The coronavirus pandemic: A window of opportunity for sustainable consumption or a time of turning away?

Abstract

As a means to preserve present and future generations' living conditions, sustainable consumption presents a route to the enhanced well-being of individuals. However, the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic raises the question of whether society is going to continue down a path of increased awareness of sustainable consumption or whether the pandemic will move people to focus more on themselves. Based on data gathered before and near the end of the first pandemic lockdown in Germany in spring 2020, this research demonstrates that ecological, social, and voluntary simplicity consciousness deteriorated in the minds of sustainability-conscious consumers, with notable impacts on their willingness to spend sustainably and their shopping affinity. Furthermore, we identify segments that show particular vulnerability to the lockdown by reacting with a decrease in their ecological consumption consciousness. This study concludes with a discussion of the pandemic's implications for the spread of sustainable consumption styles and human well-being.

Pandemics and consumers' mental well‐being

“…In contrast, research that focused more on generalized or positive influences of the pandemic examined such topics as specific types of consumption behaviors and corresponding changes during the pandemic, including online physical activity behaviors (Cronshaw, 2022 ), food and beverage consumption (Jaud & Lunardo, 2022 ), and effects on sustainable consumption (Hüttel & Balderjahn, 2022 ). Other papers focused more on consumers' psychological responses to the pandemic including risk perceptions and consumer purchase behavior (Li & Qian, 2022 ) and goal orientation effects on well‐being (Sonmez, 2022 ).…”

How Are Material Values and Voluntary Simplicity Lifestyle Related to Attitudes and Intentions toward Commercial Sharing during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Evidence from Japan

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has caused considerable changes in people's values, lifestyles, and consumption behaviors by restricting social interactions, leading to economic hardship, and threatening physical/mental health and sustainability [1][2][3][4]. Due to restrictions on faceto-face contact by stay-at-home and social distancing orders, more people are suffering from anxiety, depression, loneliness, and frustration, which has escalated materialistic value orientation or the desire for mental well-being [1,[3][4][5][6].…”

“…Due to these significant changes in living environments during the pandemic, it is essential to determine how to attain well-being and sustainability by utilizing advanced ICT even after the pandemic. It has been claimed that the COVID-19 period deteriorated the social and ecological consciousness of sustainable consumption [2]. Under such circumstances, the sharing economy, in which commercial sharing systems (CSS) help in the efficient circulation of underutilized resources in society [10][11][12][13], may play a meaningful role in enhancing sustainability and help to overcome technological inequalities, as people can easily participate in the systems with their smartphones.…”

“…Whereas some studies argued that the pandemic escalated MV to cope with uneasiness and the threat of death [4,6], another study claimed that such an influence is limited [3]. Furthermore, whereas there is a postulation that the pandemic has stirred up sustainable consumption motivated by VSL [31], another argument claims that the consciousness of ecology, society, and voluntary simplicity has deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby reducing sustainable consumption [2]. Apparently, the pandemic has multifaceted aspects of both MV and VSL.…”

The same only different? How a pandemic shapes consumer organic food purchasing

“…In other words, pandemics have a global and profound impact and are, in turn, likely to exert a lasting effect on consumer behavior (Laato et al, 2020 ; Sheth, 2020 ). As such, pandemics are assumed to shape organic food purchasing in the one or the other way because (1) pandemics could augment organic food consumption because they pose major threats to individuals' health, which consumers might want to compensate through organic food consumption (Accenture, 2020 ; White et al, 2019 ), and (2) pandemics could reduce organic food consumption because they shift consumers' attention away from environmental factors which have also been found to motivate organic food consumption (Hüttel & Balderjahn, 2021 ). Current insights on the effects of a pandemic on consumer behaviors related to organic food purchasing are conflicting.…”