THE RESEARCH PROJECT
From January 2021 until August 2021, we’re traveling the US in our remodeled, as-off-the-grid-as-possible Lazy Daze RV to gain a better understanding of sustainable consumption, both from the consumer perspective as well as from the business perspective.
CONSUMERS
To investigate the consumer perspective, we plan on visiting different ecovillages or intentional living communities to learn how consumers implement sustainable consumption (i.e., consuming less, minimalism, consuming fair trade/ecological products). Can consumers create a living environment or lifestyle that allows them to escape the conventional capitalist market system, and if so: how do they do so, and how do they feel about it?
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BUSINESSES
To investigate the business perspective, we will visit different Certified B Corporations, as they are relatively recent but prime examples of balancing a double standard: profit (economic value) and public benefit (social, ethical, environmental value). Businesses need to safeguard financial profitability as their main existential concern, while also ensuring stakeholders’ wellbeing (e.g., employees, customers, the natural environment in which they operate). How do B-Corporations effectively strategize the duality of promoting sustainable consumption while safeguarding their bottom line?
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SOCIETAL IMPACT
Overconsumption has an unprecedented, dire impact on our environment. Marketing goals seem incompatible with sustainability goals, because traditional marketing promotes consumption/economic growth, and views natural resources as unlimited. However, environmental resources are finite. In response, consumers and businesses need to make a solid U-turn and recognize the need for sustainable consumption, especially since research shows that it creates a win-win situation: sustainable business/consumption positively affects individuals (e.g., wellbeing, health) as well as business performance (e.g., profitability).
RESEARCH METHOD
Ethnographic research, depth interviews, and survey research.
