Although research has explored ways to encourage sustainable consumption, many problems of unsustainable consumption remain, suggesting a need to reconsider current approaches to managing sustainability issues. This paper introduces the sustainability pyramid, which suggests that the goal of sustainable consumption and production—that is, UN SDG12—can be accomplished to a larger extent when a hierarchical approach is adopted to promote sustainability. The pyramid proposes that marketing efforts should prioritize the triple bottom line in the order of economic (prosperity), social (people), and environmental (planet) sustainability. This priority is targeted at persuading desired behavioral change among mainstream consumers, who are “the elephant in the room” for sustainability and are more likely to act on considerations that resonate with them more closely rather than distantly. The pyramid contends that marketing messages that prioritize environmental and social before economic considerations are unappealing to consumers at large. Instead, most consumers, in reality, must be convinced about the economic value of consuming sustainably before they can be expected to demand more socially and environmentally benign offerings. Such demand should create economies of scale and incentivize firms to offer such products. Implications for marketing theory, practice, and public policy conclude the paper.

The Sustainability Pyramid: A Hierarchical Approach to Greater Sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals With Implications for Marketing Theory, Practice, and Public Policy

Research on consumers of electric vehicles appears to offer significant contributions relative to the behaviour factors that stimulate purchase. Although it is one of the topics most endorsed by international organisations, a holistic compendium of the literature is not provided. Therefore, different research directions necessitate a clear systematisation. This study moves in this direction by conducting a bibliometric and thematic analysis of 254 studies related to consumer behaviour in the electric car market. The research reveals the primary co-citation network between international journals and authors, a map of the leading research centres on the topic, and the dimensions covered by scholars. Additionally, the analysis extends the theory of planned behaviour, offering a valuable consumer identikit for practitioners. Based on the results, the study provides multiple research questions helpful to feed the academic debate. 

Electric vehicles’ consumer behaviours: Mapping the field and providing a research agenda

Eco-friendly hotel stay and environmental attitude: A value-attitude-behaviour perspective

Innovation, environmental sustainability and economic development: DEA-Bootstrap and multilevel analysis to compare two regions

Issues regarding green restaurants have received significant scholarly and practitioner attention in the last decade, particularly concerning why consumers adopt green restaurants. Although several reviews exist on green hospitality, a comprehensive review of the literature on consumers' green restaurant adoption is currently lacking. The following systematic literature review examines 50 research studies published on the consumer adoption of green restaurant services to address this gap accordingly. Through a detailed content analysis, the research profile and thematic analysis are presented. The review further identifies four key thematic foci: (a) consumer behavior variables studied, (b) antecedents internal to the consumer, (c) antecedents due to the perception of external factors, and (d) moderators. Limitations and gaps from each of the themes are offered with potential future research questions. The novelty of the review lies in the development of a “green restaurant adoption research framework” that cuts across multiple theoretical perspectives to summarize why consumers adopt green restaurant services.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/bse.2755

What motivates the adoption of green restaurant products and services? A systematic review and future research agenda

The current study utilises the time‐tested systematic literature review (SLR) method to identify and analyse 76 studies addressing the consumer adoption of green hotels. The results of the research profile analysis show that the literature on consumers' adoption and consumption of green hotel products and services is expanding and gaining more recognition from researchers working in Asian contexts, particularly China, Taiwan and India. Moreover, the qualitative thematic analysis yields four key themes, (a) consumer behaviour variables addressed, (b) antecedents and mediators of green hotel adoption, (c) moderators of the relationship and (d) methodological considerations, for which limitations and future research directions are identified accordingly. The main novelty of the study lies in the development of a unified framework of consumer adoption and consumption of green hotel products and services that calls for a multitheoretic examination of the issue. This review is among the first to consolidate the growing literature on consumer adoption and consumption of green hotel products and services.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/bse.2768

T.M. Arun

Papers

What motivates the adoption of green restaurant products and services? A systematic review and future research agenda

What drives the adoption and consumption of green hotel products and services? A systematic literature review of past achievement and future promises