ABSTRACT
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2014), global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities increased by 35 per cent from 1990 to 2010. The National Research Council (2010) report states that the Earth is 1.4º F warmer compared to the last century and additional warming of 2.0 to 11.5º F (1.1 to 6.4º C) is expected over the 21st century. These changes in the physical environment (e.g., climate change, decreases in non-renewable resources) have prompted many scholars and practitioners to realize that we cannot continue to use the world’s resources without considering the consequences (Ottman, 1998; Wasik, 1996). This increase in environmental awareness have led businesses to engage in sustainable business practices more (e.g., decreasing emissions, increasing recycling or repurposing practices, using energy-ecient transportation systems), making the green economy one of the world’s new economic engines (e.g., Hawken, Lovins, & Lovins, 1999). However, although rms adopt more and more sustainable business practices every day, many consumers do not follow suit (Schafer, Jeager-Erben, & Santos, 2011; Thøgersen & Crompton, 2009). Accordingly, when consumers do not “reward” the companies that use sustainable business practices with their sustainable consumption practices (e.g., buying green products), companies may lose the motivation to invest in those expensive practices. In other words, businesses need to see a return on investment for their sustainable initiatives. Therefore, it is important for researchers and practitioners to identify the factors that keep customers from engaging in environmentally sustainable consumption (e.g., knowledge, motivation or access to necessary resources) and nd ways to deal with those factors. Consumer psychology has the potential to be both the cause of and/or the solution to many of these factors.
