General information
Code: J5-7292
Period: 1.1.2016 - 31.12.2018
Range on year: 1.07 FTE | 2016
Project leader at FDV: prof.dr. Urška Golob Podnar
Research activity: Social sciences
Abstract
Background
The field of sustainable consumption and production has been developing rapidly in recent years. Intensive development and various ethical aspects of sustainability have created many inconsistencies, contradictions and ambiguities. Researchers and experts from practice often confront some basic questions such as: What are the dimensions of sustainability? Who is responsible for sustainable development? What is the role of consumers and companies in this process?
Problem identification
Current research is lacking a holistic perspective, connecting all stakeholders in order to achieve sustainable responsible consumption. Due to the steadily evolving concept of sustainability and global systemic changes in markets and lifestyles, the sustainability concept has not been fully operationalized in practice. That is, most emphasis on macro and micro level is put on the environmental dimension of sustainability. However, how consumers can become more responsible and how companies are developing a more actionable agenda for sustainable growth with regard to sustainable responsible consumption, remain areas for further research.
Aims of the project
Research shows that both consumption and production patterns in certain industries are mostly unsustainable, and changing them poses a significant challenge that needs to be addressed both on macro and micro level. Hence, an improved international and dynamic macroeconomic insight into these patterns can help discover suitable leverages for the change. We will use institutional approaches together with social constructivism theory to explore sustainability issues on a macro level. Implementation of these insights on the micro level requires a deeper understanding of consumer behavior and managerial practices. We will focus on identifying the antecedents that play the most prominent role in shaping the individual’s behavior and conflicting consumption goals that create gaps leading to sustainable behavior. Managerial practices and inclusion of sustainability goals in strategic plans will be researched to establish potential consumer value propositions of sustainable strategies. At this level our research will be informed by the theory of social exchange and service-dominant logic thinking. We aim at a deeper understanding of the sustainable strategy development process and potential outcomes that could enable companies to make better decisions as well as to explore interaction effects between consumers and companies in creating sustainable value.
Methodology
The project applies a multi-method, mixed methodology approach for the study of the research problem from different perspectives (companies and consumers, using content analysis, microeconomic models, econometric analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, conjoint analysis and experiments).
Contribution
The proposed project is expected to introduce a novel state-of-the-art tool to empirically follow the changes in the condition of sustainability on a macro and micro level. Our contribution is in the theoretical and empirical attempt to combine different levels and facets of sustainability issues and understand how sustainability is valued on the production and consumption side, how consumers and managers decide on trade-offs between different sustainability dimensions and how sustainability can be further institutionalised on a national/European level.
Team strengths
The partners combine a multitude of knowledge and skills necessary for the success of the project: consumer behavior and management strategy (EF), micro and macroeconomic modeling and econometrics (IER), corporate social responsibility research and communications (FDV). The team has rich experience in best practice recommendations for management and policy and dissemination through educational practices. Researchers benefit from cooperation with distinguished researchers from WU Vienna, Austria, Leeds University, UK, Harvard University, USA and Aarhus Universi
Research Organisation
http://www.sicris.si/public/jqm/prj.aspx?lang=eng&opt=2&subopt=403&hits=1&id=9957&search_term=J5-7292
Researchers
http://www.sicris.si/public/jqm/prj.aspx?lang=eng&opt=2&subopt=402&hits=1&id=9957&search_term=J5-7292
Citations for bibliographic records
http://www.sicris.si/public/jqm/prj.aspx?lang=eng&opt=2&subopt=400&hits=1&id=9957&search_term=J5-7292
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