Reimagining the sustainable consumer : why social representations of sustainable consumption matter

Golob, Urša (author), Podnar, Klement (author), Weder, Franzisca (author)

Globally, consumers are increasingly turning to sustainable consumption practices. This article emphasizes the importance of social and cultural context in the study of sustainable consumption, drawing on social representations. It attempts to explain and empirically demonstrate how sustainable consumption is socially represented. The aim of the study was to investigate the construction of representations of sustainable consumption as knowledge and its appropriation in relation to the purchase and consumption of food. Online focus groups were employed in a cross-sectional study conducted in Slovenia and Austria. The results of the study not only show how the “global” concept of sustainable consumption is appropriated and reflected in practices in a specific national and cultural context, but also highlight the importance of social representations in terms of how their meanings can influence the emergence of new practices. Furthermore, they show how sustainable consumption can occasionally be seen in actions that precede reflection or exist in a more abstract form unrelated to actions. The results offer several implications for practitioners seeking to promote sustainable consumption.

• Language: English
• Keywords: food consumption practices, social representations, social representations theory, sustainable consumption
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 847–859
• Numbering: Vol. 33, iss. 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-154208
• UDC: 366
• ISSN on article: 2694-6424
• DOI: 10.1111/beer.12656
• COBISS.SI-ID: 180887555
• Publication date in RUL: 01.02.2024

GOLOB, Urša, PODNAR, Klement and WEDER, Franzisca, 2024, Reimagining the sustainable consumer : why social representations of sustainable consumption matter. Business ethics, the environment & responsibility [online]. 2024. Vol. 33, no. 4. [Accessed 18 May 2025]. DOI 10.1111/beer.12656. Retrieved from: https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?lang=eng&id=154208

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Business ethics, the environment & responsibility
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 2694-6424
• COBISS.SI-ID: 157892867

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: potrošnja, ekonomija, trajnost, ekologija, hrana

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: J5-7292
• Name: V iskanju trajnostne odgovorne porabe (TOP)