Managing sustainable consumption of durable goods – A systematic literature review

Abstract

The production and use of durable goods have severe consequences for the natural environment. Reducing those influences is highly desirable and is possible to achieve by changing customers’ preferences and promoting the purchase and usage of more green or eco-friendly substitutes. In this paper, we aimed to answer the following questions: (1) What are the main determinants of WTP for sustainable durable goods? (2) What are the main policy measures that influence WTP, and do they have a significant impact on it? (3) What are the main contributions of authors dealing with the topic of sustainable consumption? A manual content analysis was conducted, based on a sample of papers downloaded from the SCOPUS database that address the issue of willingness to pay for sustainable durable goods. Our analyses revealed that the socioeconomic characteristics of consumers have a significant impact on their WTP. Additionally, it has been proven that subjectively expressed environmental awareness correlates with eco-friendly declarations and actual behaviour. The most common policy measures to promote sustainable products were labelling and certification. There is significant room for further research by adding new contexts to previous analyses and also by looking for possibilities to transfer theoretical knowledge into business practice.