SuCoCom

Project title: Sustainable Consumption Communities to promote consumer participation / power of the consumer citizen

Duration: May 2021 to April 2023

Project supervision: Dr. Sven Kilian / Prof. Dr. Andreas Mann

Funding institution: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) as part of the funding guideline "Consumer participation - principles, practices and instruments for active participation in consumption, society and digitalization" of 7 May 2020

Summary: Global warming, increasing waste volumes and the relocation of production facilities to low-wage countries are just three of the key developments that are leading to significant ecological and social problems. It is not only companies as providers of goods and services that are called upon to make a contribution to solving the problem in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The aforementioned developments also require large sections of consumers to reorient their consumption style. Although many consumers have a positive attitude towards sustainable and ethical consumer behavior, in practice there is a considerable attitude-behavior gap at the point of purchase. One of the main reasons for this is the small-agent feeling of individual consumers, which is expressed in the feeling that, as an individual person, they cannot do anything to change the situation.

This is where this project comes in. The aim is to investigate the extent to which sustainability-related consumer associations, so-called Sustainable Consumption Communities (SCCs), remedy this problem and thus contribute to the promotion of sustainable and ethical consumer behavior and consumer participation in the promotion of sustainable development. The aim of the project is to identify any promoting and inhibiting factors for consumer participation in SCCs as well as the potential impact of SCCs on sustainable and ethical purchasing behavior. In addition, tips for the design and successful "marketing" of SCCs are to be provided in the form of a toolbox.

• Mann, A. & Kilian, S. (2024). Online communities. In Zerres, C. (Ed.), Handbook of social media marketing (pp. 311-337). Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden.
• Kilian, S. & Mann, A. (2023). Consumer associations as a new service concept to promote sustainable consumption - conceptual foundations and empirical findings. In Bruhn, M. & Hadwich, K. (Eds.), Designing Change in Service Management, Volume 2: Customer Perspective - Provider Perspective - Employee Perspective (pp. 113-137). Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden.
• Mann, A., & Kilian, S. (2023). Sustainable Consumption Communities - Relevance and Acceptance. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 40 (2), 18-26. pdf