Page 163 - Sustainability Communication Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Theoritical Foundations

146 L.A. Reisch and S. Bietz

Potentials and Pitfalls, Options and Barriers
of Sustainable Consumption

Due to the generally high level of material prosperity and the possibilities to
access a great variety of goods and services on offer in Western consumer societ-
ies, there is a critical mass of consumers who have a considerable degree of dis-
cretion in their purchasing decisions. This still holds true in times of economic
crisis. In spite of a certain amount of path dependence in consumption, resulting
from structural ‘lock-in effects’ as well as budget and availability limitations,
many consumers would be able to choose more or less environmentally and
socially friendly alternatives in the individual phases of the consumption process –
from reflection to determining needs, from deciding whether to buy, rent or
exchange, from use and maintenance to disposal and recycling. However on a
behavioural level they meet with barriers or restrictions that systematically
impede sustainable consumption behaviour. These are often prohibitively high
additional costs – which are often also considered to be unfair – contradictory
information signals, opportunistic supplier behaviour and structural overloading
(Yates 2008). Only a small and especially committed group of consumers will do
the ‘right’ thing in such ‘wrong’ structures. If communication is to be successful
it must take account of these options and restriction. The abundance of empirical
research on factors influencing behaviour ‘options’ can be interpreted against
this background.
A number of studies has shown that along with a positive attitude and concern
for the environment and just conditions of action, the following factors have a
supportive effect on sustainable consumption behaviour: being aware of having a
variety of possibilities to act (option attractiveness and avoidance reaction);
unambiguous knowledge relevant to the consequences of action (information
about the costs of prosperity); economic incentives and disincentives (to the
extent that these do not undermine intrinsically motivated behaviour); positive
consumption experiences with ecological and socially fair services (regarding
functional aspects of quality, but also concerning aesthetics, haptics and appear-
ance); social recognition and moral regard arising from a consumption decision
and as given by relevant reference groups and the social network; normative
appeals where descriptive norms (what people typically do) are communicated
together with injunctive norms (what people typically approve or disapprove of)
(Cialdini et al. 2006); target group specific tailoring and framing of messages
(Pelletier and Sharp 2008); visualising positive consequences to behaviour by
technological or communicative feedback mechanisms (reward effect) such as
‘smart meters’; and finally tailored and target group specific communication
(environmental education, advice and information) especially using unconven-
tional, emotionalising communication strategies as well as the targeted integra-
tion of informal – real and virtual – social networks and communities as
intensifying or defensive ‘communication buffers’.