Retail Channels Have an Identical Carbon Footprint? An Environmental Assessment of Consumer Preference of Retail Channels and Mode of Transport

Jenhung Wang and Pei-Chun Lin
Additional contact information
Jenhung Wang: Department of Logistics Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 824, Taiwan
Pei-Chun Lin: Department of Transportation and Communication Management Science, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: This study involved an environmental assessment of retail channels using the simplified life-cycle assessment (LCA) method to quantify the environmental impact of packaged beverages consumed in 7-Eleven convenience stores (c-stores) and Carrefour hypermarkets, with the aim of offering shoppers more environmentally friendly chain stores. The life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of packaged drinks at the point of sale (POS) shows the environmental impact of (1) consumer transportation mode and (2) truck distribution. A comparative analysis was conducted on the consumption of 1800 cartons of packaged beverages in c-stores compared to hypermarket channels replenished by individual distribution systems. The paired t -test was used to assess the impact of the consumption of 1800 boxes of 24 packs of 10-ounce drinks. The significance level of the beverages consumed in Carrefour and 7-Eleven c-stores differed by 0.1. The logistics-focused LCA explained the environmental and business rationale for replenishment and sustainable customer transportation. We conclude that, due to consumer preference for retail channels and mode of transport, the carbon footprint for the same products consumed in different channels should not be identical. The research demonstrated a tool to convey more environmental profiles of transportation mode selection to consumers and contribute to building sustainable communities.

Keywords: environmental assessment; transportation mode; retail distribution; sustainable customer transportation; logistics of retail channel; carbon label; carbon emission label (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/615/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/615/ (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:13:y:2021:i:2:p:615-:d:478099

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 ().