two scales and the demographic profile, in an attempt to formulate a set of potential
measures to enhance more sustainable behaviors.
10.2 Literature Review
Pro-environmental and sustainable attitudes are not often reflected into people
behavior (Gupta and Ogden 2009; Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002; Pickett-Baker
and Ozaki 2008). Habits, financial constraints, the loyalty to established brands, or
lack of opportunities to practice pro-environmental behavior may have a negative
effect on the pro-environmental consumption behavior (Peattie 2010). Knowledge is
also considered an important predictor of green consumer behavior as it is assumed
that consumers who are more aware and knowledgeable about environmental problems will be more motivated to practice green consumer behavior (Peattie 2010).
However, sustainable consumption is not only about consuming differently, but it is
also about consuming less for the sake of the next generations (Kostadinova 2016).
Redman and Redman (2014) performed a survey of 346 teachers about sustainable
food and waste, knowledge, and behaviors. The results supported the idea that high
levels of declarative knowledge did not predict sustainable behaviors, while procedural and social knowledge were statistically significant predictors of sustainable
food behaviors. Thus, structural and institutional changes are essential for encouraging sustainable consumption in young people. In a study performed for Lithuania,
Jonkutė (2015) identified that the most important factors that influence consumers’
choices were quality and convenience and comprehensive and understandable information on the products and their price. None of the survey participants completely
denied the importance of sustainability, but only 58% of the survey respondents
acted sustainably often (e.g., reuse of packing materials, conservation of the natural
resources). This unsustainable consumption was explained by factors like limited
financial resources, distrust of information about products and services, and a lack of
political authority initiatives promoting sustainable consumption.
Moving the focus on young people, Bucic et al. (2012) analyzed their consumption behavior for Australia and Indonesia samples. Australians consider price,
convenience, and packaging more important factors, while Indonesians focus on
quality, brand, and convenience. Thus, ethical product attributes are not an active
driver for their consumption decisions. For the case of Romania, the most recent
relevant study was conducted by Lakatos and her colleagues (2018). The survey
focused on evaluating the concern for the environment, ecologic activities, and
sharing behavior, highlighting differences between generations. Their findings
point out to the need of addressing young people consumption habits in a more
specific manner, by comparison to the older generations. All these results signal a
core issue and require further investigations, with a more precise delimitation on
sustainable consumption and not consumption at large. In this vein, Lee et al. (2016)
explored what sustainable consumption means for the young adults in Hong Kong
and proposed a measure scale for a sustainable consumer behavior of the US
10 Sustainable Consumption Behavior Among Romanian Students
161
measures to enhance more sustainable behaviors.
10.2 Literature Review
Pro-environmental and sustainable attitudes are not often reflected into people
behavior (Gupta and Ogden 2009; Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002; Pickett-Baker
and Ozaki 2008). Habits, financial constraints, the loyalty to established brands, or
lack of opportunities to practice pro-environmental behavior may have a negative
effect on the pro-environmental consumption behavior (Peattie 2010). Knowledge is
also considered an important predictor of green consumer behavior as it is assumed
that consumers who are more aware and knowledgeable about environmental problems will be more motivated to practice green consumer behavior (Peattie 2010).
However, sustainable consumption is not only about consuming differently, but it is
also about consuming less for the sake of the next generations (Kostadinova 2016).
Redman and Redman (2014) performed a survey of 346 teachers about sustainable
food and waste, knowledge, and behaviors. The results supported the idea that high
levels of declarative knowledge did not predict sustainable behaviors, while procedural and social knowledge were statistically significant predictors of sustainable
food behaviors. Thus, structural and institutional changes are essential for encouraging sustainable consumption in young people. In a study performed for Lithuania,
Jonkutė (2015) identified that the most important factors that influence consumers’
choices were quality and convenience and comprehensive and understandable information on the products and their price. None of the survey participants completely
denied the importance of sustainability, but only 58% of the survey respondents
acted sustainably often (e.g., reuse of packing materials, conservation of the natural
resources). This unsustainable consumption was explained by factors like limited
financial resources, distrust of information about products and services, and a lack of
political authority initiatives promoting sustainable consumption.
Moving the focus on young people, Bucic et al. (2012) analyzed their consumption behavior for Australia and Indonesia samples. Australians consider price,
convenience, and packaging more important factors, while Indonesians focus on
quality, brand, and convenience. Thus, ethical product attributes are not an active
driver for their consumption decisions. For the case of Romania, the most recent
relevant study was conducted by Lakatos and her colleagues (2018). The survey
focused on evaluating the concern for the environment, ecologic activities, and
sharing behavior, highlighting differences between generations. Their findings
point out to the need of addressing young people consumption habits in a more
specific manner, by comparison to the older generations. All these results signal a
core issue and require further investigations, with a more precise delimitation on
sustainable consumption and not consumption at large. In this vein, Lee et al. (2016)
explored what sustainable consumption means for the young adults in Hong Kong
and proposed a measure scale for a sustainable consumer behavior of the US
10 Sustainable Consumption Behavior Among Romanian Students
161