Why Behavioral Steering Falls Short: Agency, Practice, and Virtue Ethics in Sustainable Consumption

Behavioral steering—through nudges, defaults, incentives, and informational feedback—has become a dominant approach in promoting sustainable consumption. Drawing on a selective, problem-oriented engagement with the related literature, this study notes that a substantial body of studies has reported challenges associated with such interventions, particularly with regard to durability, cross-domain spillovers, and context sensitivity. Rather than providing an exhaustive empirical synthesis, this study uses these findings diagnostically to identify underlying conceptual tensions in prevailing policy approaches. It argues that one contributing source of these limitations lies in an implicit and narrow conception of consumer agency, which frames individuals primarily as reactive decision-makers rather than as agents whose habits, dispositions, and practical judgment develop over time through participation in social practices. Integrating insights from virtue ethics and social practice theory, this study develops a normative framework that emphasizes the cultivation of stable orientations, competencies, and dispositions. It further explores how this framework can inform the design and evaluation of a series of policies and institutions, such as learning-oriented interventions, participatory programs, and practice-enabling infrastructures. By offering a normative diagnosis of problems emerging in empirical sustainability research, the study outlines promising directions for more resilient and ethically grounded sustainability governance.