Unpacking the challenges of researching sustainable consumption and lifestyles

The need to alter current consumption patterns – to merge economic resilience with environmental protection and social development – is being seen now as a key priority if emission reduction targets are to be achieved (Jackson, 2009). With mounting pressure on policy-makers to meet target reductions in carbon emissions, the promotion of sustainable household consumption is gaining increasing importance in the global political arena (Davies et al., 2010). A change in consumer behaviour or lifestyles can play an important role in reaching carbon emission targets (Gatersleben et al., 2012). Day-to-day choices made by members of households, including the purchase and use of products and services, represent a key area in which negotiations regarding sustainable practices take place. Consequently household consumption ¹ is increasingly being highlighted as an arena requiring urgent attention (Michaelis and Lorek, 2004).