Understanding Consumer Resistance to Sustainability Interventions (2023)

We were interested in why consumers resist sustainability interventions. Through our research, published in the Journal of Marketing, we discovered that when sustainability interventions aim to change individual behaviours rather than social practices, they place excessive responsibility on consumers, unsettle their emotions, and destabilise the multiple practices that interconnect to shape consumers’ lives, ultimately leading to resistance. In short, consumers find it difficult to change their practices and so resist the intervention. Our findings provide greater clarity around, not only why consumers push back against sustainability interventions, but also outline ways forward for reducing it.

In this video, I talk more about our research findings and the implications of these insights for practice. Find more information here.

 

 

 

BMBW Forum: Sustainability and Climate Concerns (2021)

This study, “Understanding Consumer Resistance to Sustainability Interventions” authored by Claudia Gonzalez-Arcos (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and University of Queensland), Alison M. Joubert (University of Adelaide), Daiane Scaraboto (University of Melbourne), Rodrigo Guesalaga (Universidad Alberto Hurtado), and Jörgen Sandberg (University of Queensland) – focused on consumer reactions to plastic bag restrictions in Chile, concluding that negative reactions to the ban arose from increased consumer responsibility and caused unsettling emotions for shoppers due to this practice change.

We recorded this video for the Better Marketing for a Better World (BMBW) webinar. In the video, our team members break down the key elements of the project. Find more information here.

 

 

Theorising Consumer Culture V: Doing Consumption Differently (2021)

We were fortunate enough to receive a grant from the UQ Global Strategy and Partnerships Seed Funding Scheme. Round One in 2021 ($25,250). We used this grant to organise a an online joint Chile-Australia symposium that provided mentorship for CCT PhD students with specific interests in encouraging more sustainable consumption. The senior international mentors in 2021 included Associate Professor Daiane Scaraboto from the University of Melbourne, Professor Linda Price from the University of Wyoming, Professor Hope Schau from the University of Arizona, and Dr Pilar Rojas-Gaviria from the University of Birmingham.

See the highlights from the event in this video. Find more information here

 

 

 

University of Queensland Business, Economics and Law (BEL) Faculty 3-Minute Thesis Competition (2015)

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. This research communication competition challenges Higher Degree by Research students to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance in just three minutes in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

In this video, I compete in the 2015 3MT competition with my doctoral work. Find more information here.