IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v154y2019i3d10.1007_s10551-016-3422-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“It’s Not Easy Living a Sustainable Lifestyle”: How Greater Knowledge Leads to Dilemmas, Tensions and Paralysis

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina Longo

    (Université de Lille - SKEMA Business School, MERCUR Research Center)

  • Avi Shankar

    (University of Bath
    Stockholm University Business School, Stockholm University)

  • Peter Nuttall

    (University of Bath)

Abstract

Providing people with information is considered an important first step in encouraging them to behave sustainably as it influences their consumption beliefs, attitudes and intentions. However, too much information can also complicate these processes and negatively affect behaviour. This is exacerbated when people have accepted the need to live a more sustainable lifestyle and attempt to enact its principles. Drawing on interview data with people committed to sustainability, we identify the contentious role of knowledge in further disrupting sustainable consumption ideals. Here, knowledge is more than just information; it is familiarity and expertise (or lack of it) or how information is acted upon. We find that more knowledge represents a source of dilemma, tension and paralysis. Our data reveal a dark side to people’s knowledge, leading to a ‘self-inflicted sustainable consumption paradox’ in their attempts to lead a sustainable consumption lifestyle. Implications for policy interventions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina Longo & Avi Shankar & Peter Nuttall, 2019. "“It’s Not Easy Living a Sustainable Lifestyle”: How Greater Knowledge Leads to Dilemmas, Tensions and Paralysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 759-779, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:154:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3422-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3422-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-016-3422-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-016-3422-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffery Bray & Nick Johns & David Kilburn, 2011. "An Exploratory Study into the Factors Impeding Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(4), pages 597-608, February.
    2. Khosro Jahdi & Gaye Acikdilli, 2009. "Marketing Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Marriage of Convenience or Shotgun Wedding?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 103-113, August.
    3. Himanshu Mishra & Baba Shiv & Dhananjay Nayakankuppam, 2008. "The Blissful Ignorance Effect: Pre- versus Post-action Effects on Outcome Expectancies Arising from Precise and Vague Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(4), pages 573-585, July.
    4. JoAnn Jaffe & Michael Gertler, 2006. "Victual Vicissitudes: Consumer Deskilling and the (Gendered) Transformation of Food Systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(2), pages 143-162, June.
    5. Spiggle, Susan, 1994. "Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data in Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(3), pages 491-503, December.
    6. Robert Caruana & Michal J. Carrington & Andreas Chatzidakis, 2016. "“Beyond the Attitude-Behaviour Gap: Novel Perspectives in Consumer Ethics”: Introduction to the Thematic Symposium," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 215-218, June.
    7. Patrick Pelsmacker & Wim Janssens, 2007. "A Model for Fair Trade Buying Behaviour: The Role of Perceived Quantity and Quality of Information and of Product-specific Attitudes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(4), pages 361-380, November.
    8. Alba, Joseph W & Hutchinson, J Wesley, 2000. "Knowledge Calibration: What Consumers Know and What They Think They Know," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 27(2), pages 123-156, September.
    9. Risto Moisio & Eric J. Arnould & James W. Gentry, 2013. "Productive Consumption in the Class-Mediated Construction of Domestic Masculinity: Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Home Improvement in Men's Identity Work," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(2), pages 298-316.
    10. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    11. Michal Carrington & Benjamin Neville & Gregory Whitwell, 2010. "Why Ethical Consumers Don’t Walk Their Talk: Towards a Framework for Understanding the Gap Between the Ethical Purchase Intentions and Actual Buying Behaviour of Ethically Minded Consumers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 139-158, November.
    12. Thompson, Craig J & Hirschman, Elizabeth C, 1995. "Understanding the Socialized Body: A Poststructuralist Analysis of Consumers' Self-Conceptions, Body Images, and Self-Care Practices," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(2), pages 139-153, September.
    13. Thompson, Craig J & Locander, William B & Pollio, Howard R, 1989. "Putting Consumer Experience Back into Consumer Research: The Philosophy and Method of Existential-Phenomenology," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(2), pages 133-146, September.
    14. Dennis Soron, 2010. "Sustainability, self-identity and the sociology of consumption," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(3), pages 172-181.
    15. Alba, Joseph W & Hutchinson, J Wesley, 1987. "Dimensions of Consumer Expertise," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(4), pages 411-454, March.
    16. Lurie, Nicholas H, 2004. "Decision Making in Information-Rich Environments: The Role of Information Structure," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(4), pages 473-486, March.
    17. Richard M. Ryan & Veronika Huta & Edward Deci, 2008. "Living well: a self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 139-170, January.
    18. Thompson, Craig J & Locander, William B & Pollio, Howard R, 1990. "The Lived Meaning of Free Choice: An Existential-Phenomenological Description of Everyday Consumer Experiences of Contemporary Married Women," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 17(3), pages 346-361, December.
    19. Joseph Guiltinan, 2009. "Creative Destruction and Destructive Creations: Environmental Ethics and Planned Obsolescence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(1), pages 19-28, May.
    20. Micael-Lee Johnstone & Lay Tan, 2015. "Exploring the Gap Between Consumers’ Green Rhetoric and Purchasing Behaviour," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 311-328, December.
    21. Gita Venkataramani Johar & Durairaj Maheswaran & Laura A. Peracchio, 2006. "MAPping the Frontiers: Theoretical Advances in Consumer Research on Memory, Affect, and Persuasion," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(1), pages 139-149, June.
    22. Yu-Shan Chen & Ching-Hsun Chang, 2013. "Greenwash and Green Trust: The Mediation Effects of Green Consumer Confusion and Green Perceived Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 489-500, May.
    23. Paolo Antonetti & Stan Maklan, 2014. "Feelings that Make a Difference: How Guilt and Pride Convince Consumers of the Effectiveness of Sustainable Consumption Choices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 117-134, September.
    24. Arnold, Stephen J & Fischer, Eileen, 1994. "Hermeneutics and Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(1), pages 55-70, June.
    25. Teresa Heath & Lisa O’Malley & Matthew Heath & Vicky Story, 2016. "Caring and Conflicted: Mothers’ Ethical Judgments about Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 237-250, June.
    26. Joshua J. Clarkson & Chris Janiszewski & Melissa D. Cinelli, 2013. "The Desire for Consumption Knowledge," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(6), pages 1313-1329.
    27. Graafland, J.J., 2003. "Distribution of responsibility, ability and competition," MPRA Paper 20731, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    28. Thompson, Craig J & Pollio, Howard R & Locander, William B, 1994. "The Spoken and the Unspoken: A Hermeneutic Approach to Understanding the Cultural Viewpoints That Underlie Consumers' Expressed Meanings," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(3), pages 432-452, December.
    29. Louise M. Hassan & Edward Shiu & Deirdre Shaw, 2016. "Who Says There is an Intention–Behaviour Gap? Assessing the Empirical Evidence of an Intention–Behaviour Gap in Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 219-236, June.
    30. Eric J. Arnould & Craig J. Thompson, 2005. "Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 31(4), pages 868-882, March.
    31. Alain d’Astous & Amélie Legendre, 2009. "Understanding Consumers’ Ethical Justifications: A Scale for Appraising Consumers’ Reasons for Not Behaving Ethically," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 255-268, June.
    32. J Burgess & C M Harrison & P Filius, 1998. "Environmental Communication and the Cultural Politics of Environmental Citizenship," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 30(8), pages 1445-1460, August.
    33. Jacoby, Jacob, 1984. "Perspectives on Information Overload," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 10(4), pages 432-435, March.
    34. Sanne, Christer, 2002. "Willing consumers--or locked-in? Policies for a sustainable consumption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 273-287, August.
    35. Andreas Chatzidakis & Sally Hibbert & Andrew Smith, 2007. "Why People Don’t Take their Concerns about Fair Trade to the Supermarket: The Role of Neutralisation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 89-100, August.
    36. William Young & Kumju Hwang & Seonaidh McDonald & Caroline J. Oates, 2010. "Sustainable consumption: green consumer behaviour when purchasing products," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(1), pages 20-31.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Katarzyna Kreczmańska-Gigol & Tomasz Gigol, 2022. "The Impact of Consumers’ Green Skepticism on the Purchase of Energy-Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Products," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-12, March.
    2. Eun-Young Lee & Asaduzzaman Khan, 2020. "Prevalence and Clustering Patterns of Pro-Environmental Behaviors among Canadian Households in the Era of Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-14, October.
    3. Atul Parvatiyar & Jagdish N. Sheth, 2023. "Confronting the deep problem of consumption: Why individual responsibility for mindful consumption matters," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 785-820, April.
    4. Ingolfur Blühdorn & Michael Deflorian, 2019. "The Collaborative Management of Sustained Unsustainability: On the Performance of Participatory Forms of Environmental Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, February.
    5. Danilo Boffa & Antonio Prencipe & Armando Papa & Christian Corsi & Mario Sorrentino, 2023. "Boosting circular economy via the b-corporation roads. The effect of the entrepreneurial culture and exogenous factors on sustainability performance," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 523-561, June.
    6. Landisoa Rabeson & Corina Paraschiv & Laurent Bertrandias & Régis Chenavaz, 2022. "Couple Ethical Purchase Behavior and Joint Decision Making: Understanding the Interaction Process and the Dynamics of Influence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-19, July.
    7. Diletta Acuti & Marta Pizzetti & Sara Dolnicar, 2022. "When sustainability backfires : A review on the unintended negative side-effects of product and service sustainability on consumer behavior," Post-Print hal-04381310, HAL.
    8. Fuentes, Christian & Enarsson, Petronella & Kristoffersson, Love, 2019. "Unpacking package free shopping: Alternative retailing and the reinvention of the practice of shopping," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 258-265.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eleni Papaoikonomou & Mireia Valverde & Gerard Ryan, 2012. "Articulating the Meanings of Collective Experiences of Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 15-32, September.
    2. Elena Kossmann & Mónica Gómez-Suárez, 2018. "Decision-making processes for purchases of ethical products: gaps between academic research and needs of marketing practitioners," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 15(3), pages 353-370, September.
    3. Alex Hiller & Tony Woodall, 2019. "Everything Flows: A Pragmatist Perspective of Trade-Offs and Value in Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 893-912, July.
    4. Veronika Andorfer & Ulf Liebe, 2012. "Research on Fair Trade Consumption—A Review," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(4), pages 415-435, April.
    5. Rahul Govind & Jatinder Jit Singh & Nitika Garg & Shachi D’Silva, 2019. "Not Walking the Walk: How Dual Attitudes Influence Behavioral Outcomes in Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 1195-1214, April.
    6. Michal Carrington & Andreas Chatzidakis & Helen Goworek & Deirdre Shaw, 2021. "Consumption Ethics: A Review and Analysis of Future Directions for Interdisciplinary Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 215-238, January.
    7. Carrington, Michal J. & Neville, Benjamin A. & Whitwell, Gregory J., 2014. "Lost in translation: Exploring the ethical consumer intention–behavior gap," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 2759-2767.
    8. Micael-Lee Johnstone & Lay Tan, 2015. "Exploring the Gap Between Consumers’ Green Rhetoric and Purchasing Behaviour," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 311-328, December.
    9. Sarah Bayer & Henner Gimpel & Serkan Sarikaya, 2019. "Bank customers’ decision-making process in choosing between ethical and conventional banking: a survey-based examination," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(6), pages 655-697, August.
    10. Boyaval, Marine & Herbert, Maud, 2018. "One for all and all for one? The bliss and torment in communal entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 412-422.
    11. Gabriella Spinelli & Holly Nelson-Becker & Roberta Ligossi, 2019. "Consumer Competence Strategies, Spiritually Inspired Core Values and Locus of Control: What Are the Links?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-22, September.
    12. Papaporn Chaihanchanchai & Saravudh Anantachart, 2023. "Encouraging green product purchase: Green value and environmental knowledge as moderators of attitude and behavior relationship," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 289-303, January.
    13. Liu, Chihling & Keeling, Debbie Isobel & Hogg, Margaret K., 2016. "Strategy narratives and wellbeing challenges: The role of everyday self-presentation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 234-243.
    14. Karoline Gamma & Robert Mai & Moritz Loock, 2020. "The Double-Edged Sword of Ethical Nudges: Does Inducing Hypocrisy Help or Hinder the Adoption of Pro-environmental Behaviors?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 351-373, January.
    15. Lianne Foti & Avis Devine, 2019. "High Involvement and Ethical Consumption: A Study of the Environmentally Certified Home Purchase Decision," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-11, September.
    16. Kutaula, Smirti & Gillani, Alvina & Leonidou, Leonidas C. & Christodoulides, Paul, 2022. "Integrating fair trade with circular economy: Personality traits, consumer engagement, and ethically-minded behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1087-1102.
    17. Remi Trudel & Jill Klein & Sankar Sen & Niraj Dawar, 2020. "Feeling Good by Doing Good: A Selfish Motivation for Ethical Choice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 39-49, September.
    18. Pamela Yeow & Alison Dean & Danielle Tucker, 2014. "Bags for Life: The Embedding of Ethical Consumerism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 87-99, November.
    19. Dirk C. Moosmayer & Yanyan Chen & Susannah M. Davis, 2019. "Deeds Not Words: A Cosmopolitan Perspective on the Influences of Corporate Sustainability and NGO Engagement on the Adoption of Sustainable Products in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 135-154, August.
    20. Catherine Janssen & Joëlle Vanhamme, 2015. "Theoretical Lenses for Understanding the CSR–Consumer Paradox," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(4), pages 775-787, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:154:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3422-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.