The next generation of research on sustainable consumption

[Image omitted: see PDF]In 2006, the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the UK published a commissioned report on how to induce citizens to reduce their electricity consumption (Darby, 2006). The goal of the document was to advance policies aimed at changing people's behavior by providing incentives and instantaneous feedback on domestic electricity use. Several implicit assumptions underlined DEFRA's initiative. First, that reducing demand is just as important as pursuing energy efficiency and renewable sources. Second, that energy consumption (or any other mode of consumption for that matter) in people's personal lives is a matter of rational individual choices. Third, that information and incentives are the key factors in changing these choices. And fourth, that public policy to reduce consumption should focus on behavior modification.What a difference a few years make! Of these four implicit assumptions, only the first one--about the need to reduce consumer demand--still holds. It is now becoming widely accepted that consumption is not a rational individual act that can be altered through "behavior modification." Rather, it is a collective social process taking place in the context of a particular economic system: a consumer society.To understand the complex phenomenon of mass consumption it is necessary to consider it through multiple lenses. Let me offer four such lenses. Through one of them, consumption is very much part of people's search for meaning and well-being. We acquire and use goods to satisfy curiosity, express individuality, gain approval from peers and parents, and compete for a mate. We use them to demonstrate love, generosity, and gratitude. Material consumption is an important factor in our effort to match the lifestyles of a social group to which we belong or aspire, and to seek standing in our community. In short, material consumption helps us satisfy the very human yearnings for well-being, respect, and security. But in a consumer society, aggressive advertising and marketing exploit these natural instincts and longings, which are perpetually magnified and ultimately distorted into endlessly unsatisfiable desires for more.From the second perspective, consumption is an invisible part of everyday lives. We "consume" energy and materials unconsciously when we go through daily routines and rituals of ordinary lives. These social practices are at work when we attend to personal hygiene, seek comfortable and healthy homes, partake in celebrations and festivals, pursue personal mobility and access to life amenities, and take care of our families and friends. These are scripts of behaviors written by society at large, and we rarely question them. Many such social practices involve interactions with technology in a circular, mutually reinforcing way. For example, attending to cleanliness confronts us with myriad choices of bathrooms, home design, washing machines and driers, cleaning agents, and other technologies. These, in turn, affect how much energy, water, and other natural resources are consumed during the course of practicing personal hygiene. Designers and promoters of these technologies therefore play a central role in the evolution of our ideas of what behaviors are appropriate and socially acceptable and what constitutes basic needs. And once a social practice is adopted, it creates expectations that these technologies are commonly available and, in fact, necessary for well-being. Well-known examples are the emergence of the social practices of daily showering, a personal bathroom for each family member, and dressing for a constant year-round indoor temperature. And in a consumer society, this mutually reinforcing relationship between technology and social practices tends toward more technological complexity, more amenities, and more material goods: hence, more consumption.Through yet a third lens, consumption is intricately linked to dominant socio-technical systems, such as, for example, an automobile, or the generation and distribution of electricity. …