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An international research team has investigated what is necessary for people to consume sustainably — the answer is surprising: It is not a lack of information or higher prices, but rather a lack of social pressure that prevents people from consuming sustainably.
This year, the Earth Overshoot Day fell on July 24th — the date when humanity exhausted all the natural resources that the planet can regenerate in a single year. This milestone highlights the unsustainable pace at which we consume resources. Numerous studies confirm the severity of the ecological crisis. Fish stocks are declining at alarming rates, and plastic pollution poses a major threat not only to marine life but to ecosystems worldwide. Additionally, industrial waste — such as from the textile industry — continues to accumulate in ever-growing landfills or is burned in incinerators, both of which have serious environmental consequences.
We urgently need more sustainable consumption to preserve our planet.
What is preventing us from making more environmentally conscious consumption decisions? While many people express environmentally conscious attitudes, these often do not translate into sustainable purchasing behavior. An international research team led by HSBA scientists Zara Berberyan and Prof. Dr. Sarah Jastram sought to understand why this gap exists. Their findings challenge several common assumptions. Contrary to popular belief, it is not higher prices or a lack of information about sustainable products that primarily hinder sustainable consumption.
Sustainable consumption requires more social pressure.
The new research findings demonstrate that most of the previously assumed barriers to sustainable consumption can be overcome or do not play a decisive role in consumer decisions. Instead, social norms are crucial. Sustainable consumption is particularly lacking when there is no social pressure.
“People are often willing to pay more or spend extra time searching for sustainable products if they are genuinely motivated to make environmentally conscious choices.,” says Zara Berberyan, a doctoral student at the Hamburg School of Business Administration and Leuphana University Lüneburg. “But without pressure from others, even the strongest convictions cannot resist the temptations of cheap mass consumption.”
The urgency to change consumption habits has never been greater than today.
The study’s results make one thing clear: when individuals are committed to sustainability and see that important people in their lives are choosing sustainable products, they are more likely to follow suit. Sustainable consumption becomes a social norm: when it is expected and practiced within someone's environment, people naturally adjust their own behavior to align with it.
Sustainability thrives when it becomes a social norm.
Anyone aiming to promote sustainable consumption must ensure that it is both visible and socially recognized. When consumers observe others — whether friends, colleagues, or neighbors — purchasing sustainably, a bandwagon effect can emerge. Public role models and influencers play a key role in reinforcing these behaviors.
One thing is clear: without social pressure, people are less likely to make sustainable choices. But when sustainability is seen as the norm, it becomes not just the right choice, but also a conscious one.
Prof. Dr. Sarah Jastram sarah.jastram@hsba.de
Berberyan, Zara, Sarah Margaretha Jastram, Mark Heuer, Oliver Schnittka, and Joachim Rosenkranz. 2025. "Attitude Without Action - What Really Hinders Ethical Consumption." Journal of Business Ethics.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-025-06104-8
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