Sustainable consumption in affluent societies: Conceptual typology and research agenda

In the light of the current sustainability crisis, academics, marketers, and policy makers aim to mitigate affluent overconsumption and promote more sustainable forms of consumption. However, their efforts may not reach their full potential because the concept of sustainable consumption represents various types of consumption and is therefore vague in its scope. Thus, this paper aims to provide a coherent yet
holistic conceptualization of sustainable consumption. Specifically, this paper contributes to research on sustainable consumption by developing a typology, which synthesizes existing research on sustainable consumption on the level of individual consumers and in the context of affluent societies. Furthermore, an agenda for future research on sustainable consumption is developed. The typology and research
agenda are intended to open new frontiers of intellectual dialogue and theoretical progress on sustainable consumption, and to inspire a reimagination of the role of marketing and consumer research in advancing sustainable development.