Mindful consumption: a customer-centric approach to sustainability

Abstract

How effectively business deals with the challenges of sustainability will define its success for decades to come. Current sustainability strategies have three major deficiencies: they do not directly focus on the customer, they do not recognize the looming threats from rising global over-consumption, and they do not take a holistic approach. We present a framework for a customer-centric approach to sustainability. This approach recasts the sustainability metric to emphasize the outcomes of business actions measured holistically in term of environmental, personal and economic well-being of the consumer. We introduce the concept of mindful consumption (MC) as the guiding principle in this approach. MC is premised on a consumer mindset of caring for self, for community, and for nature, that translates behaviorally into tempering the selfdefeating excesses associated with acquisitive, repetitive and aspirational consumption. We also make the business case for fostering mindful consumption, and illustrate how the marketing function can be harnessed to successfully implement the customer-centric approach to sustainability.

Sustainability Dimensions: A Source to Enhance Corporate Reputation

“…The argument in this paper follows a more comprehensive definition that is gaining worldwide prevalence. From a business point of view, sustainability connotes three dimensions: economic, social and environmental (Choi and Ng, 2011;Sheth et al, 2011), which is also called the "Triple Bottom Line" (Elkington, 1998). In this research authors understand the notion of sustainability meaning "to meet the present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (WCED, 1987).…”

“…The main environmental concerns arising from rapid growth in consumption are two-fold: environmental degradation risks and ecosystem resource constraints. Environmental risks are losses and harm such as biodiversity loss, deforestation and soil erosion due to climate change and pollution of water systems and land (Sheth et al, 2011). Eco-system constraints suggest that the earth cannot support unlimited growth in consumption (Speth, 2008).…”

“…Most academics and practitioners claim that how executives respond to the challenge of sustainability will profoundly affect the competitiveness and even the survival of organizations (Lubin and Esty, 2010). Several academics describe sustainability as the essential and most important challenge for modern marketing (Sheth et al, 2011). Despite these advances, sustainability research has not become a widely studied topic in premier marketing journals 1 .…”

Determinants of Smart Energy Demand Management: An Exploratory Analysis

“…Thanks to a growing impetus in promoting sustainable consumption patterns, individuals are more conscious of their role in their communities, and are aware that their direct and collective participation can affect the current and future life of their society. Conversely, many sustainability strategies and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices mainly address environmental aspects [1], neglecting the impact of global over-consumption [2], and overlooking the role of the consumer and the societal involvement.…”

“…In our understanding, a holistic approach is required to effectively deal with the current challenges posed by the sustainable development principles: consumers (and their communities at large) should be explicitly encouraged to be directly engaged through a more participative and collaborative behavior, factually realizing a collaborative consumption strategy, that is a technology-enabled sharing of goods and services between consumers that requires enhanced forms of collaborations [2][3][4].…”