Limits to labels: The role of eco-labels in the assessment of product sustainability and routes to sustainable consumption

By R. Horne. 2009

405 citations recorded by the source corpus.

There has been rapid development in the methods, data and protocols for the assessment of product sustainability over the past decade. Notwithstanding this welcome development, the widespread provision of sustainable products has not occurred. Moreover, indications from a myriad of surveys suggest that consumers remain full of intent to purchase sustainably, yet these stated preferences have not translated into a widespread uptake in the purchase of more sustainable products. Heightened interest in climate change over the past couple of years has led to rising calls for labelling to allow consumers to differentiate between more or less sustainable options. Such calls apparently assume that if consumers are presented with appropriate label information their purchases will change and more sustainable purchasing will result. For many observers these calls bring more than a ring of deja vu as the failures (or at least unfulfilled expectations) of environmental labelling schemes of the past spring to mind. A review and assessment of eco-labelling schemes is presented. Discussion focuses on the history, successes and failures of such schemes, and consideration of their potential role (or not) in future shifts towards sustainable consumption. Behavioural, social practice, institutional and infrastructure factors are considered and labelling, legislation and other options are explored. Conclusions are drawn regarding potential routes to sustainable consumption, with particular reference to eco-labels.

Subfields: Environmental Chemistry, Marketing, Strategy and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f72decfcf23b2fc550a206dcedff58f671ff2a80

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Citations in the corpus

Should we stop meating like this? Reducing meat consumption through substitution (2016, background): “…and comprehensible labelling systems and educating consumers in regards to the meaning of different sustainability labels can possibly pave the way for public acceptance of future regulations and policies in the area of food and greenhouse gas emissions (Gadema and Oglethorpe, 2011; Horne, 2009).”
Sustainability Labels on Food Products: Consumer Motivation, Understanding and Use (2014, background): “, Fair Trade UK reports an overall sales increase of 12% from 2010 to 2011), label overload and gaps in the understanding of both the general concept of sustainability and of specific sustainability labels may result in consumer confusion and limit the use of such labels (Comas Marti and Seifert 201”
Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review (2018, background): “They have tried to conceptualise what makes consumption sustainable [27], and also offered insights about elements that can drive change, such as nudging [31], eco-labelling [32], marketing [33] and practice-oriented interventions [34].”
Walking The Walk: How The Theory Of Reasoned Action Explains Adult And Student Intentions To Go Green (2011, background): “Although environmental consumption became a subject of study in the late 1960‟s, the actual term, “green marketing,” did not come into prominence until the late 80‟s and throughout the 90‟s, a time period that also saw a rise in eco-labeling (D‟Souza, Tagian, Lamb, & Peretiatk, 2007; Horne, 2009).”