Mindfulness enhances the values that promote sustainable consumption

Abstract

Prior research has demonstrated the critical role of values in promoting sustainable consumption behaviors. However, research is needed to identify novel ways to influence these values so that consumers will act on them. The present research demonstrates a practical and underappreciated way to enhance the values that promote sustainable consumption behaviors. Specifically, we demonstrate that mindfulness has a positive relationship with biospheric and altruistic values (but not egoistic values), and that these values mediate the relationship between mindfulness and two distinct forms of sustainable consumption: socially conscious consumption and frugal (i.e., reduced) consumption. We employ a series of three studies with sample populations drawn from different countries, and we use multiple measures for each of our focal constructs to demonstrate the robustness of our findings. Our findings suggest that marketers and policy makers can integrate mindfulness into their promotion and education initiatives as a means to help consumers clarify their values and, thereby, increase levels of sustainable consumption.

Sweat it for sustainability: Impact of physical activity/exercise on sustainable consumption

“…Covid 19 pandemic has motivated stakeholders to share data (Viglia et al, 2021), and future research works may leverage on this understanding to request/collect consumer data on variables such as body mass index to assess the roles of such variables of salience (Bollimbala et al, 2019) in determining consumers' fitness and its impact on their consumption behaviors. Lastly, consumers' pursuit of sustainable consumption would depend on a lot of factors other than physical activity, such as their socioeconomic status (Kim et al, 2022), narcissism and faith in humanity (Bowen et al, 2022), generational cohort (Casalegno et al, 2022, and mindfulness (Kaur & Luchs, 2021). The integration of such consumer-related factors that shape sustainable consumption along with physical activity should be pursued by future research.…”

“…Lastly, consumers' pursuit of sustainable consumption would depend on a lot of factors other than physical activity, such as their socioeconomic status (Kim et al, 2022), narcissism and faith in humanity (Bowen et al, 2022), generational cohort (Casalegno et al, 2022), and mindfulness (Kaur & Luchs, 2021). The integration of such consumer‐related factors that shape sustainable consumption along with physical activity should be pursued by future research.…”

“…People associate sustainable consumption with positive (rather than negative) emotions (Venhoeven et al, 2020) and values (Kaur & Luchs, 2021). Indeed, people find engaging in acts of sustainability to be intrinsically rewarding (Taufik et al, 2016; Van der Linden, 2018).…”

Plant power: SEEDing our future with plant‐based eating

“…A related line of research inquiry focuses on the three‐pronged nature of environmental values, which can be described as altruistic (i.e., concerned for other people), biospheric (i.e., concerned for animals and ecosystems), and egoistic (i.e., concerned for the self) (Schultz, 2001; Schultz et al, 2005; Stern, 2000; Stern & Dietz, 1994). Findings suggest that altruistic and biospheric values are positively associated with more environmentally sustainable attitudes and behavior, whereas egoistic values are negatively associated with environmentally sustainable attitudes and behavior (Buerke et al, 2017; de Groot & Steg, 2008; Kaur & Luchs, 2022; Lee et al, 2014; Nordlund & Garvill, 2003; Steg et al, 2014; Thøgersen & Ölander, 2002).…”

Anti‐consumption behavior: A meta‐analytic integration of attitude behavior context theory and well‐being theory

“…Unsustainable consumption has led to many social (e.g., over‐consumption), environmental (e.g., climate change), and individual (e.g., high indebtedness) problems. Despite the efforts of governments, policymakers, and marketing scholars, unsustainable consumption continues to be a concern in almost every country (Kaur & Luchs, 2022). Interestingly, there are some instances where consumers exhibit strong negative reactions to environmentally harmful products and adopt sustainable consumption practices (Flammer, 2013).…”