Track 6d. Lifestyles and consumer behavior

Track Chairs:

Iain Black. School of Management & Languages, Dept. of Business Management. Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Cecilia Soler. School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Contacts:  I.R.Black@hw.ac.uk; cecilia.soler@handels.gu.se

Goals and objectives of the track

This track examines consumption and marketing challenges in different socio-cultural and economic contexts. We need to modify the consumer behaviour and lifestyles of the global North and increasingly in an emerging economy context - quickly enough and substantially enough to address the scale of sustainability problems. In parallel, we need to increase the quality and volume of consumption and the welfare of the poor and disadvantaged. A fair distribution of consumption within planetary boundaries in and between different socio-cultural and economic contexts challenges our perception of the market, its ideology and dominant institutions. We welcome research that examines dramatic and substantial change in consumption or innovative or established sustainable consumption practice in local community settings. Context, causes, conditions and changes underlying sustainable consumption practice are in focus of this track.

The track is methodologically and philosophically pluralist and welcomes work from across the spectrum of science. In examining lifestyles and consumer behaviours, use of psychological, sociological, historical or anthropological frameworks are all valid and we look forward to a body of work that examines the issues using a broad range of lenses. We also welcome work sited at a micro, meso or meta scale.

The following are some of the areas of particular interest, though we welcome scholarly papers whose view falls outside this list:

• Loss and reconstruction of lifestyles, practices and behaviours.
  • Understanding of the dramatic changes required may be found in understanding loss, either expected and hence with the opportunity to plan for the future or unexpected and therefore having to react the situation. Reconstructing lifestyle and consumer behaviour is closely related to dominant forms of marketing practice
• Local community based sustainable consumption practice
  • Can local community action that has addressed climate change and sustainability issues be used as a role model for change and what are the institutional barriers for scaling up such initiatives.
  • Work addressing the mobilisation of change agents ranging across different scales from engaging people and families in community initiatives to the large scale changes possible with social movements. In particular, work examining social movements where significant lasting change has come about through the mobilisation of citizens promoting an ideology in opposition to a dominate power, is welcomed. Here again we may look at the lessons to be learnt from research outside the immediate area of sustainability or sustainability.
• Work examining how social scientists (including marketers) have worked with physical and earth scientists or engineers to "sell" their ideas or technology solutions to a range of stakeholders including governments and consumers.
  • Reviews, potentially using a one of a number of different frameworks (marketing, persuasion, diffusion of innovation) of why important ideas or promising technologies have failed. 

You may submit your abstract by visiting the Ex Ordo abstract submission system (you will be required to setup an account first): http://isdrs2016.exordo.com/