Document [original]

Suffizienzförderndes Marketing von Unternehmen

vorgelegt von

M. A.

Maike Gossen

ORCID: 0000-0003-0225-2714

an der Fakultät I – Geistes- und Bildungswissenschaften

der Technischen Universität Berlin

zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades

Doktor der Philosophie

- Dr. phil. -

genehmigte Dissertation

Promotionsausschuss:

Vorsitzende: Prof. Dr. Meike Hopp, Technische Universität Berlin

Erst-Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Ulf Schrader, Technische Universität Berlin

Zweit-Gutachter: Prof. Dr. André Reichel, International School of Management Stuttgart

Tag der wissenschaftlichen Aussprache: 21. März 2022

Berlin 2022

Hinweise:

Die Dissertation ist am Institut für Berufliche Bildung und Arbeitslehre, Fachgebiet Arbeits-

lehre/Ökonomie und Nachhaltiger Konsum an der Technischen Universität Berlin entstanden.

Ferner ist die Dissertation im Rahmen der Nachwuchsgruppe „Digitalisierung und sozial-öko-

logische Transformation“ unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Tilman Santarius erarbeitet worden.

Das Projekt wurde vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) im Rahmen

der sozial-ökologischen Forschung (SÖF) unter dem Förderkennzeichen 01UU1607B über ei-

nen Zeitraum von sechs Jahren (2016-2022) gefördert.

I 
 
 
Inhaltsverzeichnis 
 
Zusammenfassung .................................................................................................................... III 
Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... V 
Übersicht der Einzelpublikationen .......................................................................................... VII 
Abbildungsverzeichnis .......................................................................................................... VIII 
Tabellenverzeichnis ............................................................................................................... VIII 
Teil A – Rahmentext .................................................................................................................. 1 
1. Einführung .......................................................................................................................... 2 
2. Transdisziplinäres Forschungsdesign ................................................................................. 7 
3. Theoretisch-konzeptioneller Hintergrund ........................................................................... 9 
3.1. Suffizienzorientierter Konsum .................................................................................... 9 
3.2. Marketingkonzepte für Konsumreduktion ................................................................. 11 
3.3. Bedeutung und Auswirkungen von Online-Marketing ............................................. 14 
4. Einzelpublikationen der Dissertation ................................................................................ 16 
4.1. Kurzbeschreibungen .................................................................................................. 17 
4.2. Zusammenfassende Ergebnisdarstellung ................................................................... 19 
5. Diskussion und Reflektion ................................................................................................ 27 
5.1. Schlussfolgerungen für die Marketing- und Konsumforschung ................................ 27 
5.2. Implikationen für die Marketingpraxis ...................................................................... 30 
5.3. Reflektion des transdisziplinären Forschungsdesigns ............................................... 35 
6. Fazit ................................................................................................................................... 36 
7. Literaturverzeichnis .......................................................................................................... 37 
8. Darstellung des Eigenanteils an den Einzelpublikationen ................................................ 50 
9. Danksagung ....................................................................................................................... 53 
10. Eidesstattliche Erklärung ............................................................................................... 54 
Teil B – Einzelpublikationen .................................................................................................... 55 

II 
 
I. Why and How Commercial Marketing Should Promote Sufficient Consumption: A 
Systematic Literature Review .................................................................................................. 56 
II. “Choose Nature. Buy Less.” Exploring Sufficiency-oriented Marketing and 
Consumption Practices in the Outdoor Industry ...................................................................... 93 
III. Encouraging Consumption Reduction: Findings of a Qualitative Study with Clothing 
Companies on Sufficiency-promoting Communication ......................................................... 148 
IV.  Brauchst du das wirklich? – Wahrnehmung und Wirkung suffizienzfördernder 
Unternehmenskommunikation auf die Konsummotivation ................................................... 179 
V.  When your shop says #lessismore. Online communication interventions for clothing 
sufficiency .............................................................................................................................. 209 
   

III

Zusammenfassung

Unternehmen sind für die aus Nachhaltigkeitssicht gebotene Veränderung der gegenwärtigen

Produktions- und Konsummuster mit verantwortlich. Für die Förderung von suffizienzorien-

tiertem Konsum bietet sich das Marketing an. Beispiele für suffizienzförderndes Marketing wie

die Anzeige „Don’t buy this jacket“ des Outdoorherstellers Patagonia unterstreichen die aktu-

elle Relevanz für die Marketingpraxis. Jedoch ist das Wissen über die konkreten Marketingin-

strumente und deren Wirkungen auf das Konsumverhalten ebenso wie über die Wahrnehmung

dieses Marketingansatzes und die Motive und Barrieren auf Seiten der Unternehmen noch nicht

weit verbreitet. In meiner explorativen Dissertation adressiere ich diese Forschungslücken, in-

dem ich in insgesamt fünf Einzelpublikationen konzeptionelle und empirische Studien an der

Schnittstelle von sozialwissenschaftlicher Marketing- und Konsumforschung durchführe.

Meine Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Unternehmen eine Vielzahl an Instrumenten der Elemente des

Marketing-Mix zur Verfügung steht, wobei ein Schwerpunkt auf der Produkt- und Kommuni-

kationspolitik liegt. Für die Umsetzung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing sind sowohl stra-

tegische als auch altruistische Motive handlungsleitend. Diese Motivkombination kann in Un-

ternehmen zu einem Wertekonflikt führen, der sich in der Ambivalenz zwischen Markt- und

Verkaufsorientierung einerseits und Verantwortungsübernahme für die Folgen des Überkon-

sums andererseits niederschlägt. Ferner belegen meine Studien, dass Konsument*innen sowohl

die Inhalte als auch den Absender von suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation positiv beurteilen.

Den Unternehmen werden altruistische Motive zugeschrieben und die wahrgenommene Glaub-

würdigkeit der Kommunikationsaktivitäten ist hoch. Hinsichtlich der Frage, welche Rolle suf-

fizienzförderndes Marketing für Verhaltensänderungen in Richtung Suffizienz hat, ist zunächst

eine positive Wirkung auf die suffizienzorientierte Konsumintention feststellbar. In einem La-

borexperiment konnten wir zudem einen kurzfristigen Effekt von suffizienzfördernder Social

Media-Kommunikation auf suffizienzorientiertes Verhalten messen, während dieser Effekt für

ein quasi-experimentelles Feldexperiment nicht festgestellt werden konnte.

Zu den Schlussfolgerungen für die Marketing- und Konsumforschung gehören die kombinierte

Motivlage für die Umsetzung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing, die Eignung als auch die

Grenzen des klassischen Marketing-Mix sowie die Frage nach wirkungsvollen Kommunikati-

onsmaßnahmen, die angesichts der Allgegenwart von konsumstimulierender Werbung langfris-

tige Verhaltensänderungen auslösen können. Mein Beitrag für die Marketingpraxis besteht da-

rin, Ansatzpunkte für den Umgang mit dem Spannungsfeld zwischen Suffizienzförderung und

Unternehmenswachstum sowie organisationale Voraussetzungen für glaubwürdige und effek-

tive Suffizienzförderung zu diskutieren. In diesem Zusammenhang wird zudem die Frage be-

handelt, inwieweit sich die Online-Kommunikation für Suffizienzförderung eignet und welche

Schlussfolgerungen die praxistheoretische Perspektive auf suffizienzorientierten Konsum für

die Weiterentwicklung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing bietet. Die Erkenntnisse meiner

Dissertation sind jedoch nur begrenzt für konventionelle Unternehmen generalisierbar, da sich

meine Untersuchungen ausschließlich mit nachhaltigen Unternehmen befassen.

Abstract

Companies carry some responsibility for transforming current production and consumption pat-

terns to meet sustainability challenges. Marketing is an appropriate tool for promoting suffi-

ciency-oriented consumption. Examples such as the "Don't buy this jacket" advertisement by

outdoor manufacturer Patagonia, underline the current relevance for marketing practice. How-

ever, knowledge about the specific marketing instruments and their effects on consumer behav-

iour, as well as about the perception of this marketing approach and the motives and barriers

on the part of companies, is not yet widespread. In my exploratory thesis, I address these re-

search gaps by carrying out conceptual and empirical studies at the interface of social science

marketing and consumer research in a total of five individual publications.

My results show that companies apply a variety of instruments of the marketing mix, with a

focus on product and communication policy. For the implementation of sufficiency-promoting

marketing, both strategic and altruistic motives are important. This combination of motives can

lead to a conflict of values in companies, which is reflected in the ambivalence between market

and sales orientation on the one hand and taking responsibility for the consequences of over-

consumption on the other. Furthermore, my studies show that consumers perceive both the con-

tent and the sender of sufficiency-oriented communication in a positive light. The companies

are assigned altruistic motives and the perceived credibility of the communication activities is

high. With regard to the question of the role of sufficiency-promoting marketing for behavioural

changes towards sufficiency, an initial positive effect on intended sufficiency-oriented con-

sumption can be shown. In a laboratory experiment, we were also able to measure a short-term

effect of sufficiency-promoting social media communication on sufficiency-oriented behav-

iour, while this effect could not be confirmed in a quasi-experimental field experiment.

The conclusions for marketing and consumer research include the combined motivation for the

implementation of sufficiency-promoting marketing, the suitability and limits of the traditional

marketing mix, as well as the question of effective communication measures that can trigger

long-term changes in behaviour in view of the ubiquity of consumer-stimulating advertising.

My contribution to marketing practice is to discuss starting points for dealing with the tension

between the promotion of sufficiency and company growth, as well as the organizational re-

quirements for credible and effective promotion of sufficiency. In this context, I also deal with

the question of the extent to which online communication is suitable for promoting sufficiency

and what conclusions a social practice theory perspective on sufficiency-oriented consumption

offers for the further development of sufficiency-promoting marketing. However, the findings

of my thesis can only be generalized for conventional companies to a limited extent, as my

studies deal only with sustainable companies.

VII

Übersicht der Einzelpublikationen

I. Gossen, Maike; Ziesemer, Florence; Schrader, Ulf (2019): Why and How Commercial

Marketing Should Promote Sufficient Consumption: A Systematic Literature Review.

Journal of Macromarketing, 39 (3): 252-269.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146719866238

akzeptiertes Manuskript

(Abkürzung im Folgenden: JMK 2018; Seitenzahlen im Rahmentext: 56-92)

II. Gossen, Maike; Kropfeld, Maren Ingrid: “Choose Nature. Buy Less.” Exploring Suffi-

ciency-oriented Marketing and Consumption Practices in the Outdoor Industry.

Sustainable Production and Consumption, 30: 720-736.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.01.005

akzeptiertes Manuskript (veröffentlicht unter CC BY-NC-ND Lizenz)

(Abkürzung im Folgenden: SPC 2022; Seitenzahlen im Rahmentext: 93-147)

III. Gossen, Maike; Heinrich, Anneli (2021): Encouraging Consumption Reduction: Find-

ings of a Qualitative Study with Clothing Companies on Sufficiency-promoting Com-

munication. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption, 3: 100028.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2021.100028

akzeptiertes Manuskript (veröffentlicht unter CC BY-NC-ND Lizenz)

(Abkürzung im Folgenden: CLRC 2021; Seitenzahlen im Rahmentext: 148-178)

IV. Gossen, Maike; Frick, Vivian (2018): Brauchst du das wirklich? – Wahrnehmung und

Wirkung suffizienzfördernder Unternehmenskommunikation auf die Konsummotiva-

tion. Umweltpsychologie. 22(2): 11-32

akzeptiertes Manuskript

(Abkürzung im Folgenden: UPS 2018; Seitenzahlen im Rahmentext: 179-208)

V. Frick, Vivian; Gossen, Maike; Santarius, Tilman; Geiger, Sonja (2021): When your

shop says #lessismore. Online communication interventions for clothing sufficiency.

Journal of Environmental Psychology, 75: 101595.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101595

akzeptiertes Manuskript

(Abkürzung im Folgenden: JEVP 2021; Seitenzahlen im Rahmentext: 209-257)

VIII

Abbildungsverzeichnis

Abbildung 1: Verknüpfung der Einzelpublikationen mit den Forschungsfragen ................... 20

Abbildung 2: Unternehmenseitige Motive für suffizienzförderndes Marketing .................... 22

Abbildung 3: Unternehmenseitige Barrieren für suffizienzförderndes Marketing ................. 23

Tabellenverzeichnis

Tabelle 1: Zusammenfassende Übersicht über die Einzelpublikationen ................................. 16

Tabelle 2. Übersicht über die Co-Autor*innen und Eigenanteile an den Einzelpublikationen52

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

Teil A – Rahmentext

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

1. Einführung

Problemverständnis

Das Anthropozän und der damit beschriebene Eingriff des Menschen in die natürlichen Öko-

systeme haben bereits zur Überschreitung mehrerer planetarischer Grenzen geführt (Steffen

u. a. 2015). Auch der jüngste Sachstandsbericht des Weltklimarats belegt erneut den vom Men-

schen verursachten Klimawandel und zeigt drastische Folgen etwa in Form von Extremwetter-

ereignissen auf (IPCC 2021). Vor diesem Hintergrund sind die natürlichen Voraussetzungen

für das Überleben der Menschheit bedroht. Mitverantwortlich für den gegenwärtigen Zustand

der Welt ist das fortdauernde Streben nach wirtschaftlichem Wachstum (Banerjee u. a. 2021).

Auch der private Konsum als Haupttreiber für den Ressourcen-, Wasser- und Landschaftsver-

brauch und die CO2-Emissionen in Ländern des Globalen Nordens wie Deutschland (Ivanova

u. a. 2016) hat die gegenwärtigen globalen Herausforderungen verursacht (Wiedmann u. a.

2020). Eine Veränderung der Produktions- und Konsummuster ist daher unausweichlich,

um eine nachhaltige Entwicklung für die wachsende Erdbevölkerung zu gewährleisten (Martin

u. a. 2021).

Derzeitige Lösungsansätze, die auf Wachstum, Effizienz und technologischen Lösungen beru-

hen, erzielen dabei jedoch lediglich inkrementelle Verbesserungen (Alfredsson u. a. 2018; Ben-

gtsson u. a. 2018; Mathai u. a. 2021) und stehen der Verbreitung eines ‚starken nachhaltigen

Konsums‘ (Lorek und Fuchs 2013) insbesondere aufgrund von Rebound-Effekten und steigen-

dem Ressourcenverbrauch entgegen. Schon seit geraumer Zeit ist evident, dass ‚grüner Kon-

sum‘ unter Beibehaltung des Gesamtverbrauchs nicht die notwendigen Reduktionen von Ener-

gieverbrauch und CO2-Emissionen erzielt (Alfredsson 2004). Demgegenüber zielt die Suffi-

zienzstrategie auf freiwillig veränderte Verhaltensweisen, die weniger an technische Voraus-

setzungen gebunden sind und die zu der notwendigen Reduktion des absoluten Energie- und

Ressourcenverbrauchs beitragen (Princen 2005; Spangenberg und Lorek 2019; Stengel 2011)

und zwar ohne die Befriedigung existenzieller Bedürfnisse zu beeinträchtigen (O’Neill u. a.

2018). Vielmehr geht Suffizienz davon aus, dass das menschliche Wohlbefinden von Gesund-

heit, sozialen Beziehungen und Zeitwohlstand abhängt (Vita, Hertwich, u. a. 2019; O’Neill u. a.

2018). Die notwendige Begrenzung des individuellen Konsums wird auch von Konzepten wie

den Konsumkorridoren (Fuchs u. a. 2021) oder der doughnut economy (Raworth 2017) adres-

siert. Sandberg (2021) folgend umfasst die Suffizienzstrategie, bezogen auf das individuelle

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

Verhalten, die Reduktion des absoluten Verbrauchs, eine Umstellung auf weniger ressourcen-

intensive Verhaltensweisen, die Erhöhung der Langlebigkeit von Produkten sowie gemeinsame

Nutzungspraktiken.

Unternehmen als Förderer von suffizienzorientiertem Konsum werden erst in wenigen wissen-

schaftlichen Veröffentlichungen behandelt (Bocken und Short 2016; Freudenreich und

Schaltegger 2019; Heikkurinen, Young, und Morgan 2019; Niessen und Bocken 2021). Die

Forschung zu suffizienzorientierten Geschäftsmodellen kommt zu dem Schluss, dass diesen

Geschäftsmodellen ein verändertes Verständnis von unternehmerischer Wertschöpfung zu-

grunde liegt, bei dem es nicht ausschließlich um Gewinnmaximierung geht, sondern sicherge-

stellt wird, dass alle Aktivitäten eines Unternehmens und seiner Stakeholder zu Suffizienz bei-

tragen (Bocken und Short 2016; Kropfeld und Reichel 2021). Dies macht in Folge der engeren

Beziehung zu Kund*innen auch eine Neuausrichtung des Marketings erforderlich. Zudem

legt es der kritische Diskurs über die Mitverantwortung des Marketings für den Überkonsum in

Wohlstandsgesellschaften nahe (Csikszentmihalyi 2000; Stoeckl und Luedicke 2015; Varey

2010), die bestehenden, auf einen Rückgang der Konsumnachfrage abzielenden Marketingkon-

zepte wie Demarketing (Cullwick 1975; Kotler und Levy 1971) oder Social Marketing (Andre-

asen 1994; Peattie und Peattie 2009) weiterzuentwickeln. In diesem Zusammenhang gilt es zu

untersuchen, welche Rolle kommerzielle Unternehmen und insbesondere ihr Marketing bei der

Förderung von suffizienzorientiertem Konsum spielen. Beispiele für suffizienzförderndes

Marketing wie die Anzeige „Don’t buy this jacket“ des Outdoorherstellers Patagonia oder die

Kampagne „Kauf weniger“ der Bio-Supermarktkette Bio Company unterstreichen zudem die

aktuelle Relevanz für die Marketingpraxis. Auch die Tatsache, dass bestimmte Ausprägungen

des Online-Marketings wie Social Media-Kommunikation, Tracking und personalisierte Wer-

bung derzeit eher Risiken als Chancen für den suffizienzorientierten Konsum bietet (Frick,

Matthies, u. a. 2021; Kasser 2020), verdeutlicht die wichtige Rolle, die ein dem Konsumismus

kritisch gegenüberstehender Marketingansatz für die Förderung von nachhaltigen Produktions-

und Konsummustern spielt.

Aufgrund der Neuartigkeit von suffizienzförderndem Marketing in der Praxis und dem geringen

Vorwissen verfolge ich einen explorativen Forschungsansatz. Für das ganzheitliche Verständ-

nis untersuche ich sowohl die Perspektive von nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Unternehmen als Ab-

sender des Marketings als auch die Perspektive von Verbraucher*innen als Empfänger*innen

des Marketings. Damit ist die Dissertation im Kontext der nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Wissen-

schaft sowie an der Schnittstelle von sozialwissenschaftlicher Marketing- und Konsumfor-

schung angelegt.

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

Forschungsfragen

Als Forschungsgegenstand ist suffizienzförderndes Marketing wie erwähnt noch nicht weit ver-

breitet. Bisherige Studien haben sich auf einzelne Kommunikationsmaßnahmen fokussiert und

beispielsweise die Einstellungen gegenüber deren Inhalten und Absendern untersucht (z. B.

Armstrong Soule und Reich 2015). Dabei bleibt offen, wie suffizienzförderndes Marketing in

den übrigen Feldern des Marketing-Mix implementiert wird. Die Untersuchung der operativen

Umsetzung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing kann vor diesem Hintergrund als Forschungs-

lücke identifiziert werden, die wiederum zu der ersten Forschungsfrage meiner Dissertation

führt: Welche Marketinginstrumente umfasst suffizienzförderndes Marketing von Unter-

nehmen?

Suffizienzförderndes Marketing zielt auf individuelle Verbrauchsreduktion und alternative

Verhaltensweisen ab (Bocken und Short 2016; Gossen und Schrader 2018) und steht damit im

Widerspruch zum Ziel der Kaufstimulation des konventionellen Marketings (Swim u. a. 2011).

Dieses paradoxe Verhältnis kann exemplarisch anhand der „Don’t buy this jacket“-Anzeige

von Patagonia aufgezeigt werden. Das Ziel der Kampagne war, Kund*innen über Reparatur-

möglichkeiten und Second Hand-Angebote zu informieren und zum Kaufverzicht zu bewegen

(Hwang u. a. 2016), jedoch erzielte Patagonia letztlich ein Umsatzwachstum von über 30 Pro-

zent (Meltzer 2017). Heute zählt das Unternehmen zu den Marktführern im Outdoorausrüs-

tungssegment (IBISWorld 2020) und wird häufig als Fallbeispiel in der Nachhaltigkeitsfor-

schung untersucht (Hwang u. a. 2016; Khmara und Kronenberg 2018; Wang und Shen 2017).

Dieses Beispiel verdeutlicht den Dualismus von suffizienzförderndem Marketing und wirft die

Frage nach den Gründen auf, die Unternehmen dazu veranlassen, suffizienzorientierten Kon-

sum zu unterstützen. Neben den Motiven sind auch die Barrieren für die Bereitschaft zur Im-

plementierung eines suffizienzfördernden Marketings von Bedeutung. So kann angenommen

werden, dass Unternehmen aufgrund der Wachstumsorientierung der Wirtschaft suffizienzför-

derndes Marketing als kontrovers und kontraintuitiv bewerten (Bocken und Short 2016). Rele-

vante Erkenntnisse zu der Frage, wie Unternehmen mit diesem Widerspruch umgehen, bietet

die Degrowth-Forschung (Khmara und Kronenberg 2018; Leonhardt, Juschten, und Spash

2017; Nesterova 2020; Reichel 2017). Da die Motive und Barrieren für suffizienzförderndes

Marketing bisher weder systematisch noch empirisch untersucht wurden, lautet die zweite For-

schungsfrage meiner Dissertation: Was motiviert Unternehmen zu suffizienzförderndem

Marketing und was hält sie davon ab?

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

Neben der Analyse der unternehmensseitigen Rahmenbedingungen für suffizienzförderndes

Marketing ist die Frage nach der tatsächlichen Wirkung entsprechender Maßnahmen auf das

Konsumverhalten relevant. Aus der Verhaltenspsychologie ist bekannt, dass Einstellungen das

Verhalten beeinflussen (z. B. reasoned action approach, Fishbein und Ajzen 2011). Daher ist

zunächst von Interesse, wie die kognitiven und affektiven Einstellungen von Verbraucher*in-

nen zu den Inhalten sowie zum Absender von suffizienzförderndem Marketing ausfallen. Zu

dieser Frage haben Armstrong Soule und Reich (2015) eine empirische Studie durchgeführt

und festgestellt, dass green demarketing mit altruistischen und strategischen Motiven des da-

hinterstehenden Unternehmens in Verbindung gebracht wird, während ausbeuterische Motive

nicht unterstellt werden. Der Befund, dass sich suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation positiv auf

die Einstellungen gegenüber dem Absender auswirken, bestätigen Ramirez u.a. (2017), die

zeigten, dass entsprechende Maßnahmen in einer verbesserten Wahrnehmung von Vertrauens-

würdigkeit, Marktorientierung und Umweltsensibilität des Unternehmens resultieren. In der

vorliegenden Dissertation soll diese Forschung vertieft werden, weswegen die dritte Frage lau-

tet: Wie nehmen Verbraucher*innen Inhalte und Absender von suffizienzförderndem

Marketing wahr?

Dass Einstellungen das Verhalten beeinflussen, ist aufgrund der Komplexität der individuellen,

sozialen und strukturellen Einflussfaktoren auf Konsumentscheidungen jedoch nicht zwingend

gegeben (z. B. Einstellungs-Verhaltens-Lücke, Belz und Peattie 2012; Bray, Johns, und Kilburn

2011). Die Forschung zu Verhaltensänderungen in Richtung Suffizienz, die über den Energie-

verbrauch der privaten Haushalte hinausgehen (z. B. Moser, Rösch, und Stauffacher 2015;

Thomas u. a. 2019; Ramirez, Tajdini, und David 2017), befindet sich noch in einem frühen

Stadium. In einer der ersten empirischen Arbeiten zu diesem Forschungsthema konnten Hwang

u.a. (2016) zeigen, dass suffizienzfördernde Werbung zu einer geringeren Absicht zum Klei-

dungskauf führt, als klassische Werbung. Da hinsichtlich der verbraucherseitigen Verhaltens-

änderungen als Reaktion auf suffizienzförderndes Marketing vertiefter Forschungsbedarf be-

steht, lautet die vierte Forschungsfrage: Wie wirkt suffizienzförderndes Marketing auf die

Konsumintention und das Konsumverhalten von Verbraucher*innen?

Struktur des Rahmentexts

Im nachfolgenden Kapitel 2 wird zunächst das transdisziplinäre Forschungsdesign vorgestellt,

in dessen Rahmen die Dissertation entstanden ist, woraufhin in Kapitel 3 der zugrundeliegende

Forschungsstand zusammengefasst wird. Anschließend werden in Kapitel 4 die fünf Einzelpub-

likationen kurz beschrieben (vollständige Kopien befinden sind in Teil B) und ihre zentralen

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

Ergebnisse entlang der Forschungsfragen dieser Dissertation zusammengefasst. In Kapitel 5

erfolgen die Diskussion von Schlussfolgerungen für die anwendungsorientierte und nachhaltig-

keitsbezogene Marketing- und Konsumforschung einschließlich zukünftigen Forschungsbe-

darfs sowie die Diskussion von Implikationen für die Marketingpraxis. Zudem werden die Er-

fahrungen mit dem transdisziplinären Forschungsdesign reflektiert. Abschließend wird in Ka-

pitel 6 ein Gesamtfazit gezogen.

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

2. Transdisziplinäres Forschungsdesign

Das Ziel der Nachhaltigkeitsforschung ist nicht nur die Schaffung von interdisziplinärem Wis-

sen, sondern im normativen Sinne auch der sozial-ökologische Wandel (Scholz 2017). Da

Nachhaltigkeitsziele nur durch Kooperationen auf gesellschaftlicher Ebene erreicht werden

können, sind die Zusammenarbeit und Beteiligung von Akteuren aus der Praxis sowie die An-

wendung transdisziplinärer Forschungsmethoden zentrale Merkmale der Nachhaltigkeitsfor-

schung (Brandt u. a. 2013). Transdisziplinäre Forschung zielt darauf ab, Wissen zur Bewälti-

gung von Problemen in der realen Welt zu schaffen (Lang u. a. 2012). Dieser Forschungsansatz

basiert auf der Koproduktion von Wissen, bei der es um die gemeinsame Entwicklung einer

relevanten Forschungsfrage, die Integration von Forschungsmethoden aus verschiedenen Dis-

ziplinen und die Verbreitung der Forschungsergebnisse an verschiedene gesellschaftliche Ak-

teure geht (ebd.). Zudem reflektieren die Forschenden im transdisziplinären Forschungsprozess

kritisch die normative Komponente ihrer Forschung sowie ihre eigene Rolle und Subjektivität

(Pohl, Krütli, und Stauffacher 2017). Die größte Herausforderung und zugleich der größte Nut-

zen transdisziplinären Arbeitens liegen in dem Prozess des gegenseitigen Lernens und der In-

tegration von Wissenssystemen zwischen verschiedenen Disziplinen einerseits und zwischen

Wissenschaft und Praxis andererseits (Scholz 2017). Aus transdisziplinärer Sicht können drei

Arten der Wissensproduktion unterschieden werden (Hirsch Hadorn u. a. 2008): (i) Systemwis-

sen erforscht empirische Fragen über die mögliche Entwicklung eines Problems, (ii) Zielwissen

formuliert Ziele für einen besseren Umgang mit Problemen und (iii) Transformationswissen

erforscht, wie bestehende Verhaltens- und Handlungsweisen verändert werden können (Pohl

und Hirsch Hadorn 2006).

Meine Dissertation ist im Rahmen einer inter- und transdisziplinären Nachwuchsforschungs-

gruppe entstanden, die vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung gefördert und als

Kooperation zwischen der TU Berlin und dem Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung

(IÖW) umgesetzt wurde. Gemäß einem transdisziplinären Forschungsdesign haben die Zusam-

menarbeit mit Wissenschaftler*innen verschiedener Disziplinen aus der Nachwuchsfor-

schungsgruppe sowie Erkenntnisse aus transdisziplinären Workshops mit Praxispartnern aus

dem Bereich des nachhaltigen E-Commerce und aus Verbraucherschutzorganisationen zur Ent-

wicklung des Forschungsdesigns sowie zur Formulierung der Forschungsfragen meiner Disser-

tation beigetragen. Ich habe mit den Einzelpublikationen Systemwissen über den problemati-

schen Zustand des Überkonsums in der Wohlstandsgesellschaft und der Verantwortung des

Marketings dafür generiert. Mit der konzeptionellen und empirischen Untersuchung von suffi-

zienzförderndem Marketing als eine Lösungsmöglichkeit für den Umgang mit den Problemen

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

der materialistischen Konsumgesellschaft habe ich zudem Zielwissen erarbeitet. Dazu zählen

auch die Erkenntnisse über die unternehmensseitigen begünstigenden und erschwerenden Rah-

menbedingungen für die Umsetzung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing. Ferner habe ich

Transformationswissen zu den zu verändernden Praktiken auf Seiten der Konsument*innen ge-

schaffen sowie zu den Marketingmaßnahmen, die die Veränderung der gegenwärtigen Produk-

tions- und Konsummuster in Richtung Nachhaltigkeit und Suffizienz unterstützen.

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

3. Theoretisch-konzeptioneller Hintergrund

Dieses Kapitel stellt den aktuellen Forschungsstand der für die Dissertation relevanten Theorien

und Konzepte vor. Zunächst wird in Kapitel 3.1. das Wissen zu suffizienzorientiertem Konsum

zusammengetragen. Darauf folgt in Kapitel 3.2. ein Überblick und Vergleich bestehender Mar-

ketingkonzepte, die auf Konsumreduktion abzielen. Anschließend wird in Kapitel 3.3. die Be-

deutung des Online-Marketings dargestellt und erörtert, wie sich Online-Marketing auf suffi-

zienzorientierten Konsum auswirkt.

3.1. Suffizienzorientierter Konsum

Nicht-nachhaltige Produktions- und Konsummuster und der daraus resultierende Überkonsum

können nur wirksam verändert werden, wenn neben Effizienzgewinnen durch technologischen

Fortschritt auch Verhaltensänderungen zu Gunsten einer absoluten Verbrauchsreduktion von

Gütern, Ressourcen und Energie umgesetzt werden (Spangenberg und Lorek 2019; Wiedmann

u. a. 2020; Bjørn u. a. 2018). Dementsprechend ist es notwendig, dass sich das Verständnis

eines suffizienzorientierten Konsums in allen relevanten Gruppen durchsetzt. Auf individueller

Ebene definiert Sandberg (2021) mehrere Arten von Verhaltensweisen, die ein suffizienzorien-

tierter Konsum umfasst: Reduktion des absoluten Verbrauchs, Umstellung auf weniger ressour-

cenintensive Konsumstile, Erhöhung der Langlebigkeit von Produkten sowie gemeinsame Nut-

zungspraktiken. Konkret kann suffizienzorientierter Konsum also bedeuten, freiwillig auf den

Kauf neuer Produkte zu verzichten beziehungsweise – wenn Neukäufe nicht verhindert werden

können – qualitativ hochwertige und langlebige Produkte zu wählen, die unter ökologischen

und sozialverträglichen Bedingungen hergestellt werden. Zudem zählen dazu Verhaltensweisen

wie Pflegen, Reparieren, Tauschen, Leihen, Gebrauchtwarenkauf oder die Nutzung von Rück-

nahmesystemen zur Verlängerung der Lebensdauer von Produkten (Kleinhückelkotten und

Neitzke 2019). Viele der genannten Verhaltensweisen setzen ein Überdenken der individuellen

Bedürfnisse und des Anspruchsniveaus sowie eine Reflektion über den Zusammenhang zwi-

schen materialistischem Konsum und Lebenszufriedenheit voraus (Jenny 2016; Hélène Cher-

rier, Szuba, und Özçağlar-Toulouse 2012).

Mit dem Ziel absoluter Verbrauchsreduktionen weist der suffizienzorientierte Konsum Ähn-

lichkeiten mit bereits weitgehend erforschten Konzepten wie anticonsumption (Lee, Fernandez,

und Hyman 2009; Chatzidakis und Lee 2013), voluntary simplicity (Etzioni 1998; Rebouças

und Soares 2021) oder consumer resistance (Helene Cherrier, Black, und Lee 2011) auf. Die

meisten Konzepte für Konsumreduktion basieren auf freiwilligen Entscheidungen für Verhal-

tensänderungen, z. B. ausgelöst durch Lebensereignisse. Dadurch kommt es zu einer Reduktion

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

der eigenen Konsumtätigkeiten und zu einer Veränderung der Lebensgewohnheiten etwa indem

die Arbeitszeiten reduziert werden. Biografische Schlüsselereignisse werden bei suffizienzori-

entiertem Konsum hingegen eher nicht berücksichtigt, stattdessen wird eher an die Verände-

rung von Konsumgewohnheiten appelliert.

Suffizienzorientierter Konsum bewegt sich in den Konsumkorridoren, die es allen Menschen

erlauben, ein gutes Leben in einer Welt mit ökologischen und sozialen Grenzen zu führen

(Fuchs u. a. 2021). Diese Konsumkorridore sind durch die Festlegung eines Mindestver-

brauchsniveaus zur Befriedigung existentieller Bedürfnisse wie Nahrung oder Wohnraum und

eines maximalen Konsumniveaus definiert, das negative soziale und ökologische Auswirkun-

gen vermeidet, die die Chancen anderer gefährden würden ihren Mindestverbrauch zu erfüllen

(ebd.). Vor diesem Hintergrund bedeutet suffizienzorientierter Konsum, mit weniger neuen ma-

teriellen Gütern als heute üblicherweise konsumiert werden zufrieden zu sein (Spangenberg

und Lorek 2019).

Verhaltensänderungen in Richtung eines suffizienzorientierten Konsum in einer Wohlstands-

gesellschaft setzen viel voraus, da Konsum von strukturellen Rahmenbedingungen, gesell-

schaftlichen Institutionen und sozialen Normen beeinflusst wird (Giddens 1984). Aufgrund der

komplexen Einflussfaktoren können langfristige Verhaltensänderungen nicht ausschließlich

mit Kommunikations- und Informationskampagnen erreicht werden (Kemper und Ballantine

2019). Entsprechend wird in der psychologischen Forschung konstatiert, dass intentionale Fak-

toren nur bedingt in der Lage sind, nachhaltiges Verhalten vorherzusagen und lediglich zu Ver-

haltensanpassungen mit eher geringen positiven Umweltwirkungen führen (Gatersleben, Steg,

und Vlek 2002; Kleinhückelkotten und Neitzke 2019; Moser und Kleinhückelkotten 2018). Die

soziologische Praxistheorie bietet als Alternative zu rationalistischen Erklärungsansätzen eine

kontextbezogene Sicht auf den Konsum (Hampton und Adams 2018; Spangenberg und Lorek

2019). Dieser Ansatz erweitert die Perspektive auf menschliches Verhalten, indem er sich auf

gewohnheitsmäßiges, alltägliches Verhalten konzentriert, das nicht mehr bewusst reflektiert

wird (Kumar und Kumar 2008). Nach Ansicht von Shove u.a. (2015) besteht eine soziale Prak-

tik aus mehreren Elementen, nämlich aus (i) Ideen, Bedeutungen und Verständnissen, (ii) per-

sönlichen Fähigkeiten und Kompetenzen zur Durchführung von Praktiken sowie (iii) den Ma-

terialitäten der Praktik. Wirkungsvolles suffizienzförderndes Marketing sollte idealerweise auf

alle drei Elemente abzielen und ihre Verbindungen und Dynamiken untereinander berücksich-

tigen.

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

Auch Gewohnheiten und kalkulierte Nutzenerwartungen leiten Konsumentscheidungen,

ebenso wie die mit Konsum verknüpften Identitätsansprüche und symbolische Positionierungen

(Brunner 2021). All dies kann einer gesellschaftlichen Verallgemeinerung von suffizienzorien-

tiertem Konsum entgegenstehen (ebd.). Aus der aktuellen Forschung ist bekannt, dass eine

wichtige Motivationsquelle, um Konsum freiwillig zu reduzieren, das kollektive Erleben und

Experimentieren darstellt (Gorge u. a. 2015). Zudem empfinden diejenigen, die willentlich suf-

fizienzorientierten Konsum praktizieren, die persönlichen Restriktionen nicht als Askese oder

Verzicht (Speck 2016). Einflussgebend ist vielmehr eine ganze Bandbreite von Motiven, ange-

fangen bei einem ausgeprägten Umweltbewusstsein oder persönlichen Charaktermerkmalen

und Wertvorstellungen, aber auch individuelle Kontexte, wie etwa die eigene finanzielle Situ-

ation oder der Beruf (Ackermann, Grunder, und Reisinger 2016; Speck 2016).

Bezüglich der Frage, ob suffizienzorientierter Konsum auch tatsächlich die intendierten Um-

weltvorteile mit sich bringt, ist die Forschungslage nicht ganz eindeutig. Eine Studie von Krop-

feld u. a. (2018) hat ergeben, dass Konsumkonzepte wie voluntary simplicity sogar einen gerin-

geren ökologischen Fußabdruck mit sich bringen als Lebensstile, denen ein hohes Umweltbe-

wusstsein zugrunde liegt. Verfuerth u.a. (2019) haben gezeigt, dass positive Suffizienzeinstel-

lungen mit einem niedrigeren CO2-Fußabdruck in bestimmten Konsumfeldern wie Stromver-

brauch, Ernährung oder Alltagsmobilität zusammenhängen, während dieser Zusammenhang

bei Flugreisen und Heizverhalten nicht nachgewiesen werden kann. Unaufwändige und weniger

voraussetzungsvolle Verhaltensänderungen können also durchaus durch positive Einstellungen

zu Suffizienz beeinflusst werden. Ferner haben Simulationsmodelle für Suffizienz-Szenarien

ergeben, dass suffizienzorientierte Ansätze wie etwa Einschränkungen des motorisierten Ver-

kehrs, Energieeinsparungen, Verringerung der Lebensmittelverschwendung und Erhöhung der

Haltbarkeit von Kleidung und Geräten am vielversprechendsten sind, um die Umweltbelastun-

gen der entsprechenden Sektoren in Europa zu senken (Vita, Lundström, u. a. 2019).

3.2. Marketingkonzepte für Konsumreduktion

Im vorhergehenden Abschnitt habe ich gezeigt, dass suffizienzorientierter Konsum einen ge-

eigneten Verhaltensansatz darstellt, um dem problematischen Überkonsum in Wohlstandsge-

sellschaften zu begegnen. Jedoch kann dies nicht ausschließlich auf individueller Ebene erfol-

gen, sondern setzt neue gesellschaftliche Rahmenbedingungen voraus, die suffizienzorientier-

ten Konsum begünstigen.

Beim Marketing geht es im herkömmlichen Sinne darum, durch die Schaffung, Kommunikation

über sowie Bereitstellung von Angeboten Werte für Kund*innen und Partner des Unternehmens

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

sowie für die Gesellschaft zu schaffen (American Marketing Association 2017). In dieser De-

finition wird die gesellschaftliche Verantwortung des Marketings zwar anerkannt, aber die Not-

wendigkeit von neuen gesellschaftlichen Rahmenbedingungen nur unzureichend eingelöst

(Achrol und Kotler 2012; Stoeckl und Luedicke 2015; Varey 2010). Schon vor einem halben

Jahrhundert haben beispielsweise Kotler und Levy (1969) eine konzeptionelle Neupositionie-

rung des Marketings gefordert. Das Nachhaltigkeitsmarketing entspricht dieser Erfordernis be-

reits in großen Teilen, indem es einen ganzheitlichen Ansatz verfolgt, bei dem alle Marketing-

aktivitäten und -prozesse entlang der ‚triple bottom line‘ gestaltet werden, also umwelt- und

sozialverträglich sowie ökonomisch abgesichert sind, und an langfristigen Zielen und auf den

Beziehungsaufbau mit relevanten Stakeholdern ausgerichtet werden (Belz und Peattie 2012).

Dennoch sind dem Nachhaltigkeitsmarketing Grenzen gesetzt, etwa durch den starken Fokus

auf Umweltthemen oder weil es primär auf organisationales Handeln fokussiert und dabei pro-

fitorientierte Unternehmensziele anstelle von sozial-ökologischen Anliegen priorisiert

(Connelly, Ketchen, und Slater 2011). Zudem zeigt es bislang nicht die gewünschten Wirkun-

gen in Bezug auf die Folgen des Überkonsums (Capstick u. a. 2015), weswegen alternative

Ansätze benötigt werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund werden im Folgenden zwei weitere Marke-

tingkonzepte vorgestellt, deren Zweck darin liegt, Verhaltensänderungen zu erzielen und

dadurch unter anderem den individuellen Verbrauch bestimmter Konsumgüter zu reduzieren.

Das Social Marketing befasst sich mit sozialen Problemen der Gesellschaft und zielt auf frei-

willige Verhaltensänderungen zur Steigerung des individuellen oder gesamtgesellschaftlichen

Wohlbefindens (Andreasen 1994). Ein wichtiges Merkmal des Social Marketings ist die Ver-

braucherorientierung, die Menschen als Einzelpersonen oder innerhalb von Gemeinschaften zu

Verhaltensänderungen befähigt und motiviert (McKenzie-Mohr 2011). Entsprechende Marke-

tingstrategien werden zumeist im Gesundheitssektor angewendet und zielen darauf ab, gesund-

heitsgefährdende Verhaltensweisen zu verringern. Aber auch im Nachhaltigkeitskontext lässt

es sich sinnvoll anwenden (Geller 1989), etwa wenn es darum geht, nachhaltiges Mobilitäts-

verhalten oder Energieeffizienz zu fördern (für eine Auflistung entsprechender Studien siehe

Gordon, Carrigan, und Hastings 2011). In der Regel sind es staatliche und öffentliche Akteure,

die als Absender von entsprechenden Initiativen auftreten, wobei sich die Beteiligung kommer-

zieller Unternehmen etwa in einer Partnerschaft mit zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen

ebenfalls als erfolgreich erwiesen hat (Kotler und Lee 2008). Entsprechende Kampagnen kön-

nen sogar effektiver wirken als Initiativen, die ausschließlich von gemeinnützigen Organisati-

onen oder Regierungen umgesetzt werden (Polonsky 2017).

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

Peattie und Peattie (2009) schlagen vor, Social Marketing zur Förderung von Konsumreduktion

einzusetzen. Dies haben Lowe et al. (2015) in einer Studie aufgegriffen, in der sie die Wirk-

samkeit eines Social Marketing-Programms zur Senkung des Wasserverbrauchs in Privathaus-

halten belegen konnten. Jedoch bleiben Social Marketing-Kampagnen zur Förderung von Kon-

sumreduktion eher eine Ausnahme, solange die gesellschaftlichen Normen weiter einer Wachs-

tumslogik folgen und auf Statuskonsum ausgerichtet sind (Peattie und Peattie 2009).

Beim Demarketing geht es um die Senkung der Nachfrage in Zeiten von Knappheit durch die

Umkehr traditioneller Marketinginstrumente (Cullwick 1975; Kotler 2011). Entsprechend der

Klassifizierung von Kotler und Levy (1971) kann Demarketing entweder als allgemeines De-

marketing mit dem Ziel der Anpassung an eine Angebotsknappheit auftreten oder als selektives

Demarketing, um bestimmte Kundengruppen partiell auszugrenzen. Bei der dritten Kategorie

geht es darum, künstlich Produktknappheit zu signalisieren und dadurch eine Nachfragesen-

kung zu erreichen. Relativ neu ist ein Forschungszweig, bei dem das Potenzial von Demarke-

ting zur Nachfragereduktion als Beitrag für den Umweltschutz untersucht wird (das so genannte

grüne Demarketing). Armstrong Soule und Reich (2015) haben festgestellt, dass Konsu-

ment*innen dem Absender entsprechender Marketingmaßnahmen vor allem altruistische und

strategische Motive unterstellen, und negative Assoziationen im Sinne von ausbeuterischen

Motiven eher selten auftreten. In einer weiteren Untersuchung konnten sie belegen, dass der

Einsatz von grünem Demarketing im institutionellen Kontext erfolgversprechender ist als im

Produktkontext (Reich und Armstrong Soule 2016). Dass grünes Demarketing je nach Kontext

unterschiedlich eingeschätzt wird, bestätigen Hesse und Rünz (2020), deren qualitative Unter-

suchung ergab, dass eine grüne Demarketing-Kampagne auf Unternehmensebene hohe Zustim-

mung erfährt. Im Hinblick auf die Wahrnehmung der Marke werden demgegenüber Bedenken

artikuliert, die sich aus dem vermeintlichen Widerspruch zwischen der konsumhemmenden

Botschaft und ihrem kommerziellen Absender ergeben. Mit Blick auf den Einfluss von grünem

Demarketing auf Verhaltensänderungen von Konsument*innen haben Ramirez et al. (2017)

gezeigt, dass entsprechende Kampagnen tatsächlich zu einer Reduzierung des Stromverbrauchs

führen können.

Mit den vorhergehenden Ausführungen habe ich gezeigt, dass die Marketingforschung die An-

nahmen, die dem klassischen Marketing zugrunde liegen, zunehmend kritisch hinterfragt. Für

die konzeptionelle und empirische Untersuchung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing von Un-

ternehmen in dieser Dissertation stütze ich mich auf die bestehenden Erkenntnisse zu den be-

schriebenen Marketingkonzepten Social Marketing und Demarketing und übertrage sie auf die

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

(normative) Zielrichtung der Suffizienzförderung. Damit beabsichtige ich bestehende For-

schungslücken zu schließen und neues Wissen über die unternehmensseitige Relevanz und über

Motive und Barrieren sowie die verbraucherseitige Wahrnehmung und Wirkung von suffizienz-

förderndem Marketing zu erarbeiten.

3.3. Bedeutung und Auswirkungen von Online-Marketing

Im Folgenden soll es darum gehen, die Bedeutung von Online-Marketing aufzuzeigen und zu

erörtern, wie sich diese Entwicklungen in Bezug auf die Förderung von suffizienzorientiertem

Konsum verhalten.

Für Individuen hat die Digitalisierung großen Einfluss auf nahezu alle Lebensbereiche, wovon

auch der Konsum betroffen ist, dessen Phasen von der Suche bis zum Kauf zunehmend online

(also via Webseiten, Plattformen, Social Media-Angeboten oder Suchmaschinen) verlaufen

(Initiative D21 2021). Für Unternehmen wiederum entstehen ständig neue digitale Möglichkei-

ten für die Vermarktung und den Verkauf von Produkten und Dienstleistungen, wie beispiels-

weise Instant Shopping, Influencer Marketing und personalisierte Inhalte (Kahlenborn u. a.

2019). Dadurch kann die Präsentation des Angebots effizienter, leichter erlebbar und inklusiver

gestaltet werden (Royle und Laing 2014). Im Allgemeinen ist Online-Marketing durch eine

Vielzahl an digitalen Interaktionspunkten mit relevanten Stakeholdern, unmittelbare Kommu-

nikationsmöglichkeiten sowie kostengünstige, effiziente und messbare Prozesse gekennzeich-

net. Die am häufigsten genutzten Online-Kommunikationsstrategien umfassen Suchmaschinen-

optimierung und -marketing, E-Mail-Marketing, Mobile-Marketing, Electronic Word of

Mouth-Marketing, Content und Influencer-Marketing sowie Social Media-Marketing (Baltaci

2021). Insbesondere das Social Media-Marketing hat sich in den letzten Jahren stark ausgewei-

tet und integriert zunehmend neue Informations- und Kommunikationstools, wie etwa mobile

Konnektivität, Blogging und audiovisuelle Funktionen (Kim, Kang, und Lee 2021).

Welcher Zusammenhang zwischen digitalen Anwendungen wie Apps, Social Media- oder In-

fluencer-Marketing und nachhaltigem Konsum besteht, wird erst vereinzelt untersucht (z. B.

Lell, Muster, und Thorun 2020; Simeone und Scarpato 2020; Mulcahy, Russell-Bennett, und

Iacobucci 2020; Yıldırım 2021). Insgesamt kann festgehalten werden, dass die bisher feststell-

baren Auswirkungen des Online-Marketings aus Nachhaltigkeitssicht eher negativ zu bewerten

sind. Unterschiedliche Studien zu Online-Werbung zeigen etwa, dass eine verbesserte User Ex-

perience, personalisierte Werbung und Social Media-Werbung die Kaufintentionen steigern

(Zhang und Benyoucef 2016; Wahnbaeck und Roloff 2017). Laut einer vergleichenden Unter-

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

suchung ist Werbung in Suchmaschinen und mittels Online-Banner wirkungsvoller als traditi-

onelle Werbung und führt zu höheren Verkäufen (Dinner, Heerde Van, und Neslin 2014). Durch

den Einsatz digitaler Techniken ist es mittlerweile möglich, sehr spezifische kundenindividuelle

Präferenzen bei der Produktgestaltung zu berücksichtigen (Leeflang u. a. 2014), was ebenfalls

als Konsumanreiz wirken kann. Ebenso können individuell ausgesteuerte Preise und Rabattan-

gebote in Online-Shops die Attraktivität bestimmter Produkte erhöhen (Zander-Hayat, Domu-

rath, und Groß 2016), wodurch zusätzlicher Konsum generiert wird. Diese Auswahl an bei-

spielhaften Befunden zeigt, dass die in der klassischen Werbung erprobten Strategien mit dem

Ziel der Verkaufssteigerung beim Online-Marketing sogar noch erfolgreicher eingesetzt wer-

den können – und damit nachhaltigem Konsum eher entgegenwirken.

Gleichwohl bietet die Digitalisierung auch Chancen für die Vermarktung nachhaltiger Produkte

und Dienstleistungen sowie die Information und Aufklärung über nachhaltigere Konsumoptio-

nen. Beispielsweise sind Informationen zu den Herstellungsbedingungen und Umweltauswir-

kungen in vielzähliger Form und niederschwellig im Internet auffindbar (Atkinson 2013; Luck

und Ginanti 2013), wodurch nachhaltige Kaufentscheidungen erleichtert werden. Empirische

Untersuchungen haben zudem gezeigt, dass das Energiesparverhalten durch Social Media-

Kommunikation gefördert werden kann (Oakley und Salam 2014; Foster et al. 2010). Ferner

sind viele neuere Angebote für das ressourcenschonende Teilen, Tauschen und Leihen erst

durch die Digitalisierung entstanden (Gossen, Pentzien, und Peuckert 2019). Zu guter Letzt

können datengestützte Anwendungen (big data) durch die treffsichere Analyse der Präferenzen

von Verbraucher*innen zum Beispiel den Einsatz von Nudges für nachhaltigen Konsum ver-

einfachen (Chandra und Verma 2021).

Diese Darstellungen zeigen die Ambivalenz, die die Entwicklungen des Online-Marketings für

die Förderung von nachhaltigem Konsum bedeuten. Welche Möglichkeiten das Online-Marke-

ting für die Unterstützung von suffizienzorientiertem Konsum bietet, bleibt zudem weitgehend

offen. In meiner Dissertation steht diese Frage zwar nicht im Vordergrund, gleichwohl stellen

die beschriebenen Auswirkungen des Online-Marketings einen wichtigen Interpretationshinter-

grund dar und werden im Rahmen der Diskussion (siehe Kapitel 5) aufgegriffen. Zudem fokus-

siere ich im Rahmen der empirischen Studien zur Wahrnehmung und Wirkung von suffizienz-

förderndem Marketing auf Online-Kommunikation (Newsletter- und Social Media-Marketing).

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

4. Einzelpublikationen der Dissertation

Im Folgenden werden die fünf Einzelpublikationen der Dissertation vorgestellt (Tabelle 1). In

Kapitel 4.1. werden die Zielsetzungen und Methoden der jeweiligen Artikel kurz skizziert, wäh-

rend Kapitel 4.2. die wesentlichen Erkenntnisse im Hinblick auf die forschungsleitenden Fragen

zusammenfasst und ihre Zusammenhänge verdeutlicht.

Tabelle 1: Zusammenfassende Übersicht über die Einzelpublikationen

Artikel

Forschungsbeitrag

Forschungs-

ansatz

Forschungs-

methode

Untersu-

chungsgruppe

JMK 2018

Analyse von Marke-

tinginstrumenten sowie

Motiven und Barrieren

von suffizienzfördern-

dem Marketing

Konzeptio-

nell

Systematische

Literaturana-

lyse

SPC 2022

Analyse von Marke-

tinginstrumenten und der

intendierten suffizienzor-

ientierten Praktiken

Empirisch

Dokumen-

tenanalyse und

qualitative

Interviews

Nachhaltig-

keitsorientierte

Outdoor-

unternehmen

CLRC 2021

Analyse von unterneh-

mensseitigen Motiven

und Herausforderungen

bei der Umsetzung von

suffizienzfördernder

Kommunikation

Empirisch

Qualitative

Interviews

Nachhaltig-

keitsorientierte

Bekleidungs-

unternehmen

UPS 2018

Analyse der verbrau-

cherseitigen Wahrneh-

mung von suffizienzför-

dernder Kommunikation

und Wirkung auf Kon-

sumintentionen

Empirisch

Quantitative

Kund*innen-

Befragung

Kund*innen

des nachhalti-

gen Online-

Marktplatzes

Avocadostore

JEVP 2021

Analyse der verbrau-

cherseitigen Wahrneh-

mung von suffizienzför-

dernder Kommunikation

und Wirkung auf Kon-

sumverhalten

Empirisch

Feld-

experiment

und Labor-

experiment

Kund*innen

des nachhalti-

gen Online-

Marktplatzes

Avocadostore

bzw.

repräsentative

Stichprobe

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4.1. Kurzbeschreibungen

JMK 2018: Der Artikel “Why and How Commercial Marketing Should Promote Sufficient

Consumption: A Systematic Literature Review” wurde im Anschluss an ein Peer-Review-Ver-

fahren im Journal of Macromarketing veröffentlicht. Er stellt die konzeptionelle und empiri-

sche Grundlage für die nachfolgenden Publikationen der Dissertation dar. In dem Artikel un-

tersuchen wir, warum und wie kommerzielles Marketing zur Förderung von suffizienzorien-

tiertem Konsum eingesetzt wird und welche Barrieren diesbezüglich bestehen. Zur Beantwor-

tung der Forschungsfragen wurde eine systematische Literaturanalyse durchgeführt. Der Arti-

kel bietet zunächst einen theoretischen Überblick über verwandte Marketingkonzepte und Ver-

haltensansätze und stellt dann die Vorgehensweise bei der systematischen Literaturanalyse vor.

Unter Anwendung mehrerer komplementärer Suchstrategien haben wir ein vorläufiges Sample

aus 89 wissenschaftlichen Veröffentlichungen gebildet, von denen im Rahmen einer vertieften

Prüfung und ergänzender Suchstrategien 17 Artikel als relevant identifiziert wurden. Die in-

haltsanalytische Auswertung dieser Veröffentlichungen bietet Antworten auf die Frage nach

den Motiven und Barrieren von suffizienzförderndem Marketing sowie den konkreten Marke-

tingmaßnahmen entlang des traditionellen Marketing-Mix (Produkt-, Preis-, Vertriebs- und

Kommunikationspolitik). Im Rahmen der Diskussion ordnen wir die Erkenntnisse in die Mar-

keting- und Konsumforschung ein und benennen weiteren Forschungsbedarf.

SPC 2022: Der Artikel “‘Choose Nature. Buy Less.’ Exploring Sufficiency-oriented Marketing

and Consumption Practices in the Outdoor Industry” wurde in der peer-reviewed Fach-

zeitschrift Sustainable Production and Consumption veröffentlicht. In dem Artikel analysieren

wir die Strategien und Instrumente von suffizienzförderndem Marketing nachhaltiger Outdoor-

unternehmen und generieren Erkenntnisse zu der Frage, welche suffizienzorientierten Kon-

sumpraktiken dadurch unterstützt werden. Die mit Hilfe einer Dokumentenanalyse identifizier-

ten Maßnahmen werden (analog zu der Sortierung der Marketingmaßnahmen im Rahmen des

Artikels JMK 2018) den Elementen des Marketing-Mix zugeordnet. Darüber hinaus analysieren

wir die Marketingstrategien und die von den Unternehmen getroffenen Maßnahmen zur Wir-

kungsevaluation ihrer suffizienzfördernden Marketingaktivitäten. Ein weiterer Teil des Artikels

besteht in der praxistheoretischen Untersuchung von suffizienzorientierten Alltagspraktiken

und den dazugehörigen Elementen, die die entsprechenden Marketinginstrumente unterstützen.

Für die explorative Studie wurden öffentlich verfügbare Dokumente wie Unternehmensweb-

seiten, Nachhaltigkeitsberichte und Social Media-Kanäle ausgewertet sowie qualitative Inter-

views mit Marketingverantwortlichen der ausgewählten Outdoorunternehmen geführt. Exper-

teninterviews haben informatorischen Charakter und werden mit Personen geführt, die über ein

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ausgesprochen hohes Fachwissen über das jeweilige Unternehmen verfügen und Zugang zu

Bedingungen und Abläufen des Unternehmens haben, wodurch die Qualität des Interviews von

der fachlichen Kompetenz des bzw. der Befragten ab hängt. Die Daten wurden inhaltsanalytisch

ausgewertet. In der Diskussion gehen wir auf die theoretischen Beiträge und die praktischen

Implikationen unserer Erkenntnisse ein und leiten zukünftigen Forschungsbedarf ab.

CLRC 2021: Der Artikel “Encouraging Consumption Reduction: Findings of a Qualitative

Study with Clothing Companies on Sufficiency-promoting Communication” wurde in der peer-

reviewed Fachzeitschrift Cleaner and Responsible Consumption veröffentlicht. Er baut eben-

falls auf den theoretischen Erkenntnissen des Artikel JMK 2018 auf und untersucht die dort

identifizierten Motive und Barrieren empirisch unter Zuhilfenahme eines qualitativen Ansatzes.

Dabei liegt der Fokus auf kommunikationspolitischen Strategien von nachhaltigen Beklei-

dungsunternehmen. In dem Artikel gehen wir der Frage nach, welche Motive für eine suffi-

zienzfördernde Kommunikation bestehen, welche Herausforderungen sich aus dem Paradigma

des Wirtschaftswachstums ergeben und welche Online-Kommunikationsmaßnahmen zur För-

derung von suffizienzorientiertem Konsum eingesetzt werden. Für die explorative Studie haben

wir qualitative Interviews mit Vertreter*innen der ausgewählten Bekleidungsunternehmen

durchgeführt. Die Daten wurden inhaltsanalytisch ausgewertet. Im Rahmen der Diskussion

werden die Ergebnisse in die aktuelle nachhaltigkeitsbezogene Management- und Marketingli-

teratur eingeordnet und offene Forschungsfragen benannt.

UPS 2018: Der Artikel „Brauchst du das wirklich? – Wahrnehmung und Wirkung suffizienz-

fördernder Unternehmenskommunikation auf die Konsummotivation“ wurde in der peer-re-

viewd Fachzeitschrift Umweltpsychologie veröffentlicht. Er befasst sich mit der Wahrnehmung

von Kund*innen hinsichtlich der Inhalte und des Absenders von suffizienzfördernder Kommu-

nikation und untersucht, ob diese Kommunikationsform tatsächlich zu suffizienzorientiertem

Konsum motivieren kann. Für die empirische Studie haben wir eine Online-Befragung von

Kund*innen des nachhaltigen Online-Marktplatzes Avocadostore (N = 1626) durchgeführt. Ge-

mäß dem gewählten Mixed-Method-Ansatz wurden die qualitativen und quantitativen Daten

mit inhaltsanalytischen und statistischen Methoden ausgewertet. In der Diskussion beschäftigen

wir uns unter anderem mit den methodischen Stärken und Schwächen der Studie sowie weite-

rem Forschungsbedarf.

JEVP 2021: Der Artikel “When your shop says #lessismore. Online communication interven-

tions for clothing sufficiency” wurde nach einem Peer-Review-Verfahren im Journal of En-

vironmental Psychology veröffentlicht. Er baut inhaltlich auf dem Artikel UPS 2018 auf, bietet

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

durch das gewählte experimentelle Studiendesign aber eine methodische Weiterentwicklung.

Mithilfe von zwei Experimenten haben wir untersucht, ob Online-Kommunikation von nach-

haltigen Unternehmen suffizienzorientierten Kleidungskonsum fördern können. Die erste Stu-

die stellt ein quasi-experimentelles Feldexperiment dar, für das eine Zufallsstichprobe unter

Kund*innen des Avocadostore (N = 2113) befragt wurden. Die Intervention wurde unter dem

Motto #lessismore über die Online-Kommunikationskanäle des Unternehmens (Newsletter, In-

stagram, Facebook) verbreitet. Für die statistische Auswertung haben wir Varianz- und Medi-

ationsanalysen durchgeführt mit dem Ergebnis, dass sowohl die Befragten aus der Versuchs-

sowie der Kontrollgruppe ihren Kleidungskonsum reduzierten. Die Intervention des Feldexpe-

riments führte also nicht zu einer Veränderung des Kleidungskonsums. Vor diesem Hintergrund

wurde die zweite Studie als Laborexperiment durchgeführt und ermöglichte daher eine reprä-

sentative Stichprobe (N = 881) sowie eine vollständige Randomisierung. Die Teilnehmenden

wurden nach dem Zufallsprinzip einer von sechs Bedingungen in einem 3 × 2 Design zugewie-

sen, wobei drei unterschiedliche Kommunikationsbotschaften (neutral, suffizienzfördernd und

konsumfördernd) jeweils mit einfachen Instagram-Posts oder mit Instagram-Posts mit zusätzli-

chen Likes und Kommentaren kombiniert wurden. Das suffizienzorientierte Verhalten wurde

mittels einer Gutscheinwahl gemessen (Wahl einer Spende oder eines Gutscheins für Second-

handkleidung versus eines Gutscheins für den Kauf neuer Produkte). Für die Datenauswertung

haben wir Regressions-, Varianz- und Mediationsanalysen durchgeführt. Der Artikel diskutiert

die Befunde beider Experimente vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen Literatur und der jeweili-

gen methodischen Stärken und Schwächen und schließt mit zukünftigen Forschungsimplikati-

onen ab.

4.2. Zusammenfassende Ergebnisdarstellung

Dieser Abschnitt veranschaulicht, welchen Beitrag die Einzelpublikationen zu den forschungs-

leitenden Fragen leisten (Abbildung 1). Zu diesem Zweck gebe ich im Folgenden entlang der

Forschungsfragen einen Überblick über die zentralen Ergebnisse der Einzelpublikationen und

zeige auf, wie sie sich zueinander verhalten.

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Abbildung 1: Verknüpfung der Einzelpublikationen mit den Forschungsfragen

Marketinginstrumente des suffizienzfördernden Marketings

Für die Beantwortung der ersten Forschungsfrage, welche Marketinginstrumente suffizienzför-

derndes Marketing umfasst, beziehe ich mich zunächst auf den Artikel JMK 2018, in dem wir

einen Überblick über den Forschungsstand zum Marketing für Konsumreduktion vorgelegt und

auf dieser Basis eine definitorische Annäherung und eine praktische Operationalisierung vor-

geschlagen haben. Da bislang keine anerkannte Definition für suffizienzförderndes Marketing

existiert und die Forschungslandschaft fragmentiert ist, erfordert dies eine Abgrenzung des Un-

tersuchungsgegenstands zu verwandten Marketingkonzepten wie Social Marketing und Demar-

keting. In dem Artikel definieren wir suffizienzförderndes Marketing als einen Marketingansatz

von kommerziellen Unternehmen zur Förderung von suffizienzorientiertem Konsum. Die in-

tendierten Verhaltensänderungen basieren dabei auf freiwilligen Entscheidungen und tragen zur

absoluten Konsumreduktion bei.

Die konkreten Marketinginstrumente haben wir entlang der 4‘s des Marketing-Mix (Produkt-,

Preis-, Vertriebs- und Kommunikationspolitik) identifiziert. Im Rahmen der Produktpolitik

werden beispielsweise die Qualität, Langlebigkeit und Reparaturfähigkeit von Produkten adres-

siert, um sie möglichst lange nutzen oder (wieder)verwenden zu können. Ferner zählen dazu

zusätzliche Dienstleistungen wie Verleih- oder Mietmodelle und Reparaturangebote, um die

Produktlebensdauer zu erhöhen. Hinsichtlich der suffizienzfördernden Preispolitik konnten in

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der Literatur vor allem Premiumpreise, der Verzicht auf Rabattaktionen und lange Gewährleis-

tungsgarantien identifiziert werden. Unter den vertriebspolitischen Maßnahmen finden sich di-

rekte Kundenkontakte und innovative Erlebnisangebote wie Kleidertauschpartys. Als Maßnah-

men der Kommunikationspolitik werden Inhalte, die den Überkonsum in Frage stellen und zu

kritischem Konsum anregen, sowie Bildungs- und Informationskampagnen zur Bewusstseins-

bildung angeführt.

Im Artikel SPC 2022 untersuchen wir vor dem Hintergrund der Erkenntnisse aus der systema-

tischen Literaturanalyse des Artikels JMK 2018, welche Marketingstrategien und -maßnahmen

in der Unternehmenspraxis aufzufinden sind. Die untersuchten Outdoorunternehmen verfolgen

mit ihrem Marketing durchweg die Vision, Outdoorerlebnisse zu ermöglichen und gleichzeitig

die natürliche Umwelt zu schützen. Eine Gemeinsamkeit der jeweiligen Marketingstrategien

besteht in dem Fokus auf Langlebigkeit und Qualität der Produkte zur Unterstützung von suf-

fizienzorientiertem Konsum. Entsprechend können die meisten Marketingmaßnahmen, die wir

in der Dokumentenanalyse identifiziert haben, auch der Produktpolitik zugeordnet werden. Die

Unternehmen haben hohe Anforderungen an das Produktdesign und sind bestrebt, möglichst

recyclebare, langlebige, multifunktionale, reparierbare und zeitlose Produkte anzubieten. Das

Angebot wird um Dienstleistungen ergänzt, die die Nutzungsdauer der Outdoorkleidung und

Ausrüstungsgegenstände verlängern, wie etwa Reparaturwerkstätten, Secondhand-Verkäufe,

Leihangebote oder Pflege- und Reparaturanleitungen. Im Rahmen der Online-Kommunikation

geben die Unternehmen Anregungen, den Konsum kritisch zu hinterfragen, bieten Tipps für

den suffizienzorientierten Umgang mit ihren Produkten sowie Sachinformationen zum Thema

nachhaltiger Konsum beziehungsweise Konsumreduktion. In der Preis- und Vertriebspolitik

weisen die untersuchten Unternehmen allerdings nur wenige suffizienzfördernde Maßnahmen

auf. Auch ist erkennbar, dass die aufgeführten Aktivitäten in erster Linie Konsumpraktiken

unterstützen, die auf eine Verlängerung der Produktlebensdauer abzielen, gefolgt von reduzier-

tem beziehungsweise weniger ressourcenintensiven Konsumpraktiken und Praktiken der ge-

meinsamen Nutzung. Eine Wirkungsmessung der Marketingaktivitäten ist bei den untersuchten

Outdoorunternehmen bisher größtenteils nicht vorhanden.

Die vorangehenden Ausführungen zeigen zum einen die Bandbreite der möglichen Marketing-

maßnahmen zur Förderung von suffizienzorientiertem Konsum entlang der vier Elemente des

Marketing-Mix auf. Zum anderen liefert insbesondere der Artikel SPC 2022 theoretische Be-

lege für die Eignung der identifizierten Aktivitäten zur Förderung von suffizienzorientierten

Praktiken am Beispiel des Konsums von Outdoorkleidung und -ausrüstung.

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

Unternehmensseitige Motive und Barrieren für suffizienzförderndes Marketing

Die Beantwortung der zweiten Forschungsfrage, welche Motive und Barrieren handlungslei-

tend für suffizienzförderndes Marketing sind, steht im Fokus von zwei Publikationen. Ich stütze

mich im Folgenden auf die Erkenntnisse der Literaturanalyse des Artikels JMK 2018 sowie auf

die empirischen Befunde des Artikels CLRC 2021.

Die systematische Literaturanalyse des Artikels JMK 2018 hat zwei übergeordnete Begrün-

dungskategorien für die Umsetzung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing ergeben – altruistisch

und strategisch –, die jeweils aus mehreren Motiven bestehen. Zu den altruistischen Motiven

zählt die normative Überzeugung, dass ein Beitrag zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung und zur ge-

sellschaftlichen Abkehr von der materialistischen Konsumgesellschaft geleistet werden kann.

Eine stärkere Betonung von Suffizienz kann zudem im Sinne des Vorsorgeprinzips zukünftige

Belastungen und Schäden reduzieren. Aus strategischer Sicht können Unternehmen suffizienz-

förderndes Marketing nutzen, um ihre Reputation zu verbessern, Kundenbeziehungen zu stär-

ken, neue Geschäftsfelder zu erschließen und den Umsatz zu steigern. In der Abbildung 2 wer-

den die Motive zusammenfassend dargestellt.

Abbildung 2: Unternehmenseitige Motive für suffizienzförderndes Marketing

Ferner haben wir Barrieren für die Umsetzung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing identifi-

ziert, die ebenfalls in zwei Kategorien – systemisch und organisatorisch – gruppiert werden

können. Als systemische Barrieren treten die Wachstumsorientierung der Wirtschaft und die

vorherrschende Konsumkultur auf, die im Widerspruch zu Suffizienz stehen. Darüber hinaus

kann suffizienzförderndes Marketing von Unternehmen im Falle einer engen Auslegung der

Konsumentensouveränität kritisch bewertet werden, wenn damit Einschränkungen der Wahl-

freiheit und Beeinflussung des wettbewerblichen Marktgeschehens in Verbindung gebracht

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werden. Auf der Organisationsebene sind eine starke Ausrichtung an Umsatzzielen, die Orien-

tierung an Shareholderinteressen und die Sorge vor Reputationsverlusten als hemmende Fakto-

ren zu nennen. In der Abbildung 3 werden die Barrieren zusammenfassend dargestellt.

Abbildung 3: Unternehmenseitige Barrieren für suffizienzförderndes Marketing

In dem Artikel CLRC 2021 untersuchen wir mit Hilfe von qualitativen Interviews auf dieser

theoretischen Grundlage, inwieweit die identifizierten Motive und Barrieren bei nachhaltigen

Bekleidungsunternehmen auftreten. Hinsichtlich der Motive liefern wir eine empirische Bestä-

tigung für die Unterscheidung in altruistische und strategische Motive. Es sind vor allem nach-

haltigkeitsorientierte Werte und Prinzipien und das Anliegen, zu einer Abkehr von der materi-

alistischen Konsumgesellschaft beizutragen, die die untersuchten Unternehmen zur Umsetzung

von suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation motivieren. Daneben hat aber auch die Verkaufsstei-

gerung als strategisches Motiv ein starkes Gewicht, ebenso wie die Erhöhung von Bekanntheit

und Reputation des jeweiligen Unternehmens beziehungsweise der Marke. Hinzu kommt, dass

die befragten Unternehmen das Thema Suffizienz als Alleinstellungsmerkmal und damit als

strategische Abgrenzungsmöglichkeit in ihrem Wettbewerbsumfeld begreifen. Hinsichtlich der

Barrieren beschränken wir uns in dem Artikel CLRC 2021 auf die Analyse der durch die öko-

nomische Wachstumsorientierung bedingten Herausforderungen bei der Umsetzung von suffi-

zienzfördernder Kommunikation. Der Widerspruch zwischen Suffizienzförderung und Unter-

nehmenswachstum ist den untersuchten Unternehmen sehr bewusst, und sie entwickeln Strate-

gien zum Umgang mit dieser Dualität, etwa indem sie ihr Produktangebot an Prinzipien wie

Langlebigkeit, Zeitlosigkeit und Reparaturfähigkeit ausrichten oder ihr Geschäftsmodell diver-

sifizieren und zusätzliche Dienstleistungen wie Verleih, Miete oder Gebrauchtkauf in ihr An-

gebotsportfolio aufnehmen. Diese Befunde korrespondieren mit den Erkenntnissen des Artikels

SPC 2022, die die Bedeutung der suffizienzfördernden Produktpolitik unterstreichen (siehe

nächster Abschnitt). In den Fällen, in den in Folge der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation

steigende Verkaufszahlen registriert werden, legitimieren die betreffenden Unternehmen dies

damit, dass im Gegenzug Schrumpfungseffekte bei anderen nicht-nachhaltigen Unternehmen

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

auftreten. Sie vertreten damit die Auffassung, dass der Konsum auf einem gleichbleibenden

Niveau stagniert, jedoch mit höheren Marktanteilen von nachhaltigen Produkten.

Die qualitativen Befunde des Artikels CLRC 2021 bestätigen also im Wesentlichen die theore-

tischen Erkenntnisse des Artikels JMK 2018. Es können jedoch auch Unterschiede ausgemacht

werden, die aus den getroffenen Vorannahmen und empirischen Schwerpunktsetzungen resul-

tieren (siehe auch Abbildung 1). Für die Literaturanalyse des Artikels JMK 2018 haben wir

zwar als Selektionskriterium einen Bezug zu Nachhaltigkeit definiert, jedoch beziehen sich die

identifizierten Motive und Barrieren nicht ausschließlich auf nachhaltigkeitsorientierte Unter-

nehmen. Demgegenüber wurden bei der qualitativen Interviewstudie im Rahmen des Artikels

CLRC 2021 lediglich Bekleidungsunternehmen mit einer eindeutigen Nachhaltigkeitsorientie-

rung befragt. Die Befunde sind vor diesem Hintergrund nicht allgemeingültig interpretierbar.

Übergreifend kann festgehalten werden, dass einige, aber nicht alle der im Rahmen der Litera-

turanalyse identifizierten Motive und Barrieren auch in der Praxis tatsächlich von Bedeutung

sind. Ferner wird deutlich, dass für Unternehmen insbesondere das Spannungsfeld zwischen

Suffizienzförderung und Unternehmenswachstum als Hindernis oder mindestens als Heraus-

forderung relevant ist.

Verbraucherseitige Wahrnehmung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing

Zwei weitere Publikationen der Dissertation befassen sich mit der Perspektive von Verbrau-

cher*innen auf suffizienzförderndes Marketing und haben zum Ziel, die dritte Forschungsfrage,

wie Verbraucher*innen suffizienzförderndes Marketing wahrnehmen, zu beantworten.

In dem Artikel UPS 2018 untersuchen wir mit einem Mixed-Methods-Studiendesign, wie

Kund*innen des nachhaltigen Marktplatzes Avocadostore suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation

bewerten und kommen zu dem Ergebnis, dass entsprechende Inhalte positiv aufgenommen wer-

den. Die offene Abfrage im Rahmen der Befragung ergab, dass insbesondere Anregungen zur

Reflektion des persönlichen Kaufverhaltens und Hinweise auf Alternativen zum Neukauf oder

zum Kaufverzicht positiv bewertet werden. Auch hinsichtlich der Wahrnehmung des Absenders

der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation überwiegen die positiven Äußerungen. Besonders

positiv wahrgenommen werden die Uneigennützigkeit und Glaubwürdigkeit des dahinterste-

henden Unternehmens. Zudem wird die Kommunikation des Unternehmens als übereinstim-

mend mit dem nachhaltigen Unternehmensimage wahrgenommen. Diese qualitativen Äußerun-

gen werden durch die quantitativen Ergebnisse der Befragung unterstützt. Demnach werden die

Glaubwürdigkeit sowie die wahrgenommenen altruistischen und strategischen Motive des Un-

ternehmens hoch bewertet.

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

Auch in dem Artikel JEVP 2021 haben wir im Rahmen des Laborexperiments untersucht, wie

Social Media-Kommunikation eines fiktiven Bekleidungsunternehmens wahrgenommen wird.

Die Einstellung gegenüber den Inhalten der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation ist positiv.

So stimmen die Befragten zu, dass die Inhalte z. B. ansprechend, leicht verständlich und infor-

mativ sind. Im Vergleich zu den beiden anderen Bedingungen des Experiments – neutrale und

konsumfördernde Kommunikation – schneidet die suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation sogar

besser ab, das heißt sie wird positiver wahrgenommen. Auch das fiktive Bekleidungsunterneh-

men als Absender der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation wird positiv bewertet. Hinter die-

ser Einschätzung verbirgt sich die Zuschreibung von altruistischen Motiven anstelle von stra-

tegischen und ausbeuterischen Motiven. Auch hier fällt die Wahrnehmung in der suffizienzför-

dernden Bedingung positiver als bei den anderen beiden Bedingungen aus.

Wirkung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing auf Verhalten

Forschungsleitend für die empirischen Studien in den beiden Artikel UPS 2018 und JEVP 2021

war die Frage nach der Wirkung von suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation. Die beiden Artikel

beantworten daher die vierte Forschungsfrage, wie suffizienzförderndes Marketing auf die Kon-

sumintention und das Konsumverhalten von Verbraucher*innen wirkt. Die Kundin*innen-Be-

fragung im Rahmen des Artikels UPS 2018 belegt zunächst den positiven Effekt von suffizienz-

fördernder Kommunikation auf intentionale Verhaltensänderungen. Den offenen Antworten zu-

folge kann diese Art der Kommunikation zu suffizienzorientiertem Konsum motivieren, indem

sie dazu anregt, das eigene Konsumverhalten zu überdenken. Dieser qualitative Befund wird

durch die quantitativ abgefragte motivierende Wirkung unterstützt.

In dem Artikel JEVP 2021 haben wir darauf aufbauend mit Hilfe von zwei Experimentalstudien

untersucht, welche Wirkung Social Media-Kommunikation eines fiktiven Unternehmens auf

den Kleidungskonsum hat. Die erste Studie, ein Feldexperiment mit Kund*innen des Avoca-

dostore, hat ergeben, dass Teilnehmende sowohl in der Experimental- als auch in der Kontroll-

gruppe ihren Kleidungsverbrauch reduzierten, es also keinen Unterschied macht, ob sie die In-

tervention gesehen haben oder nicht. Daraus kann gefolgert werden, dass die suffizienzfördern-

den Inhalte das Verhalten nicht im intendierten Sinne beeinflussen. Dieser fehlende Zusam-

menhang kann unterschiedliche Ursachen haben. Beispielsweise könnte der Fragebogen selbst

suffizienzfördernd gewirkt haben, etwa wenn die Teilnehmenden während des Ausfüllens kri-

tisch über ihren Kleidungsverbrauch nachgedacht haben. Zudem ist vorstellbar, dass die inhalt-

liche Botschaft der Intervention nicht eindeutig genug und die ausgewählten Social Media-Ak-

tivitäten im Rahmen der Intervention zu schwach waren.

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Im Vergleich dazu konnte im Laborexperiment ein kurzfristiger Effekt der suffizienzfördernden

Instagram-Kommunikation auf suffizienzorientierten Konsum gemessen werden. Ein entschei-

dender Einflussfaktor darauf ist ein geringerer Wunsch nach neuer Kleidung, wohingegen an-

dere Variablen wie die personale oder soziale Norm nur einen geringen oder keinen Einfluss

auf die Entscheidung haben. Für konsumfördernde Kommunikation ist die Wirkung auf Kon-

sumentscheidungen jedoch nicht nachweisbar.

Die Ergebnisse beider Artikel belegen das Potenzial von suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation,

sowohl Konsumintentionen als auch Konsumverhalten in Richtung Suffizienz zu beeinflussen.

Gleichzeitig zeigen sie die Grenzen insbesondere von Social Media-Kommunikation auf, wenn

es um langfristige Verhaltensänderungen geht.

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

5. Diskussion und Reflektion

Ziel dieses Kapitels ist es, übergreifende und verallgemeinerbare Schlussfolgerungen aus den

Einzelpublikationen abzuleiten. In Kapitel 5.1. werden vor dem Hintergrund der theoretisch-

konzeptionellen Grundlagen (siehe Kapitel 3) Schlussfolgerungen sowie zukünftiger For-

schungsbedarf für die anwendungsorientierte und nachhaltigkeitsbezogene Marketing- und

Konsumforschung abgeleitet. Darüber hinaus werden in Kapitel 5.2. praktisch-normative

Handlungsempfehlungen für Unternehmen entwickelt und in Kapitel 5.3. die Erfahrungen mit

dem transdisziplinären Forschungsdesign reflektiert.

Hinsichtlich der Verallgemeinerbarkeit der für die Forschung sowie die Marketingpraxis rele-

vanten Erkenntnisse gibt es jedoch Grenzen. Entsprechend der Fokussierung auf Bekleidungs-

und Outdoorunternehmen im Rahmen der empirischen Arbeiten dieser Dissertation sind ledig-

lich Aussagen über die Relevanz und Praktikabilität von suffizienzförderndem Marketing für

Unternehmen dieser Branchen möglich. Ferner beziehen sich meine Befunde ausschließlich auf

solche Unternehmen, die bereits eine starke Nachhaltigkeitsorientierung aufweisen. Somit ist

die Verallgemeinerbarkeit für konventionelle Unternehmen ebenfalls eingeschränkt. Auch be-

ziehen sich die meisten meiner empirischen Forschungsergebnisse auf Kommunikationsmaß-

nahmen zur Suffizienzförderung, weswegen Rückschlüsse auf die Eignung der anderen Ele-

mente des Marketing-Mix nur bedingt erfolgen können. Die nachfolgenden Ausführungen sind

zudem vor dem Hintergrund einzuordnen, dass es sich bei dem Dissertationsthema um ein ver-

gleichsweise junges Forschungsfeld handelt, zu dem für die Überprüfung und Fundierung der

explorativen Erkenntnisse weitere Forschung nötig ist. Trotz dieser Limitationen können die

Ausführungen die Entwicklung zukünftiger Forschungsfragen inspirieren und relevante Anre-

gungen für Vertreter*innen der Marketingpraxis liefern.

5.1. Schlussfolgerungen für die Marketing- und Konsumforschung

Kombinierte Motivlage bei suffizienzorientiertem Marketing

Ein zentraler Beitrag dieser Dissertation besteht darin, die Voraussetzungen und Rahmenbe-

dingungen für suffizienzförderndes Marketing konzeptionell und empirisch zu untersuchen.

Nicht zuletzt aufgrund der Neuartigkeit und Unkonventionalität des Untersuchungsgegen-

stands (Bocken und Short 2016) ist es wichtig, die Motive, Barrieren und Erfolgsbedingungen

besser zu verstehen, die die Umsetzung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing determinieren.

So konnte ich zeigen, dass sowohl strategische als auch altruistische Motive für Unternehmen

handlungsleitend sind. Diese Kombination von Verantwortungsübernahme ist aus der For-

schung zur Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) bekannt. Vidaver-Cohen und Simcic Brønn

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(2008) fanden auf Basis einer Befragung von norwegischen Unternehmen heraus, dass ihr En-

gagement sowohl aus pragmatischen als auch moralischen Gründen erfolgt. Dies deckt sich

mit dem Befund meiner Dissertation, dass suffizienzförderndes Marketing auf einer strate-

gisch-altruistischen Motivlage basiert. Auch in der Wahrnehmung von Konsument*innen en-

gagieren sich Unternehmen für Nachhaltigkeitsziele entweder aus fremdnützigen (wertorien-

tierten, intrinsischen, der Gesellschaft dienenden) Motiven oder aus eigennützigen (geschäfts-

orientierten, dem Unternehmen dienenden) Motiven (Kim und Lee 2012; Barone, Miyazaki,

und Taylor 2000; Foreh und Grier 2003). Zukünftige Forschung könnte sich mit der Frage be-

schäftigen, in welcher Relation die beiden Motivkategorien idealerweise zueinanderstehen

und ob eher ein ausgewogenes oder ein ungleichmäßiges Verhältnis die Initiierung und dauer-

hafte Implementierung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing unterstützt.

Praktikabilität des Marketing Mix

In den Publikationen meiner Dissertation habe ich die Operationalisierung von suffizienzför-

derndem Marketing mit Hilfe des klassischen Marketing-Mix (Kotler und Armstrong 2018)

vorgenommen. Sowohl die in der Literatur identifizierten Marketingaktivitäten als auch die

empirische Untersuchung von in der Praxis vorhandenen Marketinginstrumenten haben erge-

ben, dass die klassische Unterteilung in die 4 P’s (Produkt-, Preis-, Vertriebs- und Kommuni-

kationspolitik) eine praktikable Heuristik für die Analyse von suffizienzförderndem Marketing

bietet. Andererseits ergeben sich Grenzen und Herausforderungen, die der Untersuchungsge-

genstand für die Marketingforschung aufwirft. Insbesondere für die Förderung von Konsumre-

duktion als das anspruchsvollste Zielverhalten innerhalb der unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen

von suffizienzorientiertem Konsum (Sandberg 2021) erscheint der herkömmliche Marketing-

Mix nur begrenzt geeignet. Konsumentscheidungen, bei denen bewusst auf den Neukauf mate-

rieller Dinge verzichtet wird, können nur bedingt durch Inhalte unterstützt werden, die sich auf

die materiellen Eigenschaften eines physischen Produkts beziehen. Dies rückt die Bedeutung

von Informations-, Bildungs- und Kommunikationsmaßnahmen für ein wirkungsvolles suffi-

zienzförderndes Marketing in den Fokus, da diese Maßnahmen für die Bewusstseinsbildung

und Bedürfnisreflektion besonders geeignet scheinen. So haben andere Studien gezeigt, dass

Kommunikationsaktivitäten mit einem hohen Praxisbezug und Anschlussfähigkeit zum Alltag

der Konsument*innen wie beispielsweise eine ‚Detox Challenge‘ dazu beitragen können, den

Kleidungskonsum zu reduzieren (Ruppert-Stroescu u. a. 2015). In der aktuellen Literatur zu

verwandten Marketingkonzepten (siehe Kapitel 3.2.) wird die Eignung der 4 P’s und unter-

schiedlicher Marketingmaßnahmen jedoch nicht nähergehend untersucht. Vor diesem Hinter-

grund stellt sich für zukünftige Forschung beispielsweise die Frage, wie ein weiterentwickelter

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Marketing-Mix aussehen könnte, der auf die Besonderheiten von suffizienzorientiertem Kon-

sum eingeht. Erste Anregungen dazu habe ich im Rahmen der Dissertation in dem Artikel JMK

2018 gegeben mit dem Vorschlag, zwei weitere P’s, nämlich policy und partners, für die Ope-

rationalisierung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing hinzuzunehmen. In ähnlicher Weise ha-

ben Belz und Peattie (2012) mit den 4 C’s den Marketing-Mix an die Anforderungen des Nach-

haltigkeitsmarketings angepasst und der Orientierung an Kund*innen-Bedürfnissen sowie an

Lösungen von sozial-ökologischen Problemen dabei einen größeren Stellenwert eingeräumt.

Positive Wahrnehmung und kurzfristige Wirkung von suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation

Meine empirischen Befunde zur verbraucherseitigen Wahrnehmung von suffizienzfördernder

Kommunikation untermauern die bisherige Forschung in diesem Bereich (Armstrong Soule und

Reich 2015; Reich und Armstrong Soule 2016; Ramirez, Tajdini, und David 2017), in der Form,

dass die suffizienzbezogenen Inhalte wie auch der Absender der Kommunikation positiv beur-

teilt werden. Diese Aussage ist jedoch nur für nachhaltige Unternehmen generalisierbar, da die

in den Einzelpublikationen untersuchten realen und fiktiven Fallbeispiele ausschließlich als

nachhaltige Unternehmen positioniert waren. Daraus ergibt sich weiterer Forschungsbedarf zur

Wahrnehmung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing konventioneller Unternehmen, bei denen

die Passung zum Kerngeschäft nicht so eindeutig gegeben ist, wie bei nachhaltigen Unterneh-

men. Dass dadurch die Glaubwürdigkeit entsprechender Bemühungen beeinträchtigt werden

kann (Thummes 2019), führe ich im Abschnitt 5.2. weiter aus.

Meine Erkenntnisse zur Wirkung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing auf das Konsumverhal-

ten liefern ebenfalls einen wichtigen Forschungsbeitrag. In den Experimenten des Artikels

JECP 2021 konnten zwar kurzfristige Effekte von suffizienzfördernder Social Media-Kommu-

nikation gemessen, aber langfristige Einflüsse nicht identifiziert werden. Mit diesem Ergebnis

replizieren wir das Ergebnis von Young u.a. (2017), deren Social Media-Intervention darauf

abzielte, Lebensmittelverschwendung zu reduzieren, aber ebenfalls keine dauerhaften Auswir-

kungen zeigte. Es scheint, dass Social Media-Kommunikation nicht effektiv genug ist, um lang-

fristige Verhaltensänderungen in Richtung Suffizienz zu unterstützen. Dies kann unter anderem

damit erklärt werden, dass Konsument*innen konsumfördernden Inhalten in der Online-Wer-

bung viel stärker ausgesetzt sind als suffizienzfördernden Botschaften (Frick, Matthies, u. a.

2021). Die teils erklärungsbedürftigen Befunde meiner Untersuchungen verdeutlichen, dass

empirische Studien zu wirkungsvollen Interventionen für suffizienzorientierte Verhaltensände-

rungen ein relevantes Betätigungsfeld für zukünftige Forschung darstellen. Dabei ist es wichtig,

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Konsumverhalten und nicht nur Intentionen zu untersuchen sowie nachhaltige Verhaltensände-

rungen mit Längsschnittbefragungen zu messen. Zudem empfiehlt sich die Anpassung und Ent-

wicklung von geeigneten Messinstrumenten für suffizienzorientierten Konsum, da den bislang

in der Konsumforschung verwendeten Messskalen meistens ein begrenztes Rollenverständnis

von Konsum zugrunde liegt (Geiger, Fischer, und Schrader 2018). Indem Konsument*innen

häufig nur als Ausführende von Kaufentscheidungen gesehen werden, werden suffizienzorien-

tierte Verhaltensweisen wie die geteilte Nutzung oder der pflegliche Umgang mit existierenden

Gütern bisher nicht ausreichend in den verbreiteten Befragungsinstrumenten eingeschlossen.

Förderung von suffizienzorientierten Praktiken

In der Untersuchung von suffizienzfördernden Marketingmaßnahmen von Outdoorunterneh-

men im Rahmen des Artikel SPC 2022 haben wir praxistheoretische Annahmen über mensch-

liches Verhalten (Reckwitz 2002; Shove, Watson, und Spurling 2015) zugrunde gelegt. Das

Ziel war, Aktivitäten zu identifizieren, die auf die Veränderung sozialer Praktiken abzielen. Es

hat sich gezeigt, dass die ganze Bandbreite suffizienzorientierter Verhaltensweisen nach der

Definition von Sandberg (2021) gefördert werden. Dabei wird das Bedeutungselement einer

suffizienzorientierten Praktik zum Beispiel durch Botschaften gestärkt, die die emotionale Be-

deutung von Produkten als geliebte und gut zu pflegende Gegenstände betonen. In Hinblick auf

das Element der Fähigkeiten werden Anleitungen und Tutorials angeboten, die die Entwicklung

von neuen Fähigkeiten für die Pflege und Reparatur von Produkten unterstützen. Auf das dritte

Element Materialitäten zahlt das Angebot von langlebigen, hochwertigen und reparierbaren

Produkten ein. Gleichwohl stimmen die meisten identifizierten Marketingmaßnahmen nicht mit

einer praxisorientierten Perspektive überein, da sie eher sporadisch ansetzen und einen behavi-

oristischen Schwerpunkt auf individuelle Entscheidungen legen (Parekh und Klintman 2021).

Ferner können wir nur Aussagen darüber treffen, welche suffizienzorientierten Praktiken ver-

mutlich gefördert werden sollen, woraus sich zukünftiger Forschungsbedarf ergibt.

5.2. Implikationen für die Marketingpraxis

Spannungsfeld zwischen Suffizienzförderung und Unternehmenswachstum

Die Kombination aus strategischen und altruistischen Motiven für die Umsetzung von suffi-

zienzförderndem Marketing (siehe Kapitel 5.1.) kann in Unternehmen zu einem Wertekonflikt

führen, und zwar dann, wenn die gesellschaftlichen mit den wirtschaftlichen Interessen kolli-

dieren (Waddock und Googins 2011). Einige der in der Dissertation untersuchten Unternehmen

haben dies als Spannungsfeld beschrieben, zwischen der Notwendigkeit, Wertschöpfungsstei-

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gerungen zu erzielen und damit die Existenz des eigenen Unternehmens abzusichern, und ge-

sellschaftliche Verantwortung für die Folgen des Überkonsums zu übernehmen. Sie gehen mit

dieser Dualität unterschiedlich um: entweder diversifizieren und dematerialisieren sie ihr Ge-

schäftsmodell und bieten zusätzliche Produkt-Dienstleistungs-Systeme (Tukker und Tischner

2006) beziehungsweise eigentumsersetzende Dienstleistungen (Schrader 2001) wie Verleih-

oder Mietmodelle an, um Umsätze zu generieren, die nicht aus dem reinen Produktverkauf

stammen. Alternativ setzen insbesondere die jungen Unternehmen aus der Untersuchungs-

gruppe auf zeitlich begrenztes Unternehmenswachstum (Reichel 2017) in der Annahme, dass

die temporär steigenden Verkaufszahlen zu einer Schrumpfung der Marktanteile von nicht-

nachhaltigen Unternehmen führt (Reichel 2018; Bocken, Morales, und Lehner 2020). Die Er-

kenntnis, dass Umsatzeinbußen in der Folge von suffizienzförderndem Marketing durch zusätz-

liche Dienstleistungen oder moderate Wachstumsstrategien zunächst ausgeglichen werden kön-

nen, kann andere Unternehmen zur Umsetzung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing motivie-

ren. Welchen Umgang konventionelle Unternehmen mit der Dualität zwischen Suffizienzför-

derung und Unternehmenswachstum finden, kann mit den vorliegenden Befunden nicht beant-

wortet werden. Ganz grundsätzlich kann in Frage gestellt werden, inwieweit suffizienzfördern-

des Marketing mit dem Unternehmenszweck und Geschäftsmodell eines konventionellen Un-

ternehmens vereinbar ist.

Für nachhaltige Unternehmen erscheint es hingegen als eine geeignete Perspektive, suffizienz-

förderndes Marketing mit einer Degrowth-Strategie zu verbinden. Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen

suffizienzorientierten Geschäftsmodellen und Degrowth-Geschäftsmodellen treten beispiels-

weise bei der Verlängerung der Produktlebensdauer durch ein zeitloses, modulares und repa-

rierfähiges Design zu Tage (Khmara und Kronenberg 2018; Hankammer u. a. 2021; Niessen

und Bocken 2021). Darüber hinaus finden Degrowth-Unternehmen Wege der Wertschöpfung,

die unabhängig von Wachstum sind (Banerjee u. a. 2021), oder wenden sich gänzlich von dem

Prinzip der Gewinnmaximierung ab (Nesterova 2020). Dies bedeutet für das Marketing, auf

konsumfördernde Werbung zu verzichten (Spash und Dobernig 2017) und anstelle dessen die

Interaktion mit Stakeholdern für ein besseres Verständnis über die tatsächlichen Bedürfnisse

von Kund*innen zu intensivieren (Nesterova 2020). Diese Hinwendung zu Gemeinschaften

setzt einen tiefgreifenden Wertewandel in den Unternehmen voraus (Nesterova 2021). Die in

der Dissertation untersuchten Unternehmen haben bereits eine Vielzahl von Strategien umge-

setzt, bei denen Synergien zu Degrowth-Unternehmen erkennbar sind, wie etwa die Unterlas-

sung von aggressiver Werbung und Schlussverkaufsangeboten oder die Nutzungsdauerverlän-

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gerung von Produkten. Das Outdoorunternehmen Patagonia hat sich zudem öffentlich dazu be-

kannt, den Unternehmenszweck vom Unternehmenswachstum zu entkoppeln (Kaufmann 2021)

und das Unternehmen VAUDE hat ihr Werbebudget zugunsten von mehr Investitionen in kli-

mafreundliche Strategien reduziert. Damit auf diese Beispiele weitere Unternehmen folgen, be-

nötigt es der Unterstützung der Politik (Heikkurinen, Young, und Morgan 2019), etwa in Form

von wirtschaftspolitischen Maßnahmen, die die Suffizienzförderung durch Unternehmen flan-

kieren (Kropfeld und Reichel 2021; Reichel 2017). Gute Beispiele in diesem Zusammenhang

sind der ermäßigte Mehrwertsteuersatz für Reparaturdienstleistungen in Schweden (Dalham-

mar u. a. 2020) und der Reparatur-Index in Frankreich (Heinz und Meyer 2020). Auf lokalpo-

litischer Ebene besteht darüber hinaus die Möglichkeit, Werbung im öffentlichen Raum für

umweltschädliche Produkte wie von fossilen Energien angetriebene Fahrzeuge oder Auslands-

flüge zu verbieten oder einzuschränken (Gillett 2021). Städte wie Amsterdam oder Grenoble

machen davon bereits Gebrauch. Um suffizienzorientierten Konsum zur sozialen Norm in der

Gesellschaft zu machen, sollten Unternehmen zudem Partnerschaften untereinander aber auch

mit Akteuren aus Politik und Zivilgesellschaft eingehen (Sandberg 2021). Konzertierte Aktio-

nen, die von einer breiten gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Basis getragen werden, kön-

nen dem Prinzip der Suffizienz in der gegenwärtigen Konsumkultur eine größere Bedeutung

verschaffen.

Organisationale Voraussetzungen für glaubwürdige und effektive Suffizienzförderung

Wenngleich es nicht im Fokus der Dissertation steht, können Schlussfolgerungen über die Re-

levanz zwischen suffizienzförderndem Marketing und dem suffizienzorientierten Geschäftsmo-

dell von Unternehmen gezogen werden. Eine erste wichtige Erkenntnis besteht darin, dass eine

hohe Passung zum Kerngeschäft gegeben sein sollte, wenn suffizienzförderndes Marketing von

Konsument*innen als glaubwürdig und legitim wahrgenommen werden soll (Fricke und Schra-

der 2014). Daraus lässt sich folgern, dass auch das dahinterstehende Geschäftsmodell konse-

quenterweise eine Suffizienzorientierung aufweisen sollte (Bocken und Short 2016; Nesterova

2020; Niessen und Bocken 2021). Aus der Forschung zu CSR-Kommunikation ist zudem be-

kannt, dass Glaubwürdigkeitsurteile über Unternehmensverantwortung nicht nur durch die in-

haltliche Passung zum Kerngeschäft beeinflusst werden, sondern auch durch das Ausmaß des

durch die Verantwortungsübernahme erzielten Effekts (Schmitt und Röttger 2011). In der Pra-

xis spielt die Wirkungsmessung des Marketings bislang nur eine untergeordnete Rolle, woraus

geschlossen werden kann, dass die Unternehmen nur über rudimentäre Informationen zu den

Effekten ihrer Marketingbemühungen verfügen.

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Es wurde bereits vielfach festgestellt, dass inkonsistente und damit unglaubwürdige Kommu-

nikation (Du, Bhattacharya, und Sen 2010) die Einstellungen gegenüber einem Unternehmen

negativ beeinflusst und damit die Reputation des Unternehmens gefährden kann (Schrader

2005; Grappi, Romani, und Barbarossa 2017). Zweifel an der Ernsthaftigkeit gesellschaftlichen

Engagements von Unternehmen sind eng mit dem Vorwurf des Greenwashings verbunden

(Lyon und Montgomery 2015). Dahinter verbirgt sich die Vermutung, dass Unternehmen suf-

fizienzförderndes Marketing nur betreiben würden, um den Anschein gesellschaftlicher Ver-

antwortlichkeit zu wahren. Entsprechend hat eine Studie gezeigt, dass Bedenken von Konsu-

ment*innen hinsichtlich der Glaubwürdigkeit von suffizienzförderndem Marketing einer Flug-

gesellschaft kontextbezogen auftreten können (Hesse und Rünz 2020). Um solchen Vorwürfen

vorzubeugen, sollten sich Unternehmen um eine authentische, transparente, konsistente und

vielstimmige Kommunikation bemühen (Thummes 2019). Dies wird durch eine positive Beur-

teilung durch Konsument*innen und eine Stärkung von Reputation und Kundenbindung hono-

riert, wie meine empirischen Untersuchungen zeigen.

Zudem empfiehlt es sich, ein suffizienzförderndes Produkt- und Dienstleitungsangebot als Ba-

sis für alle sonstigen operativen Marketingaktivitäten zu begreifen. Die im Rahmen der Disser-

tation untersuchten Unternehmen legen einen Fokus auf die Langlebigkeit, Qualität und Zeit-

losigkeit ihrer Produkte. Daneben konnte ich einen Schwerpunkt auf Kommunikationsmaßnah-

men zur Suffizienzförderung feststellen. Hinsichtlich der konkreten Ausgestaltung von Kom-

munikationsmaßnahmen bietet sich einerseits die klare und eindeutige Formulierung der Bot-

schaft an, etwa zu den Vorteilen von suffizienzorientiertem Konsum wie finanzielle Einsparun-

gen, Zeitgewinne oder die Reduktion von Eigentumspflichten. Gleichzeitig ist ein sensibler

Umgang mit dem Thema Konsumverzicht wichtig, um nicht als bevormundend wahrgenom-

men zu werden und sozial schwächer gestellte Menschen, für die Konsum vorrangig der Be-

friedigung existenzieller Bedürfnisse dient, zu diffamieren. Dass suffizienzorientierter Konsum

auch Praktiken des Selbermachens und Reparierens einschließt, bietet die Chance, die Aneig-

nung handwerklicher Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und dadurch die Selbstwirksamkeit und

Selbstermächtigung von Konsument*innen zu stärken. Dies würde gut an die Lifestyle-Trends

Minimalismus (Kang, Martinez, und Johnson 2021; Meissner 2019) oder Decluttering (Sandlin

und Wallin 2021) anschließen.

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Eignung von Online-Kommunikation für die Suffizienzförderung

Ich konnte in der Dissertation zeigen, dass Unternehmen insbesondere die Online-Kommuni-

kation für die Verbreitung von suffizienzbezogenen Botschaften als besonders geeignet ein-

schätzen, unter anderem aufgrund der zeit- und ortsunabhängigen Erreichbarkeit, der Steige-

rung der Kosteneffizienz, der erhöhten Reichweite und den direkten Dialog- und Interaktions-

möglichkeiten. Gleichwohl erschwert die große Anzahl sowie Allgegenwärtigkeit konsumsti-

mulierender Inhalte im digitalen Raum, dass suffizienzfördernde Botschaften zu Konsu-

ment*innen durchdringen (Frick, Matthies, u. a. 2021). Wenngleich die manipulativen Absich-

ten konsumfördernder Werbung (Heath und Chatzidakis 2012) natürlich nicht ausschließlich

für digitale Umgebungen gelten, wird diese Wirkung durch Phänomene verstärkt, die spezifisch

für das Online-Marketing sind, wie zum Beispiel die (unerwünschte) Bannerwerbung oder die

algorithmisch gesteuerte Voraussage von individuellen Präferenzen auf Social Media-Plattfor-

men (Kasser 2020). Als Empfehlung für suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation könnte vor die-

sem Hintergrund abgeleitet werden, dass tracking-gestützte Anwendungen eher sparsam einge-

setzt werden sollten. Zudem könnten die Erkenntnisse zum Nudging (Thaler und Sunstein

2008) auf die Förderung kurzfristiger suffizienzorientierter Konsumentscheidungen übertragen

werden, etwa indem die Anregung eines Onlineshops, die eigenen Konsumwünsche zu reflek-

tieren oder gänzlich auf den intendierten Kauf zu verzichten, kurz vor Kaufabschluss angezeigt

wird. Gegenwärtig haben die meisten digitalen Angebote eine gewinnorientierte Grundausrich-

tung (Frick, Gossen, u. a. 2021). Suchmaschinen, Online-Nachrichtenmedien und Social Me-

dia-Plattformen finanzieren sich in der Regel durch die Schaltung von Werbung und den Handel

mit persönlichen Daten (Kingaby 2021). Daraus ergeben sich logische Grenzen für suffizienz-

förderndes Marketing im Rahmen der Online-Kommunikation.

Praxistheoretisch informierte Weiterentwicklung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing

Zu guter Letzt bieten sich praktische Schlussfolgerungen aus der von der Praxistheorie geleite-

ten Analyse der Marketingaktivitäten ausgewählter Outdoorunternehmen an. Ähnlich wie in

dem Artikel SPC 2022 meiner Dissertation haben auch Parekh und Klintman (2021) die Akti-

vitäten von zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen zur Förderung von Praktiken des nachhalti-

gen Ernährungskonsums untersucht. Sie kommen zu dem Schluss, dass die meisten Maßnah-

men nicht mit einer praxisorientierten Perspektive übereinstimmen, aber durchaus das Potenzial

haben zu praxisorientierten Strategien für nachhaltigen Ernährungskonsum weiterentwickelt zu

werden. Auch im Falle des suffizienzorientierten Marketings kann gegenwärtig eine eher beha-

vioristische Auffassung von Konsumverhalten festgestellt werden, bei dem ein starker Fokus

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auf individuelle Entscheidungen gelegt wird. Das praxistheoretische Verständnis von Konsum

als Bündel alltäglicher Praktiken (Reckwitz 2002) scheint in der Marketingpraxis noch nicht

weit verbreitet, und entsprechende auf Praktiken abzielende Ansätze eher zufällig und limitiert

zu sein. Eine entscheidende Voraussetzung für zielgerichtete, von der Praxistheorie inspirierte

Marketingaktivitäten ist, dass Unternehmen die Komplexität des Alltagslebens anerkennen und

Maßnahmen kontinuierlich und reflexiv einsetzen (Spurling und McMeekin 2015).

5.3. Reflektion des transdisziplinären Forschungsdesigns

Der transdisziplinäre Forschungsrahmen der vorliegenden Dissertation war mit einigen theore-

tischen und methodischen Herausforderungen verbunden, bereicherte aber gleichermaßen den

Forschungsprozess.

Insbesondere die interdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit mit der Umweltpsychologin aus der Nach-

wuchsforschungsgruppe und die gemeinsame Entwicklung, Durchführung und Auswertung der

empirischen Studien im Rahmen der Artikel UPS 2018 und JEVP 2021 erweiterte den Mög-

lichkeitsrahmen und dadurch die Relevanz dieser Dissertation für die nachhaltigkeitsorientierte

Marketing- und Konsumforschung. Auch die Kooperation und Co-Autor*innenschaft mit wei-

teren Wissenschaftlerinnen im Rahmen der Einzelpublikationen brachte inhaltliche und metho-

dische Kenntnisse sowie unterschiedliche Denk- und Sichtweisen gewinnbringend zusammen.

Die interdisziplinäre Forschungskooperation kann aber auch anspruchsvoll und herausfordernd

sein (Scholz 2017). Insbesondere die Diskussionen und Kooperationen mit den Kolleg*innen

aus der Nachwuchsforschungsgruppe, die aus der Umweltpsychologie, Volkswirtschaftslehre,

Ingenieurswissenschaften und Soziologie stammen, haben hohe inhaltliche Integrationsanfor-

derungen in unterschiedlichen Fachsprachen, Wissenschaftsverständnissen und Methoden mit

sich gebracht (Klein 2005; Stehr und Weingart 2018). Indem wir in der Nachwuchsforschungs-

gruppe intensive, mit ausreichender Zeit ausgestattete Austausch- und Lernprozesse etablierten

und zumindest punktuell eine prozessorientierte Begleitforschung durchführten, haben wir ei-

nen geeigneten Rahmen für die Reflektion der Herausforderungen interdisziplinären Arbeitens

geschaffen.

In der transdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit zeigten sich ebenfalls einige Herausforderungen. Für

die vorliegende Dissertation war vor allem die Zusammenarbeit mit dem nachhaltigen Online-

Marktplatz Avocadostore maßgeblich. Im Vorfeld der empirischen Erhebungen für die Artikel

UPS 2018 und JEVP 2021 haben wir jeweils Konzeptionsworkshops mit Vertreter*innen des

Unternehmens durchgeführt. Die Entwicklung und Umsetzung der Studien erfolgten in enger

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Zusammenarbeit mit dem Unternehmen. Insbesondere bei der Entwicklung des Feldexperi-

ments konnten wir aber nicht alle aus Forschungssicht sinnvollen Vorgaben durchsetzen, da die

Unternehmensrealität bei Avocadostore mit einigen Wechseln bei den verantwortlichen An-

sprechpersonen und agileren Arbeits- und Entscheidungsstrukturen eine vollständige Integra-

tion unserer Anforderungen und Vorstellungen erschwerten. Daraus resultierten methodische

Limitierungen, die die Qualität und Aussagekraft unserer Daten eingeschränkt haben.

6. Fazit

Das übergeordnete Ziel dieser Dissertation bestand darin, das bestehende Wissen zu suffizienz-

förderndem Marketing zu erweitern und neue Erkenntnisse über dessen operative Ausgestal-

tung sowie über Motive und Hindernisse für dessen Umsetzung in Unternehmen zu generieren.

Zudem galt es, die verbraucherseitige Wahrnehmung und Wirkung von suffizienzförderndem

Marketing näher zu bestimmen. Mit einem transdisziplinären Forschungsverständnis habe ich

mehrere qualitative und quantitative Studien zur Beantwortung der Forschungsfragen der Dis-

sertation durchgeführt und in insgesamt fünf Einzelpublikationen zusammengefasst.

Aufgrund der Neuartigkeit des Untersuchungsgegenstands ist die Dissertation als explorativer

Beitrag einzuordnen. Meine empirischen Erkenntnisse sollten in zukünftiger Forschung unter-

schiedlicher Disziplinen und Richtungen überprüft und weiterentwickelt werden. So bietet

meine Arbeit einen Ausgangspunkt für die nachhaltigkeitsorientierte Marketing- und Konsum-

forschung, die sich fragen sollte, ob die bestehenden Marketingansätze tatsächlich geeignet

sind, um zukunftsfähige Lösungen für den Überkonsum in Wohlstandsgesellschaften zu för-

dern. In diesem Zusammenhang erscheint es zentral, die Entstehung von nicht-nachhaltigen

Lebensstilen besser zu verstehen und die Verantwortung und institutionelle Macht des Marke-

tings zu untersuchen. Zudem treffen meine Erkenntnisse lediglich auf nachhaltige Unternehmen

zu, weswegen generalisierbare Aussagen zur Bedeutung von suffizienzförderndem Marketing

für konventionelle Unternehmen auf dieser Basis nicht getroffen werden können.

Aus einer eher praktischen Sicht geben die in der Dissertation untersuchten Pionierunternehmen

aus der Bekleidungs- und Outdoorbranche wertvolle Einblicke in die Herausforderungen und

Chancen von suffizienzförderndem Marketing. Gleichzeitig sind diese Beispiele angesichts

der Dominanz von konsumstimulierenden Inhalten und absatzorientierten Instrumenten des

Marketings weiterhin eine Ausnahme. Die Frage, welche Wirkung suffizienzförderndes Mar-

keting in einer wachstumsorientierten Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft langfristig entfalten kann,

bleibt vorerst unbeantwortet.

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8. Darstellung des Eigenanteils an den Einzelpublikationen

Nachfolgend werden die in Co-Autor*innenschaft entstandenen Artikel dieser Dissertation auf-

geführt und mein Eigenanteil an diesen Publikationen gemäß § 2 (5) der aktuellen Promotions-

ordnung der TU Berlin ausführlich dargestellt. Für die übersichtliche Darstellung werden diese

Angaben im Anschluss in tabellarischer Form zusammengefasst (Tabelle 2).

Die Publikation JMK 2018, bei der ich Erst-Autorin bin, ist in Co-Autor*innenschaft mit Flo-

rence Ziesemer von der Universität Potsdam und Ulf Schrader von der TU Berlin entstanden.

Die Idee für den Artikel stammt aus der anfänglichen theoretischen Beschäftigung mit alterna-

tiven Marketing- und Konsumkonzepten im Rahmen der Dissertation. Nachdem ich die ersten

inhaltlichen und methodischen Ideen für den Artikel in einem Konzept inkl. Methodik zusam-

mengefasst und mit Ulf Schrader diskutiert habe, hat sich Florence Ziesemer, die zum damali-

gen Zeitpunkt als Doktorandin der Universität Potsdam zu einem ähnlichen Thema forschte,

bereit erklärt, als Autorin mitzuwirken. Ab diesem Zeitpunkt haben wir den Artikel zu gleichen

Teilen weiterentwickelt und verfasst. Die Durchführung der systematischen Literaturanalyse,

die Verschriftlichung der Ergebnisse und das Verfassen des Originalentwurfs haben wir zu glei-

chen Teilen geleistet. Ulf Schrader hat beratend mitgewirkt, Ideen und Argumente strukturiert

und die verschiedenen Manuskriptentwürfe kommentiert. Die Finalisierung und Erst-Einrei-

chung beim Journal of Macromarketing des Artikels hat Florence Ziesemer (während meiner

Elternzeit) in der Rolle des so genannten corresponding author übernommen. Der Artikel durch-

lief nach der Begutachtung im Peer-Review-Verfahren zwei Überarbeitungsschleifen. Die

Überarbeitungen des Manuskripts erfolgten zu gleichen Teilen durch Florence Ziesemer und

mich, wobei wir erneut durch Beratung und Kommentierung von Ulf Schrader unterstützt wur-

den.

Der Artikel SPC 2022 ist in Kooperation mit der Doktorandin Maren Ingrid Kropfeld von der

Universität Oldenburg entstanden. Wir haben zu gleichen Teilen zu dieser Publikation beige-

tragen. Die erste Idee für den Artikel haben wir auf der internationalen Konferenz ERSCP 2019

diskutiert und in den Folgemonaten konzeptionell und inhaltlich weiterentwickelt. Alle Arbei-

ten an dem Artikel wurden in gleichen Teilen von uns beiden geleistet (Konzeption, Methodik,

Datenanalyse, Literaturrecherche, Schreiben des Originalentwurfs, Projektadministration). Die

Kostenübernahme für die Open Access-Publikation sowie alle Unterstützungsdienstleistungen

im Forschungsprozess wurden aus dem Sachkostenbudget meiner Nachwuchsforschungs-

gruppe finanziert. Der Artikel wurde zeitgleich mit der Abgabe dieses Rahmentextes bei der

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peer-reviewed Zeitschrift Sustainable Production and Consumption eingereicht. Eine Rück-

meldung des Herausgebers der Zeitschrift ist noch ausstehend.

Den Artikel CLRC 2021 habe ich ebenfalls in Kooperation mit einer externen Doktorandin

(Anneli Heinrich von der HWR Berlin) verfasst. Die Idee für die Publikation ist entstanden,

nachdem wir festgestellt haben, dass sich unsere jeweiligen Dissertationen mit dem Untersu-

chungsgegenstand des suffizienzfördernden Marketings befassen. Die Festlegung auf das

Thema und die Methodik haben wir gemeinsam getroffen. Während Anneli Heinrich vor allem

für die Datenerhebung und -auswertung und das Verfassen einzelner Kapitelentwürfe verant-

wortlich war, habe ich die Projektadministration, Konzeption des Artikels, Literaturrecherche

und das Verfassen des Originalentwurfs verantwortet und bei der Datenauswertung mitgewirkt.

Ferner habe ich die Einreichung bei der Zeitschrift sowie das Begutachtungsverfahren durch-

geführt. Vor diesem Hintergrund bin ich Erst-Autorin dieser Publikation. Der Artikel wurde

nach Durchlaufen einer ersten Überarbeitungsschleife bei der Zeitschrift GAIA abgelehnt und

ist dann nach einem Peer-Review-Verfahren bei Cleaner and Responsible Consumption er-

schienen.

Der Artikel UPS 2018 ist ein Produkt der inter- und transdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit im

Rahmen der Nachwuchsforschungsgruppe. Als Ko-Autorin hat Vivian Frick wesentlich dazu

beigetragen. Die Konzeption und Methodik des Artikels sowie die Durchführung der Kund*in-

nen-Befragung bei dem Praxispartner Avocadostore haben wir gemeinsam durchgeführt, wäh-

rend die qualitativen Analysen in meiner Verantwortung lagen und die quantitativen Analysen

von Vivian Frick durchgeführt wurden. Die Literaturrecherche und das Verfassen des Original-

entwurfs haben wir gleichmäßig unter uns aufgeteilt. Für die Projektadministration war ich zu-

ständig. Das Manuskript haben wir bei einem Call for Papers der Zeitschrift Umweltpsychologie

für eine Ausgabe zum Thema „Umweltschutz bei Unternehmen“ eingereicht und im Rahmen

eines Peer-Review-Verfahrens überarbeitet.

Die Publikation JEVP 2021 ist ebenfalls im Rahmen der Nachwuchsforschungsgruppe und

gemeinsam mit Vivian Frick erschienen, die als Erst-Autorin unter anderem für die Projektad-

ministration zuständig war. Die Konzeption, Methodik und Literaturrecherchen für den Artikel

haben Vivian Frick und ich gemeinsam durchgeführt. Die quantitativen Datenanalysen hat Vi-

vian Frick erbracht, während das Schreiben des Originalentwurfs und die Überarbeitung des

Manuskripts wieder bei uns beiden lag. Ferner hat Sonja Geiger bei Methodik und Datenanalyse

beratend unterstützt und das Originalmanuskript sowie die überarbeitete Manuskriptversion

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kommentiert. Der Ko-Autor Tilman Santarius hat ebenfalls die unterschiedlichen Manuskript-

versionen kommentiert. Das Manuskript haben wir im Journal of Environmental Psychology

eingereicht und nach zwei Überarbeitungsschleifen im Peer-Review-Verfahren dort veröffent-

licht.

Tabelle 2. Übersicht über die Co-Autor*innen und Eigenanteile an den Einzelpublikationen

Artikel

Co-Autor*innen

Eigenanteil

JMK 2018

Maike Gossen, Flo-

rence Ziesemer,

Ulf Schrader

Konzeption, Methodik, Datenanalyse, Litera-

turrecherche, Schreiben des Originalentwurfs,

Überarbeitung des Manuskripts, Projektadmi-

nistration

SPC 2022

Maike Gossen, Maren

Ingrid Kropfeld

Konzeption, Methodik, Datenanalyse, Litera-

turrecherche, Schreiben des Originalentwurfs,

Projektadministration

CLRC 2021

Maike Gossen, Anneli

Heinrich

Konzeption, Methodik, Datenanalyse, Litera-

turrecherche, Schreiben des Originalentwurfs,

Überarbeitung des Manuskripts, Projektadmi-

nistration

UPS 2018

Maike Gossen, Vivian

Frick

Konzeption, Methodik, Datenanalyse, Litera-

turrecherche, Schreiben des Originalentwurfs,

Überarbeitung des Manuskripts, Projektadmi-

nistration

JEVP 2021

Vivian Frick, Maike

Gossen, Tilman San-

tarius, Sonja Geiger

Konzeption, Methodik, Literaturrecherche,

Schreiben des Originalentwurfs, Überarbei-

tung des Manuskripts

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9. Danksagung

Ich möchte allen danken, die mich bei der Erstellung der Dissertation unterstützt haben.

Danke an meine Kolleg*innen aus der Nachwuchsforschungsgruppe für die anregenden Ge-

spräche, das konstruktive Feedback, den schönen Gruppenzusammenhalt und die gemeinsamen

Aufenthalte in Prag, Gransee, Kopenhagen, Finnland und zuletzt Graz. Mein Dank gilt insbe-

sondere Tilman, ohne dessen Engagement und Einsatz als Gruppenleiter meine Dissertation

nicht möglich gewesen wäre und der mich immer unterstützt und Vertrauen in meine Fähigkei-

ten gezeigt hat. Vivian, von der ich viel über quantitative Forschung lernen konnte und ohne

die es einen zentralen Teil meiner Promotion nicht geben würde. Johanna, die kurzzeitig meine

sehr geschätzte Büropartnerin war. Friederike, mit der ich sehr produktiv während einer Hoch-

phase unserer Dissertationen die Reihe Bits & Bäume Forum organisiert habe. Steffen, bei dem

ich mir viel abgucken konnte. Und Anja und Josi, die uns Doktorandinnen stets den Rücken

freihielten.

Ich danke meinen Co-Autorinnen Florence, Maren und Anneli, zu denen in der Zeit der ge-

meinsamen Arbeit an den Artikeln ein fruchtbares und freundschaftliches Verhältnis entstanden

ist. Besonderer Dank gilt Florence, für ihre positive Art und ihren Einsatz für unseren Artikel

während meiner Elternzeit, der für mich sehr wichtig war, um dran zu bleiben.

Mein Dank gilt Ulf, den ich nicht nur als Doktorvater, sondern auch als Menschen sehr schätzen

gelernt habe. Und meinem Mentor und Freund Gerd, der immer ein wichtiger Berater für mich

war und durch dessen Initiative diese Dissertation erst möglich wurde. Danke auch an André

Reichel, der sich bereit erklärt hat, die Zweit-Begutachtung der Dissertation zu übernehmen.

Ich danke meinen Freunden, meinen Eltern und meiner Schwester, die mich in stressigen Pha-

sen mit Ablenkung und Ausgleich unterstützt haben. Stellvertretend danke ich meiner Freundin

Caro, die mich kurz vor der Abgabe mit „unseren Klassikern“ bei Laune gehalten hat. In gro-

ßem Maße danke ich meinen Eltern, die immer an mich geglaubt haben. Nicht zuletzt ihre

Fremdsprachenkenntnisse in Latein und das Lektorat waren für diese Arbeit sehr wichtig ;-)

Aber der größte Dank gilt Moritz und Milo. Ohne die Unterstützung von Moritz und seinen

festen Glauben an meine Fähigkeiten hätte ich diese Dissertation niemals begonnen und auch

nicht zu Ende gebracht. Er hat mich in vielen Gesprächen bestärkt, mir zahlreiche Arbeits-

schichten am Sonntagnachmittag ermöglicht und mir oft die nötige Ruhe und Zuversicht zu-

rückgegeben – danke dafür! Und Milo, der für mich das allerwichtigste „Nachwuchsziel“ aus

der Promotionszeit ist und für den ich unendlich dankbar bin.

TEIL A – RAHMENTEXT

10. Eidesstattliche Erklärung

Hiermit erkläre ich an Eides statt, dass ich die vorliegende Dissertation selbstständig und nur

unter Zuhilfenahme der im Literaturverzeichnis genannten Quellen und Hilfsmittel angefertigt

habe. Alle Stellen der Arbeit, die anderen Werken dem Wortlaut oder dem Sinn nach entnom-

men wurden, sind kenntlich gemacht.

Für die Arbeiten, die in Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Wissenschaftler*innen entstanden sind,

sind die jeweiligen Namen der Co-Autor*innen sowie mein Eigenanteil an den jeweiligen Ar-

beiten gemäß § 2 (5) der Promotionsordnung deklariert.

Ich versichere außerdem, dass ich die beigefügte Dissertation nur in diesem und keinem ande-

ren Promotionsverfahren eingereicht habe und dass diesem Promotionsverfahren keine endgül-

tig gescheiterten Promotionsverfahren vorausgegangen sind

Berlin, 19. April 2022

Maike Gossen

TEIL B – EINZELPUBLIKATIONEN

Teil B – Einzelpublikationen

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I. Why and How Commercial Marketing Should Promote Sufficient Consumption:

A Systematic Literature Review

Zusammenfassung

Although marketing strategies are often accused of stimulating overconsumption, businesses

increasingly show potential as enablers of sufficiency. The concept of sufficiency contributes

to sustainable development through the absolute reduction of resources and energy used for

consumption by questioning the level of demand. This study analyses reasons and potential

practices for commercial marketing to promote sufficiency through a systematic literature re-

view of scientific publications, guided by the following research questions: Why should com-

mercial marketing promote sufficiency? How can commercial marketing promote sufficiency?

Which barriers for promoting sufficiency occur? The content-based study of 17 publications in

the final review sample delivers recommendations for how to practically implement marketing

for sufficiency, and theoretical considerations for strengthening the discourse within macro-

marketing and beyond.

Schlüsselwörter: sustainable consumption, sufficiency, marketing management, macromar-

keting, systematic literature review

Veröffentlicht in: Journal of Macromarketing, 39(3): 252-269.

Autor*innen: Maike Gossen, Florence Ziesemer, Ulf Schrader

Gossen, Maike; Ziesemer, Florence; Schrader, Ulf: Why and How Commercial Marketing

Should Promote Sufficient Consumption: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Macro-

SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146719866238

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Introduction

Global sustainability concerns challenge the consumption and production levels of a growing

well-endowed population segment who overexploit Earth’s resources. Current efforts to reduce

resource usage, cut CO2 emissions, and decrease social inequality focus on securing economic

growth and material living standards through technology-based and efficiency-driven strate-

gies. Yet, human consumption continues to exceed the planetary boundaries and stresses the

common pool resources (Duffy, Layton, and Dwyer 2017). Efficiency-driven strategies fail in

the aspect of “doing more and better with less” (United Nations 2015), because they ignore

rebound effects (Sorrell 2007; Santarius 2016) and tackle a reduction of consumption levels

only in relative terms, giving the delusive promise that environmental protection and material-

istic lifestyles are compliable.

Therefore, sufficiency is a much-needed concept in meeting sustainable consumption levels

(Hansen and Schrader 1997; Schaefer and Crane 2005; Brown and Vergragt 2016; Fuchs et al.

2016). The purpose of this article is to investigate potentials of the counterintuitive approach to

foster sufficiency through commercial marketing. By conducting a systematic literature review,

we offer an analysis of motives, barriers and techniques of commercial marketing to encourage

sufficient consumption. The aim is to provide a common framework for scholars and develop

future research directions.

Although sufficiency lacks a universally agreed upon definition, we understand the concept as

the avoidance of over- and underconsumption, which implies a reduction of material consump-

tion levels in absolute terms in affluent societies. It aims at ensuring human well-being while

securing ecological stability through reducing the use of scarce natural resources and energy

(Princen 2005; Gorge et al. 2015).

Examining sufficiency requires the consideration of the broader societal, political, technical,

and economic settings. The way these settings form needs, individual attitudes, and beliefs has

been studied as the dominant social paradigm (DSP) in macromarketing (Kilbourne,

McDonagh, and Prothero 1997; Gollnhofer and Schouten 2017). The DSP impedes the reduc-

tion of individual consumption, because such reductions oppose the mainstream rhetoric of ma-

terialism, consumerism, technological progress, and economic growth (Kilbourne et al. 2009;

Gorge et al. 2015). The business sector and its profit-oriented marketing practices are often

criticized for driving excessive consumption and causing negative ecological and social conse-

quences (Assadourian 2010; Varey 2010; Achrol and Kotler 2012; Stoeckl and Luedicke 2015;

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McDonagh and Prothero 2014). Commercial marketing, therefore, is one of the spheres requir-

ing a radical transformation to overcome the DSP (Kilbourne 2004). Yet, marketing also holds

the means for changing behaviour towards sufficient consumption. Companies such as Patago-

nia, which asked consumers to reflect their needs and create awareness for the environmental

impact of consumption through its 2011 campaign “Don’t buy this jacket”, prove the existence

of opportunities for experimentation and the viability of commercial marketing techniques to

support the adoption of sufficient lifestyles (Hwang et al. 2016).

This article addresses the questions of why and how commercial marketing should be used for

an absolute reduction of individual consumption levels. We focus on commercial marketing,

because marketing is the preferred tool to create and maintain customer relationships and can

thus have a targeted influence on consumer decisions towards sufficiency. Our research adds a

specific focus to existing work on sufficiency-driven business models (Bocken and Short 2016;

Bocken 2017) by investigating not only practical marketing techniques but also the reasons for

and against encouraging sufficient consumption from a marketing perspective. We conducted

a systematic literature review (SLR) on publications in international scientific peer-reviewed

journals and books, which present specific implications for commercial marketing to support

the voluntary absolute reduction of consumption levels for sustainability. This approach serves

the critical macromarketing discussion on strategies for fostering sufficiency (Varey 2010;

Gorge et al. 2015; Sandberg 2017), while also considering the potential of micro-structures

within a company. Consequently, three main research questions guide our exploratory research:

RQ 1: Why should commercial marketing promote sufficiency?

RQ 2: How can commercial marketing promote sufficiency?

RQ 3: Which barriers for promoting sufficiency through commercial marketing occur?

The next chapter provides a comparison of different behavioural concepts and marketing ap-

proaches related to sufficient consumption. The methodology applied to the SLR and its quali-

tative data analysis follows. Findings to the research questions are then provided and comple-

mented with a discussion of relevant themes occurring in the sample which induce future re-

search directions. A summary of implications and outlook conclude the article.

The Link Between Sufficient Consumption and Marketing

Behavioural Concepts Related to Sufficient Consumption

Sufficiency as the avoidance of over- and underconsumption through a reduction of material

consumption levels does not necessarily imply “less” in a negative sense, but rather a notion of

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“enough” as an intuitive, individually correct measure of consumption without entailing sacri-

fice (Princen 2005). Some scholars, combining the concepts of sufficiency and “a good life”,

suggest that a simplistic and less materialistic lifestyle predicated on richness in time and social

interaction contributes to personal happiness and well-being (Dittmar et al. 2014; Kasser et al.

2014; Seegebarth et al. 2016). On an individual level, sufficient consumption involves rethink-

ing personal needs for changing excessive consumer behaviour (Jenny 2016) and reflecting on

the relation between affluent consumption and life fulfilment (Cherrier, Szuba, and Özçaglar-

Toulouse 2012). Three behavioural categories lead to sufficiency’s immanent absolute reduc-

tion of consumption levels: (1) reducing the purchase of new resource-intense goods, (2) choos-

ing goods that are smaller or of lower capacity, and (3) using resource-intense goods and ser-

vices less often (Jenny 2016).

Different behavioural concepts dealing with materially reduced consumption patterns can be

summarized by sufficient consumption as an umbrella term. Adopting Lim’s (2017) approach

of combining multiple theoretical perspectives for a comprehensive understanding of sustaina-

ble consumption, we include these concepts in our literature review search process and explain

their relation to sufficiency, summarized in Table 3. While obligatory sufficiency exists (Gorge

et al. 2015), this article focuses on voluntary activities as potential subjects of commercial mar-

keting, including voluntary simplicity, frugality, downshifting, anti-consumption, mindful,

slow, ethical, and responsible consumption.

Not necessarily led by sustainability motivations, but avoiding overconsumption through highly

disciplined purchase behaviour and sacrifices by denying short-term shopping whims (Lastov-

icka et al. 1999), frugality may cause sufficient consumption unintentionally. Voluntary sim-

plicity is described as a consumer movement (Etzioni 1998; Alexander and Ussher 2012) aim-

ing at an increase in life satisfaction and meaning through focusing on non-material aspects of

life instead of owning non-essential products and services (McDonald et al. 2006; Huneke 2005;

McGouran and Prothero 2016). Downshifting refers to the process of consciously deciding to

work less and reducing personal consumption due to lower income (Etzioni 1998), with the aim

of leading a less stressful and more qualitatively rich life (Chhetri, Stimson, and Western 2009).

Simplifiers and downshifters connect to sufficiency because they share the motivation to reduce

material consumption for increased life satisfaction (Shaw and Newholm 2002; Ballantine and

Creery 2010). Voluntary simplifiers do not eschew market interactions but use the market sys-

tem to create and practice more ethical and environmentally friendly lifestyles for themselves

(Shaw and Moraes 2009). On the contrary, anti-consumers consciously and deliberately reject,

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avoid, reclaim, and reduce only specific products, brands, and commercial transactions in op-

position to the market system (Lee, Fernandez, and Hyman 2009; Chatzidakis and Lee 2013).

Their practices relate to sufficiency because they are often rooted in sustainability, potentially

decrease the use of natural resources and waste (Black and Cherrier 2010; Kropfeld, Nepo-

muceno, and Dantas 2018), and increase individual well-being (Lee and Ahn 2016; Seegebarth

et al. 2016). A marketing concept for mindful consumption is built around temperance in ac-

quisitive, repetitive, and aspirational consumption, motivated by a sense of caring for one’s self,

community, and nature (Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011). Mindfulness activities potentially

increase consumers’ awareness of their own consumption habits and thus relate to sufficiency,

as mindful consumption motivated by nonmaterialistic values may cause a decrease in aspira-

tions to consume (Bahl et al. 2016; Fischer et al. 2017). Slow consumption means the avoidance

of excessive consumption and accelerating production cycles, trends, and inferior quality,

thereby extending the product life span of household goods and reducing waste and resource

usage (Cooper 2005; Bocken and Short 2016). Ethical and responsible consumption are often

studied in an overlapping manner, with both referring to consumption decisions based “on a

desire to minimize or eliminate any harmful effects and maximize the long-term beneficial im-

pact on the environment and society” (Lim 2017, p. 72). This desire may cause consumers to

withdraw from the market through collective actions (Özçaglar-Toulouse 2009) and therefore

potentially reduce their absolute levels of consumption (Newholm and Shaw 2007).

This rather scattered landscape of knowledge about sufficiency and consumer behaviour deter-

mines the terms to include in our review search process. Research also shows that in practice,

sufficient consumption appears through individually and situationally combined activities that

do not necessarily take place outside the market system (Özçaglar-Toulouse 2009; Shaw and

Moraes 2009) or subvert social norms (Sandberg 2017), and which can therefore be shaped by

marketing.

Table 1. Behavioural concepts related to sufficient consumption.

Relation to Sufficiency

Motivation

Voluntary

Simplicity

Overall

reduced

consumption

for increased

life satisfaction

Focusing on non-material aspects of life instead of own-

ing non-essential products and services

Downshift-

ing

Consciously deciding to work less and reducing per-

sonal consumption due to lower income

Frugality

Self-interested motivations, highly disciplined purchase

behaviour, and sacrifices by denying short-term shop-

ping whims

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Anti-Con-

sumption

Consciously and deliber-

ately reject, avoid, re-

claim, and reduce only

specific products, brands,

and commercial transac-

tions

Reasons against consumption (ethical, environmental, or

societal concerns, consumer resistance)

Mindful con-

sumption

Decrease of aspirations to

consume

Temperance in acquisitive, repetitive, and aspirational

consumption, motivated by a sense of caring for one

self, community, and nature

Slow Con-

sumption

Producing less waste and

reduced resource usage

Avoidance of excessive consumption and accelerating

production cycles, trends, and inferior quality

Ethical and

Responsible

Consumption

Potentially includes the

decision to reduce the ab-

solute levels of consump-

tion

Minimum harmful and maximum long-term benefit for

the environment and society

Marketing Concepts Related to Sufficient Consumption

Marketing usually focuses on the stimulation of demand and the acquisition of material goods

or commercial services to satisfy consumer needs (Kotler 2018). In this regard, sustainable or

green marketing is no exception as it “was almost entirely geared towards trying to persuade

consumers to buy more (if different and environmentally sounder) products, or to dispose of

them more responsibly” (Peattie and Peattie 2009, p. 2). Although marketing is often accused

of driving growth in global consumption (Jackson 2009; Peattie and Peattie 2009), the research

discipline offers approaches for consumption reduction. Fisk (1973) was one of the first mar-

keting scholars to discuss the need to limit consumption, followed by several studies investi-

gating the role of macromarketing for consumption reduction (e.g. Kilbourne, McDonagh, and

Prothero 1997; Kjellberg 2008; Varey 2012). Two alternative concepts offer a good fit between

marketing and consumption reduction: social marketing and demarketing, which seek to dis-

courage customers from consuming certain products or services.

Social marketing addresses public social problems and promotes a voluntary behaviour change

of target audiences to increase the well-being of individuals or society (Andreasen 1994) and

to pursue an effective, efficient, equitable, fair, and sustained social transformation (Saunders,

Barrington, and Sridharan 2015). The principles of social marketing are transferable to promote

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sustainable behaviour (Geller 1989), proven by the emergence of studies on recycling, sustain-

able transport use, or energy efficiency (Gordon, Carrigan, and Hastings 2011). Peattie and

Peattie (2009) examine the potential of a health-oriented social marketing campaign to contrib-

ute to consumption reduction, thereby relating it to sufficiency. While often critically discussed

(Deshpande 2016), the involvement of companies through corporate social marketing poten-

tially benefits individuals, the society, and firms (Lee 2016; Polonsky 2017).

Demarketing aims at the suppression of demand in times of shortage by reversing traditional

marketing tools (Cullwick 1975; Kotler 2011). It can either occur as general demarketing (to

adjust to supply shortage), selective demarketing (to support segmentation strategy) or ostensi-

ble demarketing (to signal product scarcity) (Kotler and Levy 1971). The concept of demarket-

ing is applied and studied across a wide variety of contexts (see Ramirez, Tajdini, and David

2017 for an overview). Yet, sustainability is usually not the motivation for demand suppression

and few pro-environmental demarketing studies exist (Heath and Chatzidakis 2012).

Although both concepts provide references for consumption reduction, they have not been far-

reaching enough for the goal of sufficiency. Social marketing initiatives are primarily imple-

mented in the health sector (Peattie and Peattie 2009) and by public policy institutions, while

demarketing is mostly not designed to achieve sustainable consumption. Furthermore, compa-

nies rarely apply these marketing concepts, due to their commitment to profit, growth, and in-

creased consumption, and tend to reject any responsibility for negative consequences of high

consumption levels (Lorek and Fuchs 2013; Brown and Vergragt 2016). Thus, if marketing

discourses acknowledge sufficiency at all, it is often seen as an individual consumer preference

rather than a company’s responsibility (McDonald et al. 2006). Commercial marketing to pro-

mote sufficiency operated by businesses with the aim of reducing absolute consumption levels

is a “missing link” that combines aspects of social marketing and demarketing for the purpose

of sufficient consumption.

Methodology

Prompted by the untapped potential in connecting commercial marketing and consumption re-

duction, the present study adopts an SLR approach to identify the state-of-the-art of the research

field.

Data Collection

An SLR is a structured approach to identify, evaluate, and interpret the existing body of aca-

demic research on a specific topic through an organized and reproducible analysis (Fink 2014).

SLRs provide transparency through an audit trail of the reviewers’ decisions, procedures, and

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conclusions (Tranfield, Denyer, and Smart 2003). Through confirming, rejecting, contrasting,

and complementing previous research outcomes, SLRs are a scholarly contribution in their own

right which provide ground for subsequent research (Seuring and Gold 2012). Our procedure

followed for the SLR meets the recommendations of usual guidelines for reviews in the fields

of health, social science, and management (Moher et al. 2009; Higgins and Green 2011; Insti-

tute of Medicine 2011) and is divided into three main phases: planning the review, conducting

the review, and reporting and dissemination. The activities of phase 2 (conducting the review)

include three search techniques based on recommendations by Fischer et al. (2017), who re-

viewed a similar topic (mindfulness and sustainable consumption): database, supplementary,

and conclusive search.

For the database search, we first constructed a search string using four keywords linked by the

Boolean operator AND: marketing, sustainability, sufficiency, and consumption. Within the

sustainability, sufficiency, and consumption components, the Boolean operator OR includes

several related terms derived from existing literature. Wildcards (*) take alternatives or syno-

nyms of the terms into account. The full search string reads as pictured in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Search string.

Second, the formal search parameters for the database search were defined, clarified, and re-

fined. For the initial sample, studies to be included in the review were identified in the databases

Web of Science Core Collection, Emerald Insight, and EBSCO Business Source Complete. The

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SLR focuses on peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in English to meet the highest

standards of recent academic work, including both conceptual work and empirical studies. We

restricted the database search only by date (December 31, 2017). Table 4 provides the formal

criteria of the database search.

Table 2. Formal criteria for the first step of database search.

Criterion

Sample inclusion

Sample exclusion

Search scope

Web of Science Core Collection, Busi-

ness Source Complete, Emerald Insight

Other databases

Source

Peer reviewed journal articles, book

chapter

Any other source, e.g. confer-

ence papers or dissertations

Type of research

Empirical and conceptional work

No exclusion

Time period

Publications published until December

31, 2017

Publications published after De-

cember 31, 2017

Search parameters

Search string terms appear in the title,

abstract, or author-supplied keywords

Search string terms do not ap-

pear in title, abstract or author-

supplied keywords

Language

English

Any other language

The Web of Science Core Collection search led to 1075 hits, the Emerald Insight search to 1904

hits and the EBSCO Business Source Complete search to 529 hits. After subtracting duplica-

tions, the initial sample of 3081 publications underwent a practical screening of titles and ab-

stracts against content-related criteria by two independent researchers. The content-related cri-

teria as described in Table 5 refer to the thematic relevance for this review’s scope. Publications

fit the requirements when they (1) consider sufficiency in terms of an absolute reduction of

consumption levels in favour of sustainability, (2) consider commercial marketing as a potential

enabler for consumption reduction, and (3) nominate specific business-to-consumer marketing

implications for consumption reduction. The researchers marked all sample titles as (a) defi-

nitely fitting the final sample, (b) possibly fitting the final sample, or (c) definitely not fitting

the final sample. The researchers compared and discussed their ratings to settle on a preliminary

sample, with a third senior researcher deciding in case of disagreement. Options (a) and (b)

make up the preliminary sample of 89 publications.

Table 3. Content criteria for the database search.

Criterion

Sample inclusion

Sample exclusion

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Definition of suffi-

ciency

Absolute reduction of consumption

levels for sustainability

No clear definition of sufficiency;

sustainability means choice of

“greener” product option

Business perspec-

tive

Commercial marketing as enabler for

consumption reduction

No consideration of commercial

marketing as enabler for consump-

tion reduction

Marketing implica-

tions

Specific implications for commercial

marketing for consumption reduction

No specific implications for com-

mercial marketing for consumption

reduction

This preliminary sample of the database search entered in-depth screening, where the full texts

of all publications were checked for the content criteria in detail and discussed by the research-

ers. 14 publications passed this selection to form the pre-final sample. By performing supple-

mentary searches on the pre-final sample through the citation mining strategies “bread crumb-

ing” and “pearl growing”, we identified further relevant publications. In a bread crumb search,

the reference section of a publication is screened for further eligible publications. In a pearl

growing search, citation reference databases are used to identify further publications that are

citing an already selected paper (Fischer et al. 2017). 248 publications (29 identified through

bread crumbing and 219 through pearl growing) entered the initial sample and underwent the

standard procedure, i.e. practical screening followed by in-depth screening. This supplementary

search yielded two relevant publications.

In the conclusive search, the pre-final sample (N = 16) was submitted to three senior experts in

the field of sustainable consumption and sustainable marketing, asking them to complement the

selection with relevant publications. The expert review took place in November 2018 and iden-

tified one further publication. The final sample comprised 17 publications (see Table 6). The

steps of the iterative search process and its results are reported in Figure 2.

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Figure 2. Steps of the search process.

Data Analysis

We conducted a qualitative content analysis on the final data set, an effective method for ana-

lysing a sample of research documents in a systematic and controlled way following step by

step models (Mayring 2000). The analysis was performed on the full texts of all selected pub-

lications using MAXQDA, a software that allows organizing, categorizing, and coding of qual-

itative data. The central instrument of analysis constitutes a category system, which contributes

to the intersubjectivity of the procedure, helping others to reconstruct or repeat the analysis

(Mayring 2014). To classify the reviewed material, the coding framework is based on a proce-

dure of inductive-deductive coding. To guarantee the validity and reproducibility of results, the

intercoder-reliability (i.e. the accordance of the coding of several coders) was examined (Mayr-

ing 2000). The objectivity was ensured by the exact operationalization of the terminology used,

which in turn allowed the intersubjective traceability of the analysis (Berelson 1971). Each

publication was individually analysed and independently coded by two researchers. When they

disagreed about a classification, they discussed the publication in cooperation with a senior

researcher until an agreement was reached.

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Table 4 presents the final sample of 17 publications, sorted by publication year.

Table 4. Final sample.

Authors

Title

Journal

Research Step

Fisk G.

197

Criteria for a theory of responsible

consumption

Journal of Market-

ing

Database

Schaefer,

A.; Crane,

200

Addressing Sustainability and Con-

sumption

Journal of Macro-

marketing

Bread Crumb-

ing

Sheth, J.

N.; Sethia,

N. K.;

Srinivas, S.

201

Mindful consumption: a customer-

centric approach to sustainability

Journal of the Acad-

emy of Marketing

Science

Database

Sodhi, K.

201

Has Marketing Come Full Circle?

Demarketing for Sustainability

Business Strategy

Series

Bread Crumb-

ing

Heath, M.

T. P; Chat-

zidakis, A.

201

Blame it on marketing': consumers'

views on unsustainable consump-

tion

International Jour-

nal of Consumer

Studies

Database

Ertekin, Z.

O.; Atik, D.

201

Sustainable Markets: Motivating

Factors, Barriers, and Remedies for

Mobilization of Slow Fashion

Journal of Macro-

marketing

Database

Gorge, H.;

Herbert,

M.; Oez-

caglar-Tou-

louse, N.;

Robert, I.

201

What Do We Really Need? Ques-

tioning Consumption Through Suf-

ficiency

Journal of Macro-

marketing

Database

Lowe, B.;

Lynch, D.;

Lowe, J.

201

Reducing household water con-

sumption: a social marketing ap-

proach

Journal of Market-

ing Management

Database

Armstrong

Soule, C.

A.; Reich,

B. J.

201

Less is more: is a green demarket-

ing strategy sustainable?

Journal of Market-

ing Management

Database

Bocken, N.

M. P.;

Short, S.

201

Towards a sufficiency-driven busi-

ness model: Experiences and oppor-

tunities

Environmental In-

novation and Socie-

tal Transitions

Database

Hwang, C.;

Lee, Y.;

Diddi, S.;

Karpova, E.

201

Don't buy this jacket: Consumer re-

action toward anti-consumption ap-

parel advertisement

Journal of Fashion

Marketing and

Management

Database

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Jung, S.;

Jin, B.

201

From quantity to quality: under-

standing slow fashion consumers

for sustainability and consumer ed-

ucation

International Jour-

nal of Consumer

Studies

Database

Reich, B. J.

Armstrong

Soule, C.

201

Green Demarketing in Advertise-

ments: Comparing "Buy Green" and

"Buy Less" Appeals in Product and

Institutional Advertising Contexts

Journal of Advertis-

ing

Database

Seegebarth,

B.; Peyer,

M.; Balder-

jahn, I.;

Wiedmann,

K.-P.

201

The Sustainability Roots of Anti-

Consumption Lifestyles and Initial

Insights Regarding Their Effects on

Consumers’ Well-Being

Journal of Con-

sumer Affairs

Expert review

Yakobovitc

h, N.; Grin-

stein, A.

201

Materialism and the Boomerang Ef-

fect of Descriptive Norm Demarket-

ing: Extension and Remedy in an

Environmental Context

Journal of Public

Policy & Marketing

Database

Bocken, N.

M. P.

201

Business-led sustainable consump-

tion initiatives: impacts and lessons

learned

Journal of Manage-

ment Development

Database

Ramirez,

E.; Tajdini,

S.; David,

M. E.

201

The Effects of Proenvironmental

Demarketing on Consumer Atti-

tudes and Actual Consumption

Journal of Market-

ing Theory and

Practice

Database

The publication years show that until 2011, despite Fisk’s early outlier from 1973, marketing

for sufficiency was no subject of scholarly interest. The recently growing interest in in the 21st

century might be due to the occurrence of alarming data on environmental effects of overcon-

sumption and manifestation of business cases for sufficiency marketing. We found four con-

ceptual papers, and nine empirical studies which pick up existing business examples as a basis

for experiments or surveys, most prominently Patagonia’s “Don’t buy this jacket” campaign.

The sample represents a diverse research community with a focus on marketing, management,

and consumer behaviour journals (possibly due to our search criteria).

The following sections present the research findings of the publications in the final sample,

structured according to the research questions.

Why should commercial marketing promote sufficiency?

All publications of the final sample mention reasons why businesses should engage in fostering

sufficiency. These reasons concern two perspectives: a societal demand to pursue sufficiency

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as an external perspective for companies, and a company-internal perspective on altruistic and

strategic motives to act as sufficiency catalysers.

Societal Demand

Most sample publications document an external demand for companies to take holistic respon-

sibility. As companies create and fulfil needs through the provision of products and services,

they play a significant role in society. In the same manner as they promote a consumer culture

resulting in high levels of consumption, they are expected to emphasize sustainable consump-

tion patterns and sufficiency (Heath and Chatzidakis 2012; Bocken 2017). Specifically, the

marketing sphere is held responsible for operationalizing sustainability (Fisk 1973; Sheth,

Sethia, and Srinivas 2011; Sodhi 2011; Armstrong Soule and Reich 2015; Bocken and Short

2016; Reich and Armstrong Soule 2016; Yakobovitch and Grinstein 2016; Ramirez, Tajdini,

and David 2017; Lowe, Lynch, and Lowe 2015), “since [marketing] is the consumer interface

and creates the consumer touch points and shapes product experiences” (Sodhi 2011, p. 179).

Altruistic Motives

The need for taking societal responsibility leads to altruistic motives, which originate internally

from the organization itself and enclose a normative dimension, explained by Armstrong Soule

and Reich (2015), who observe a “recent, growing desire and perhaps a sense of obligation

among marketers to attempt to undo the ecological damage presumably caused by consump-

tion” (p. 1407). Fourteen publications state that reaching sustainability or related goals such as

environmental protection (Ertekin and Atik 2015; Ramirez, Tajdini, and David 2017; Lowe,

Lynch, and Lowe 2015), saving of scarce resources (Fisk 1973; Lowe, Lynch, and Lowe 2015),

waste reduction (Hwang et al. 2016; Jung and Jin 2016), or good living conditions for the pre-

sent population (Seegebarth et al. 2016) and future generations (Heath and Chatzidakis 2012)

are important ethical considerations for pursuing sufficiency.

Another altruistic motive is to contribute to changing the role and meaning of consumption in

society, referred to by three publications in a rather general fashion (Fisk 1973; Heath and Chat-

zidakis 2012; Hwang et al. 2016). Bocken and Short (2016) illustrate this motive with the spe-

cific case of Riversimple, a company which intends to change the meaning of ownership

through its car leasing business and marketing activities. Jung and Jin (2016) address slow fash-

ion as a suitable way of achieving a shift in consumer mind-set from quantity to quality.

Three publications legitimize marketing measures to promote sufficiency with the precaution-

ary principle, a sense of responsibility for operationalizing sustainability (Sheth, Sethia, and

Srinivas 2011; Sodhi 2011; Bocken and Short 2016). Furthermore, a marketing approach to

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moderate consumption is conceived in one paper focusing on European consumers (Seegebarth

et al. 2016), as an opportunity to increase individuals’ well-being through avoiding over-in-

debtedness.

Strategic Motives

Marketing for sufficient consumption may also be based on rather strategic motives. Some pub-

lications mention that communication campaigns and advertisements to promote sufficiency

can create a favourable image “while positively positioning the firm in the mind of the con-

sumer” (Ramirez, Tajdini, and David 2017, p. 300). By fostering positive word-of-mouth rec-

ommendations, the positive anticipation can even be reinforced (Bocken and Short 2016).

Hwang et al. (2016) conclude that Patagonia’s anti-consumption campaign “Don’t buy this

jacket” contributed to the company’s sustainable image. Reich and Armstrong Soule (2016)

show that companies find it beneficial to discourage consumption as a sign of commitment to

environmental sustainability. Three publications in the SLR sample link product design deci-

sions to a premium brand image, which stands for high quality regarding the material, design

and manufacturing choices, or high levels of service and extended warranties (Bocken and Short

2016; Hwang et al. 2016; Ramirez, Tajdini, and David 2017). Ramirez, Tajdini and David

(2017) state that marketing aiming at consumption reduction can improve the image of a prod-

uct’s quality. According to four publications, marketing attempts at demand reduction are often

build on good customer relationships. Ramirez, Tajdini, and David (2017), and Yakobovitch

and Grinstein (2016) find evidence that marketing to promote sufficiency positively affects

consumers’ attitudes towards the company and can lead to an increase in perceptions of the

organization’s trustworthiness. For example, the price and product strategy of the furniture

manufacturer Vitsœ highly depends on the loyalty of its regular customers (Bocken and Short

2016; Bocken 2017).

Three publications observe that an appropriate strategy to respond to a discrepancy between a

company’s commitment to sufficiency and the pressure to increase market share and profit mar-

gins would be to develop new business areas and customer segments (Armstrong Soule and

Reich 2015; Bocken and Short 2016; Jung and Jin 2016). This includes “undermining or dis-

placing the conventional more environmentally harmful businesses” (Bocken and Short 2016,

p. 57) or extending the company offer by providing repair services (Jung and Jin 2016). Ac-

cording to seven publications, marketing tools to promote sufficiency can create competitive

advantage. The examples of Vitsœ and Patagonia demonstrate that a business or marketing

strategy relying on sufficiency can lead to positive impacts on sales and profit (Bocken and

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Short 2016; Hwang et al. 2016; Bocken 2017) as well as maintaining or increasing profitability

(Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011; Reich and Armstrong Soule 2016). Financial benefits emerge

because marketing activities for sufficiency can be carried out in an inexpensive way and con-

sumers may be willing to pay more for a sustainable product (Ramirez, Tajdini, and David

2017) or high quality and durable designs (Jung and Jin 2016).

How Can Commercial Marketing Promote Sufficiency?

The sample offers diverse practical implications which can be structured according to the clas-

sic 4P of the marketing mix (Kotler 2018). Product, promotion, price, and place allow opera-

tionalizing a sufficiency marketing mix and provide a sometimes interdependent, but ade-

quately distinguishable structure for our analysis.

Product

In one of the earliest papers in the sample, Schaefer and Crane (2005) doubt that business will

“construct some form of green commodity that can be made to appeal to symbolic consumer

needs” (p. 89) due to companies’ growth imperative. Nevertheless, publications since 2011 dis-

play ideas and cases of products and services as an essential aspect of commercial marketing

for sufficient consumption, longevity of products being one of them. Longevity may be

achieved in the production processes through avoiding obsolescence and mandatory longer war-

ranties (Bocken and Short 2016), using high quality materials (Ertekin and Atik 2015;

Seegebarth et al. 2016), slower production terms (Jung and Jin 2016), and design focused on

durability and timelessness, instead of trends (Bocken 2017; Jung and Jin 2016). Six publica-

tions name the repair and reuse of products as a means to save resources through enhanced

product longevity, which is described as smart strategy (Hwang et al. 2016) and business op-

portunity (Seegebarth et al. 2016). This approach is, for instance, realized through a collabora-

tion with a repair service in the case of Patagonia (Bocken and Short 2016; Bocken 2017) and

as a precondition in successful product design for durability and recyclability (Ertekin and Atik

2015). Jung and Jin (2016) recommend repair services especially for consumers with conserva-

tive values who might wish to wear their clothes longer.

Four publications discuss second-hand markets. Ertekin and Atik (2015) suggest second-hand

products as a contribution to sufficient consumption. Seegebarth et al. (2016) recommend fur-

ther studying second-hand markets as a business opportunity, which is already used by Vitsœ

and Patagonia, who encourage their customers to buy and sell used products of their brands

(Bocken and Short 2016; Bocken 2017).

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The addition of certain services assists consumers in avoiding unnecessary purchases according

to four papers. Bocken and Short (2016) present the cases of Riversimple’s sharing vehicles

and Kyocera’s service fee for consulting and monitoring to reduce printer and paper usage.

Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas (2011, p. 31) describe a general business opportunity connecting

longevity and services, because “there will be a greater need for service, maintenance and up-

grading of products”. Fisk (1973), Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas (2011) and Seegebarth et al.

(2016) recommend renting or leasing options for (usually expensive) products and the inclusion

of either commercial or peer-to-peer collaborative consumption platforms. Firms may assist

consumers in enacting sufficiency by offering not only services, but also innovative technology

tools. In the case of water conservation, Lowe et al. (2015) explain how the incentivized instal-

lation of water-saving devices increased actual saving behaviour through enabling, not just

changing attitudes.

Many of these examples include the 3R (reuse, repair, recycle), which Gorge et al. (2015) dif-

ferentiate from sufficiency as activities which “do not challenge consumption in itself, but ra-

ther encourage solutions that may require fewer material and energy resources” (p. 12). This

suggests that many scholars and commercial marketers apply a rather pragmatic understanding

of sufficiency.

Promotion

Bocken and Short (2016) find “radically different marketing initiatives and campaigns relative

to industry norms – focused on moderate sales” (p. 56) as one important enabler of sufficiency-

based business. Their positive impact on a company’s image was mentioned as strategic motive

previously. Five publications discuss the general appeal to consume less in the contexts of anti-

consumption (Hwang et al. 2016) and demarketing (Sodhi 2011; Reich and Armstrong Soule

2016). Vitsœ and Patagonia directly encourage consumers to consider not buying a product

through communicative measures like sewn-in labels asking wearers to repair their garment and

think twice before buying (Bocken and Short 2016; Bocken 2017). Awareness-raising educa-

tion for sufficiency and a consumer’s responsibility is mentioned in a general matter by Ertekin

and Atik (2015), Heath and Chatzidakis (2012), as well as “consumer advertising programs

designed to discourage extravagant consumption” by Fisk (1973, p. 25). Gorge et al. (2015)

suggest macro-environmental pedagogical tools that can help voluntarily sufficient consumers

gradually decrease their consumption volume, until narrative tools, like storytelling, shape suf-

ficiency as a positive collective process. Yakobovitch and Grinstein (2016) present the more

specific case of carbon-labels on products combined with social norm messages at the point of

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sale. Schaefer and Crane (2005) caution that sufficiency must be carefully positioned so as not

to restrict the cultural value of consumption, but to lead it into compatible frames, so consumers

are not appalled by images of abstinence. Seegebarth et al. (2016) suggest that positive role-

models for simplified lifestyles should be included in campaigns, as well as the highlighting of

personal benefits “such as reduced debt, greater space available for storage, less time spent on

shopping, and the advantages of a nonmaterialistic approach to life” (p. 91). Jung and Jin (2016)

suggest emphasizing authenticity, exclusivity, and functionality, because these aspects of slow

fashion appeal more to consumers than sustainability or ethical values. Pro-environmental de-

marketing claims are effective for reduced private energy consumption according to Ramirez,

Tajdini, and David (2017), but should not be connected to a particular product to avoid con-

sumer confusion (Reich and Armstrong Soule 2016).

Considering that consumers rarely associate sufficiency with commercial activities, Lowe et al.

(2015) advise organizations to be transparent about their goals, progress, and own sufficient

resource management to strengthen their own credibility, thereby increasing consumer motiva-

tion to act, and avoiding distrust or accusations of hypocrisy.

Price

Four papers mention price-related instruments. Vitsœ offers no product discounts and no em-

ployee sales commissions, but life-long services at cost-price for installation, repair, and relo-

cation (Bocken 2017). Bruno Cuccinelli applies premium pricing for their high-quality apparel.

Bocken and Short (2016) argue for premium price models to be a more sustainable option when

luxury goods “are cherished, last longer and are used more” (p. 49). Jung and Jin (2016) argue

that high prices in slow fashion cause consumers who are highly fashion-involved or exclusiv-

ity-oriented to value quality over quantity, making them keep clothes longer and buy less as a

result. The paper-saving business model of Reduse shows how cost savings can be generated

through sufficiency (Bocken and Short 2016). Sodhi (2011) makes a claim for full-cost pricing

to incorporate external effects of consumption and production in product prices.

Place

The place-related findings propose direct customer contacts and innovative experiential set-

tings. Schaefer and Crane (2005) refer to a satisfying experience of when consumers search for

ways of achieving goals with lower resource use. Ertekin and Atik (2015) suggest swapping

and swishing parties for clothes as an attractive means to promote product sharing, sustainable

habits, and environmental awareness. Through only selling directly via phone, their stores or

own online shop, Vitsœ sacrifice short-term growth for the benefit of keeping personal contact

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to their customers and control over their sale techniques (Bocken and Short 2016). Yakobovitch

and Grinstein (2016) derive the implication of placing high-carbon labelled products “in areas

with high consumer traffic or near products with low carbon labelling to create perspective and

a reference point” (p. 100).

Which Barriers for Promoting Sufficiency Occur?

Fewer publications explore barriers than motives, yet we identified two groups of barriers: sys-

temic and organizational barriers.

Systemic Barriers

Companies operate within a growth-driven economy, so current business practices are mostly

profit-oriented. Supporting sufficiency may therefore “seem very much at odds with current

business practices and perhaps unviable in competitive markets” (Bocken and Short 2016, p.

43) and can result in competitive disadvantages and declines in sales (Bocken and Short 2016;

Bocken 2017; Schaefer and Crane 2005).

Observed by three publications, the widespread consumerist culture can hinder companies in

advertising sufficiency, as it does not overlap with what many consumers consider their social

and cultural needs (Bocken and Short 2016; Schaefer and Crane 2005; Yakobovitch and Grin-

stein 2016). Concerning consumer sovereignty, efforts to moderate demand could be criticized

because they limit the consumers’ freedom of choice and are sometimes recognized as an undue

interference with competitive market operations (Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011; Heath and

Chatzidakis 2012; Bocken and Short 2016). Bocken and Short (2016) further state that the pro-

motion of sufficiency can result in consumer resistance as shifting consumer behavior is a chal-

lenging task.

Organizational Barriers

The overall economic growth paradigm often leads to a strong sales orientation on the micro

business level. Four publications (Schaefer and Crane 2005; Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011;

Bocken and Short 2016; Hwang et al. 2016) see this as a possible reason for companies to resist

the promotion of sufficiency “because of an automatic assumption that this would mean lower

profits” (Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011, p. 30). If the legal form of a causes a focus on short-

term shareholder value maximization, a company unlikely implements sufficiency-orientated

marketing (Bocken and Short 2016). Hwang et al. (2016) argue that activities to support suffi-

ciency may seem hypocritical, as Patagonia was accused of grabbing public attention and

thereby raising sales of outdoor products, instead of seriously trying to reduce consumption. If

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this leads to an image loss, companies might refrain from implementing a marketing approach

which promotes sufficiency.

Table 5 summarizes the main findings regarding the leading research questions.

Table 5. Overview of findings related to research questions.

Results

Sources

RQ 1: Why should commercial marketing promote sufficiency?

Societal demand

External demand to take responsibility

for society in general and for non-sus-

tainable consumption in particular

Bocken 2017; Bocken and Short 2016; Fisk 1973; Heath

and Chatzidakis 2012; Lowe, Lynch, and Lowe 2015;

Ramirez, Tajdini, and David 2017; Reich and Armstrong

Soule 2016; Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011; Sodhi 2011;

Armstrong Soule and Reich 2015; Yakobovitch and Grin-

stein 2016;

Altruistic motives

Reaching sustainability

Bocken 2017; Bocken and Short 2016; Ertekin and Atik

2015; Fisk 1973; Heath and Chatzidakis 2012; Hwang et

al. 2016; Jung and Jin 2016; Lowe, Lynch, and Lowe

2015; Ramirez, Tajdini, and David 2017; Reich and Arm-

strong Soule 2016; Seegebarth et al. 2016; Sodhi 2011;

Armstrong Soule and Reich 2015; Yakobovitch and Grin-

stein 2016;

Changing societal role of consumption

Bocken and Short 2016; Fisk 1973; Heath and Chatzida-

kis 2012; Hwang et al. 2016; Jung and Jin 2016

Following the precautionary principle

Bocken and Short 2016; Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011;

Sodhi 2011

Increasing individuals’ well-being

Seegebarth et al. 2016

Strategic motives

Creating a favorable image

Bocken and Short 2016; Hwang et al. 2016; Ramirez, Taj-

dini, and David 2017; Reich and Armstrong Soule 2016;

Establishing a good customer relation-

ship

Bocken 2017; Bocken and Short 2016; Ramirez, Tajdini,

and David 2017; Yakobovitch and Grinstein 2016

Developing new business areas and cus-

tomer segments

Bocken and Short 2016; Jung and Jin 2016; Armstrong

Soule and Reich 2015;

Achieving positive impacts on sales and

profits

Bocken 2017; Bocken and Short 2016; Hwang et al. 2016;

Jung and Jin 2016; Ramirez, Tajdini, and David 2017;

Reich and Armstrong Soule 2016; Sheth, Sethia, and

Srinivas 2011;

RQ2: How can commercial marketing promote sufficiency?

Product

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Maximal longevity of products

Bocken 2017; Bocken and Short 2016, Ertekin and Atik

2015; Jung and Jin 2016: Seegebarth et al. 2016;

Repairing and reusing products

Bocken 2017; Bocken and Short 2016, Ertekin and Atik

2015; Hwang et al. 2016; Jung and Jin 2016; Seegebarth

et al. 2016

Second-hand products

Bocken 2017; Bocken and Short 2016; Ertekin and Atik

2015; Seegebarth et al. 2016

Addition of services

Bocken and Short 2016; Fisk 1973; Seegebarth et al.

2016; Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011

Promotion

General appeal to consume less

Bocken 2017; Bocken and Short 2016, Hwang et al. 2016;

Reich and Armstrong Soule 2016; Sodhi 2011;

Awareness-raising education

Ertekin and Atik 2015; Fisk 1973; Gorge et al. 2015;

Heath and Chatzidakis 2012;

Carbon-labels on products

Yakobovitch and Grinstein 2015

Positive framing (role models, personal

benefits)

Jung and Jin 2016; Schaefer and Crane 2005; Seegebarth

et al. 2016

Pro-environmental demarketing claims

Ramirez, Tajdini, and David 2017; Reich and Armstrong

Soule 2016

Organizational transparency

Lowe et al. 2015

Price

Full-cost pricing

Sodhi 2011

Premium pricing

Bocken and Short 2016, Jung and Jin 2016

No discounts

Bocken and Short 2016

Product life-extending services at cost-

price

Bocken and Short 2016

Place

Emphasizing experiences

Ertekin and Atik 2015; Schaefer and Crane 2005

Direct sales only

Bocken and Short 2016

High-carbon labelled products next to

low-carbon labelled products

Yakobovitch and Grinstein 2016

RQ 3: Which barriers for promoting sufficiency occur?

Systemic barriers

Operating within the economic growth

paradigm

Bocken 2017; Bocken and Short 2016; Schaefer and

Crane 2005; Yakobovitch and Grinstein 2016;

Consumerist culture

Bocken and Short 2016; Schaefer and Crane 2005;

Yakobovitch and Grinstein 2016;

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Orientating at the principle of consumer

sovereignty

Bocken and Short 2016; Heath and Chatzidakis 2012;

Sheth, Sethia and Srinivas 2011

Organizational barriers

Orientating at increasing sales and profits

Bocken and Short 2016; Hwang et al. 2016; Schaefer and

Crane 2005; Sheth, Sethia and Srinivas 2011;

Focusing on short-term shareholder value

Bocken and Short 2016

Fearing an image loss

Hwang et al. 2016

Discussion of Future Research Opportunities

In the following, we elaborate findings which occur as relevant for further developing a frame-

work for commercial marketing to promote sufficient consumption and display future research

opportunities.

Innovation for Sufficiency beyond the Status Quo

The SLR sample offers implications on how to practically strengthen sufficient consumption

but leaves room for innovative thinking.

On the one hand, sufficiency practitioners do not necessarily have to reinvent the wheel but can

creatively implement ideas already existing in the practice of sustainability. Virtues known

from less affluent contexts, like reusing, maintaining, and sharing goods, show smart ways of

dealing with a lack of resources. The product-related elaborations on sharing services (Botsman

and Rogers 2010; Polonsky 2011), second-hand alternatives, and overcoming planned obsoles-

cence (Echegaray 2016) reflect vivid rationales in the sustainability and marketing discourse.

On the other hand, to further endorse sufficiency and offer effective impulses, scholars need to

be more forward-thinking and develop innovative ideas. For instance, Gorge et al. (2015), who

identify a need to reshape consumer needs for challenging the DSP, suggest pedagogical pro-

cesses or the creation of solidarity networks that emphasize being, rather than having, for well-

being. A business opportunity lies in moving business models towards immaterially oriented

services which do not rely on owning and consuming material resources, but enhance social

well-being and personal abilities, such as music lessons or group activities. Further innovative,

promising, and contemporary means would be digital tools and Social Media marketing. The

digitalization and in particular the growing amount of personal data about customer needs, new

communication and distribution channels, Social Media applications, and strategies such as

search engine marketing, hold opportunities and risks for sufficient consumption. Gossen and

Frick (2018) show that customers of an online retailer for sustainable goods evaluate digital

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marketing tools for sufficiency positively, as the retailer’s online advertisement promoting suf-

ficient clothing consumption leads to an altruistic, trustworthy, and likeable image. Moreover,

experimental interventions like Herziger et al.’s (2017) research proposal on reducing excessive

consumption via user-generated content are necessary. In the digital age, Social Media is be-

coming a growing force in consumers’ decisions. While consumers may tweet and blog about

a company’s efforts in favour of sufficiency, these aspects are still out of scope in our sample.

A preference for rather conservative tools in marketing for sufficiency may also be rooted in

traditional research trajectories and literature being bound to the economic growth paradigm,

therefore nurturing a “blind spot” for sufficiency. After all, the majority of our sample publica-

tions stem from marketing and business journals. Endorsing interdisciplinary thinking in suffi-

ciency research might be helpful for overcoming this.

Sufficiency as a Dominant Business Strategy?

The sample shows that marketing for sufficiency can benefit companies, thereby providing an

incentive to actively engage for sustainability in an ambitious manner. Yet, only 5% of compa-

nies worldwide refer to ecological limits in their corporate responsibility reports, and even

fewer companies use the ecological limits to define business targets that actually lead to a re-

duction in emissions, resource consumption, or adjustment of the product portfolio (Bjørn et al.

2017). Nevertheless, sustainable business practices play an increasingly important role for

global firms (Peterson and Lunde 2016), and sufficiency is a logical path for taking sustaina-

bility seriously. Marketing itself has the means to transfer a company’s vision and purpose to a

target audience. Only if that purpose is fundamentally compatible with the concept of suffi-

ciency, are marketing means void of serving greenwashing (Nyilasy, Gangadharbatla, and Pal-

adino 2014).

Furthermore, marketing for sufficiency might have favourable effects, such as improving the

image of a company. For a different company, however, it might damage its reputation, due to

accusations of acting hypocritically. The occurring effect depends on the positioning and con-

text of the business activities. Trust and reputation, deeply founded in the companies’ holistic

business activities and customer relationships, are key to benefiting from marketing to promote

sufficiency. While our SLR focuses on the means of marketing, to be truly effective and avoid

greenwashing, sufficiency must be embedded in all business activities of a company, including

the business model (Bocken and Short 2016).

Most of the motives for and barriers against marketing to promote sufficiency are derived by

secondary analysis or rely on case studies of selected sustainability-focused (Bocken et al.

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2014) and degrowth-oriented business models (Khmara and Kronenberg 2018). We find a bal-

anced quantitative ratio between altruistic and strategic motives in the sample. More empirical

research, including the expertise of marketing practitioners, could offer deeper insights into

motives, and into the applicability of specific marketing mix tools for different business models

in realistic contexts. We also see further research needs regarding how altruistic and strategic

motives of sufficiency-oriented companies complement or contradict each other and how com-

panies balance profitable growth and sustainability. While research explored employees’ moti-

vation for and concerns against sustainability in their organization (Guerci et al. 2015; Law,

Hills, and Hau 2017), it also remains unclear whether sufficiency as a more radical notion to-

wards sustainability might be a motivator or barrier from an employees’ perspective.

A Fifth P: Policy

Displaying a rather optimistic view with few critical comments, the publications in the sample

represent commercial marketing for sufficiency as an opportunity to proactively face the neces-

sity of prevailing in a market of increasingly scarce resources. Nevertheless, businesses are just

one necessary element in the broader macromarketing dynamic to adapt the DSP in favour of

consumption styles that are “enough”. While our SLR focuses on voluntary sufficiency life-

styles, policy measures are also discussed in the sample.

In a critical stance, Schaefer and Crane (2005) doubt the effectivity of environmental consumer

education for sufficiency, and express pessimism about regulatory tools like brand-free zones,

advertising bans, and eco-taxes through governments. Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas (2011) argue

that policy or regulation are unlikely to succeed in changing patterns of consumption because

of the conflicting interests of parties involved, including the protection of consumer sovereignty

and competitive market operations.

Bocken and Short (2016, p. 59) argue contrastively that “reduced material consumption will

not mean the end of business” and that changes for sufficiency should be introduced incremen-

tally rather than in reaction to regulatory pressure. While mandatory longer product warranties,

product bans, and choice editing against the most environmentally damaging goods are regula-

tory prospects, Bocken (2017) also emphasizes private-public partnerships. For instance, public

procurement might serve as role-model and enabler of sufficiency business models. Lowe et al.

(2015) refer to visible strategies for saving water in public institutions. Public education pro-

grams and awareness-raising campaigns are prominently featured (Heath and Chatzidakis 2012;

Bocken and Short 2016; Seegebarth et al. 2016), possibly challenging materialistic values in

favour of psychological well-being (Yakobovitch and Grinstein 2016).

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More research on adequate policy measures for making the sufficient consumption option the

more affordable one is required – regardless of whether these are regulatory, informational, or

market-based instruments. As initiatives supporting sufficient consumption on a voluntary basis

require consumers to value sufficiency, effective policies should be directed at processes that

engender non-sustainable consumption and materialism, which are, in the first place, institu-

tions of the Dominant Social Paradigm (Kilbourne et al. 2009).

A Sixth P: Partners

Our sample prominently emphasizes community-building structures as an appropriate tool for

business and politics to support sufficiency. This approach is most strongly represented by

Gorge et al. (2015). Schaefer and Crane (2005) also establish the notion that “those seeking to

negotiate the difficult terrain of reducing or shifting consumption toward more responsible pat-

terns are less likely to suffer social stigma when acting within a community of likewise indi-

viduals” (p.86). Ertekin and Atik (2015) suggest a community approach to break unsustainable

habits in buying and using fashion items, while Bocken and Short (2016) present two companies

which engage for their local communities. Individuals who obligatorily or voluntarily live under

sufficient circumstances often feel marginalized from their families, peers, or colleagues be-

cause they diverge from conventional consumerism and social norms of the DSP. This is a main

barrier for their well-being (Gorge et al. 2015). The more wide-spread sustainability activities

are within a community, the easier individuals will pick them up (Meng 2015). Community

structures provide opportunity to make living sufficiently easier through collectively organized

projects, social interactions, and shared sufficiency values (Shaw and Moraes 2009). This com-

pensates for the social function which conspicuous consumption established in individualized,

postmodern societies Moreover, the sample publications’ emphasis on product quality and price

premium raises questions on sufficiency as a luxury phenomenon and status symbol, as well as

concerns about injustice, when access to goods is further determined by the economic endow-

ment of people. How companies using collective activities for their marketing to foster suffi-

ciency might strengthen their own positioning, but also support the re-evaluation and re-organ-

ization of satisfying needs and wants, is a promising endeavour for future research.

Some consumers, often organized in communities, engage in self-sustaining practices like

growing agricultural products for their own use (subsistence farming) or by producing self-

sufficient energy with home solar power. These strategies towards sufficiency avoid or even

aim at transforming the traditional market system, which limits opportunities for conventional

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marketing (Polonsky 2017). It remains an exciting research question as to how marketing can

address ways of supporting these people to find desirable consumption alternatives.

Furthermore, the potential role of retailers as intermediaries between producers and customers

in marketing for sufficient consumption remains rather untapped. Morgan, Tallontire and Foxon

(2017) tentatively venture into this topic by analysing large UK retailers’ initiatives to reduce

consumer emissions. They identify campaigns and product design to enable lower washing

temperatures as initiatives for sufficiency. We argue that retailers hold stronger means to do

marketing for sufficiency than those tools recommended and like to encourage further research

in such matters.

Further Research Questions

From our discussion and the elaboration of future research opportunities, we suggest the fol-

lowing selection of specific research questions:

• Does the increasing importance of digital marketing instruments (e.g., big data, person-

alization) provide an opportunity or risk for sufficient consumption?

• What motivates companies to implement marketing to promote sufficient consumption?

Do they accept economic disadvantages? How can the promotion of less consumption

(and consequently loss of profits) and corporate growth coexist?

• How are companies perceived by consumers, if they try to promote sufficient consump-

tion? Do they “reward” or “punish” the commitment to sufficiency?

• Which political measures are best suited to motivate or oblige companies to promote

sufficiency?

• What common values are shared in communities that support sufficiency? How can

business marketing credibly support this?

• Which commercial marketing instruments can strengthen the potential role of retailers

for sufficient consumption?

Conclusion

The conducted SLR presents a young and controversial research field on why and how com-

mercial marketing should encourage sufficient consumption. Figure 3 offers an integrative

framework for this research.

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Figure 3. Integrative research framework.

As surprising as it may seem at first glance, several reasons for promoting sufficiency from a

marketing management perspective are documented in the final sample. Business cases from

diverse industries, and varied instruments for operationalizing a marketing mix to foster suffi-

ciency featured in the final sample, offer orientation for companies that seek serious and sub-

stantial contributions to sustainability challenges. The instruments of the micromarketing mix

are vehicles to reach a significant audience for sufficiency. From a macromarketing perspective,

commercial marketing techniques can only be as substantial for sufficiency as the underlying

business model. Also, marketing for sufficiency can only be successful within the mainstream

if the DSP and economic framework allow it to be. For sufficiency to reach mainstream rele-

vance, changes are required on the societal level, to be fuelled by public policy.

Some limitations to the SLR methodology need to be considered. We developed the search

string after thoroughly considering existing literature on sufficiency and commercial marketing.

Given the exploratory nature of much of the research, our search string was deliberately broad

in order to identify relevant literature that did not explicitly employ the terminology of com-

mercial marketing and sufficiency. Its comprehensiveness led to a huge initial sample, which

was reduced by about 99% for the final sample of 17 publications due to several reviewing

steps and implementing our strict content-related criteria. Nevertheless, as the search was re-

stricted to three selected databases and to two specific types of sources (peer-reviewed journal

publications and book chapters), we may have missed research that uses different terminology

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and publication media. Although not all papers and chapters in the 89-publication-strong pre-

liminary sample satisfy all required content criteria, this extended sample is highly represented

in the theoretical foundation and discussion section of our research.

We do see the relatively small number of publications in the final sample of our SLR not as a

shortcoming of our study, but as a relevant result. Academia so far has widely overlooked the

role commercial marketing might play in fostering sufficient consumption. This negligence

might be due to the rather high amount of critical self-reflection required for the marketing

discipline, as the current need for sufficiency was partly created by some of marketing’s inher-

ent characteristics. Nevertheless, the recently increased emergence of publications on our topic

shows that marketing to promote sufficient consumption may leave its niche and potentially

attract more mainstream attention.

Sufficiency is highly subjective – every individual will have a personal idea of what their

“enough” means, defined by needs and desires. In the review sample, examples for rather effi-

ciency-enhancing products like trash bags made of stronger plastic are used as examples for

sufficiency. We would argue that sufficiency means more than that. The lines between market-

ing for sufficiency, which contributes to less consumption, and green marketing, which targets

a specific group with a high willingness to pay for quality goods, are blurred.

Our discussion of sufficiency focuses on affluent societies in the Global North, where suffi-

ciency questions the economic ideal of continued growth of production and consumption and

profoundly diverges from mainstream ideas of living conditions (Sachs, Loske, and Linz 1998;

Princen 2005; Lloveras and Quinn 2017). Reaching sufficient consumption levels for people in

scarce living conditions who have less than enough to sustain themselves is a pressing matter,

but not in the scope of our research and needs to be discussed elsewhere.

Considering the inevitable sustainability challenges for companies and citizens, marketing is an

essential mediator in enabling and fostering the absolute reduction of resources and energy used

for consumption by questioning the level of demand and the value system of our society. A

revised marketing theory inspiring practice is necessary - one that turns away from limitless

satisfaction and creation of material desires, towards moderating wants and needs within the

planetary boundaries. Helping consumers to increase their well-being and enhance the

“enough” of consumption without wasting money, material, and energy on products that do not

improve the quality of life in the long term, is the purpose of marketing for sufficient consump-

tion. Our analysis shows that the theoretical and practical debate regarding commercial market-

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ing to promote sufficiency is in its early days. Thus, we hope to encourage researchers in mar-

keting and sustainability to further investigate potentials and conditions of marketing to pro-

mote sufficiency.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship,

and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship,

and/or publication of this article: Funding for this research was granted by the German Federal

Ministry of Education and Research within the project “Digitalization and Sustainability”

(www.nachhaltige-digitalisierung.de/en/).

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II. “Choose Nature. Buy Less.” Exploring Sufficiency-oriented Marketing and Con-

sumption Practices in the Outdoor Industry

Zusammenfassung

The outdoor industry is highly exposed to the impacts of climate change and resource scarcity

since its business models generally rely on an intact ecosystem. Companies in the outdoor ap-

parel and gear in- dustry actively implement sustainability strategies based on efficiency, con-

sistency, and more recently also sufficiency. Sufficiency aims at an absolute reduction of con-

sumption levels and entails strategies such as decreasing purchases, modal shifts, product lon-

gevity, and sharing practices. Outdoor companies increasingly use marketing to advocate suf-

ficiency-oriented consumption. This exploratory study inves- tigates outdoor companies’ suf-

ficiency-promoting marketing strategies and activities. The study includes primary and sec-

ondary data of six outdoor companies. The analysis focuses on the companies’ sustain- ability

visions, their marketing objectives and channels, and their marketing mixes. Following a so-

cial practice theory approach, we found evidence that our case companies supported all forms

of sufficiency- oriented consumption practices with a strong focus on product longevity. An-

other central finding of our study is the emphasis placed on product and promotion policies to

foster sufficiency-oriented consump- tion practices. Solely relying on these strategies will not

suffice, however, to change unsustainable con- sumption practices. Achieving that change re-

quires at least two further steps. First, companies will have to find an answer to the conflict

between promoting sufficiency-oriented practices and economic growth. Second, the compa-

nies should start understanding consumption as a social practice, which would open new op-

portunities to create and steer their communities of practices. By changing elements or links

of practices and attracting new members to their communities, companies in the outdoor in-

dustry can be drivers towards more sufficiency-oriented consumption practices. Further re-

search should assess the im- pact of sufficiency-promoting marketing on consumer practices

to estimate its potential for sustainable change.

Schlüsselwörter: Sufficiency, Sustainable consumption, Sustainable marketing, Sustainable

business model, Social practice theory, Qualitative research

Veröffentlicht in: Sustainable Production and Consumption, 30: 720-736.

Autor*innen: Maike Gossen; Maren Ingrid Kropfeld

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Introduction

The outdoor apparel and gear industry (referred to here as the “outdoor industry”, European

Outdoor Group, 2021a) is heavily exposed to the impacts of climate change and environmen-

tal damage since its business models and offerings rely on an intact ecosystem. That eco-system

is fragile, and in 2021, many outdoor experiences became impossible or were greatly affected

by drought, wildfire, or flooding due to extreme weather conditions diminished outdoor expe-

riences. Such events have led outdoor companies to become more active in terms of sustain-

ability initiatives and climate protection compared to other sec- tors (European Outdoor Group,

2021b). Examples of initiatives include as Patagonia’s 1% for the Planet initiative (Patagonia

Inc., 2021a) or collaborations between private companies and civil society organizations

(Deutscher Alpenverein e. V., 2021; POW Germany e. V., 2021). A few businesses already

acknowledge their responsibility and commit to not only diversifying business models to “build

resilience and drive sustainable practices” (Fraenkel- Eidse, 2021) but also working towards a

wider socioeconomic transition for the sustainable lifestyles required to stay within planetary

boundaries (IPCC, 2021; Lin et al., 2018; Wackernagel and Beyers, 2019). Case studies from

the outdoor industry have gained popularity not only in the empirical research into sustainable

business model approaches but also as best practice examples across various industry sectors

(Böhmer, 2021; Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017; Freudenreich and Schaltegger, 2020;

Khmara and Kronenberg, 2018; W&V, 2021). Those studies underline the pioneering role of

the industry and make it an interesting subject for studying novel business approaches to sus-

tainability.

While the imperative to mitigate climate change and protect nature is significant, the number

of business-driven initiatives to discourage consumption for the environment’s sake remains

low. Those initiatives may “seem very much at odds with current business practices” (Bocken

and Short, 2016: 43), which might hinder businesses in their support of reduced consumption.

Lowering absolute consumption levels is, however, necessary for sustainable development

(Vita et al., 2019) and at the core of the sufficiency strategy. Although a universal definition is

lacking, sufficiency implies avoiding overconsumption while reducing the use of scarce natural

resources and fossil fuel-based energy (Gorge et al., 2015; Princen, 2005). It can complement

efficiency and consistency efforts on a policy, business and, individual level (Bocken and Short,

2020; Reichel, 2018). As the actual impact and possible rebound effects of sufficiency-promot-

ing activities are not yet sufficiently researched (Reimers et al., 2021), our study follows the

current research assumption that sufficiency-oriented strategies can lead to an overall reduction

of resource and energy consumption (Reichel, 2018). By making use of sufficiency-promoting

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marketing, companies can influence consumer behavior and help to reduce consumption levels

(Bocken et al., 2020; Gossen et al., 2019). Since consumption is part of our everyday practices,

consumption practices are changed not (only) by persuasion or providing information but by

offering more sustainable alternatives to consumers’ daily practices (Spangenberg and Lorek,

2019; Warde, 2005).

Influenced by the discourse on strong sustainability, circularity, and sufficiency that is slowly

reaching industry, businesses in the outdoor industry are starting to take the lead in adapting

their processes and business models accordingly (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017; Peters

and Simaens, 2020). We therefore focus our research on case studies from the outdoor industry,

intending to gain a better understanding of and discuss the differences between marketing ap-

proaches towards changing unsustainable consumer practices. Our work builds on the critical

discourse about the responsibility of marketing for overconsumption in affluent societies

(Stoeckl and Luedicke, 2015; Varey, 2010) and the limits of existing marketing concepts aiming

at reduced consumer demand, such as demarketing (Cullwick, 1975; Kotler and Levy, 1971) or

social marketing (Andreasen, 1995; Peattie and Peattie, 2009).

Our exploratory study of six exemplary outdoor companies contributes to the growing body of

empirical research on sufficiency-promoting marketing and the role of businesses in changing

consumer practices towards sufficiency (e.g., Bocken and Short, 2016; Gossen et al., 2019;

Hwang et al., 2016; Jung and Jin, 2016; Niessen and Bocken, 2021). It provides insights into

the main research question, concerning marketing strategies and activities outdoor companies

implement to promote sufficiency-oriented consumption practices.

In the first part of this paper, we revisit the concepts of sufficiency-oriented consumption, and

how sufficiency-based business models and marketing can support consumers in changing their

behavior towards more sufficiency-based alternatives. We then introduce social practice theory

(SPT) as the conceptual approach to our research. The method section demonstrates our quali-

tative empirical research approach based on secondary data and interviews conducted with rep-

resentatives from outdoor companies. Our findings present our case companies’ marketing

strategies, marketing mixes, and promoted sufficiency-oriented consumption practices. We

then discuss the contribution of our study to academic literature as well as the practical impli-

cations for sufficiency-promoting marketing and business models for sustainability. Finally, we

conclude this paper by indicating its limitations and providing an outlook by suggesting recom-

mendations for practice and research.

Literature Review

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In the following, we present the state of research on sufficiency-oriented consumption and

sufficiency-promoting marketing. We also introduce SPT as the heuristic approach to our re-

search.

Sufficiency-oriented Consumption

Unsustainable production and consumption patterns can only be effectively changed if tech-

nological advancements are combined with lifestyle changes towards reducing consumption

in affluent societies (Bjørn et al., 2018; Spangenberg and Lorek, 2019; Wiedmann et al.,

2020). While sufficiency can complement efficiency and consistency efforts on a policy, busi-

ness, and individual level, our research focuses on sufficiency strategies on the individual

consumer level. Sufficiency-oriented consumption is connected to behavioral concepts such

as anti-consumption (Chatzidakis and Lee, 2012; Lee et al., 2009), voluntary simplicity

(Alexander and Ussher, 2012; Etzioni, 1999), or frugality (Lastovicka et al., 1999; Rick et al.,

2008). It encourages a reflection on materialistic (over-)consumption and connected impacts

on life satisfaction (Jenny, 2016). From a social justice perspective, the demand to reduce

consumption can hardly be applied to the Global South, as restrictions on consumption there

would directly threaten existential human needs. Thus, to reach a decent living standard for

all, a minimum level of consumption must be ensured that allows every individual to live a

good life (Fuchs et al., 2021). This approach of ‘consumption corridors’ intends to guarantee a

set of essential material preconditions for human wellbeing, including housing, nutrition,

basic amenities, healthcare, transportation, information, education, and public space (Rao and

Min, 2018; Spengler, 2016).

Sufficiency-oriented consumption is defined by Sandberg (2021) as:

• Absolute reductions, i.e., reducing the amount of consumption;

• Modal shifts, i.e., shifting to a consumption mode that is less resource intensive;

• Product longevity, i.e., extending product lifespans;

• Sharing practices, i.e., sharing products among individuals.

These consumption practices cover voluntarily resisting buying new products, choosing prod-

ucts of high-quality that are produced under ecologically and socially favorable conditions,

and engaging in activities such as repairing, clothes swapping, buying second-hand, or using

return systems to extend the products lifespan (Kleinhückelkotten and Neitzke, 2019).

A study by Kropfeld et al. (2018) on the ecological impact of anti-consumption lifestyles has

shown that actively resisting consumption has a lower footprint than that of the lifestyles of

environmentally conscious consumers. Similarly, Verfuerth et al. (2019) found that positive

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sufficiency attitudes are related to a lower CO2 footprint; however, this relationship varies be-

tween individual consumption fields and is most correlated with food. Another study has

shown that sufficiency-oriented clothing consumption and the resulting extension of clothing

lifespans could reduce the environmental impact of the clothing sector in Europe by two per-

cent (Vita et al., 2019).

However, sufficiency strategies, just like efficiency measures, can lead to unintended rebound

effects (Reimers et al., 2021; Schneidewind and Zahrnt, 2014). The rebound effect describes

the relative gap between the potential savings (e.g., emissions, energy, material) and the ac-

tual savings (ibid). It was first mentioned in relation to energy efficiency measures and energy

use (Alcott, 2005). Rebound effects can occur directly (e.g., increasing demand of energy af-

ter efficiency has increased) or indirectly (e.g., spending cost savings from energy reduction

in another consumption area) (Chitnis et al., 2013; Santarius et al., 2016). Furthermore, they

can be stimulated by both economic (e.g., price effects) and psychological (e.g., moral licens-

ing) mechanisms (Reimers et al., 2021). In extreme cases, this backfiring effect may even

overtake potential savings (Santarius et al., 2016). Circular economy activities can also lead to

macro-level rebound effects, e.g., through price mechanisms or because of the limited ability

of secondary products to substitute primary products (Bocken and Short, 2020; Zink and

Geyer, 2017). On an individual level, sufficiency-oriented consumption can lead to rebound

effects, by partially or fully offsetting the achieved (financial) savings in one life area with ad-

verse behavioral responses in another (Santarius, 2016; Sorrell et al., 2018). In their literature

study on indirect rebound effects induced by efficiency and sufficiency measures, Reimers et

al. (2021) found that the literature in this field has so far produced diverse results, and quanti-

fications of rebound effects across all sectors and measures vary from zero to more than

100%. Therefore, it is so far impossible to predict the overall impact of sufficiency-oriented

consumption.

Although an increasing number of researchers are exploring the theoretical foundation for suf-

ficiency-oriented consumption, a consensus on a definition is lacking and empirical investiga-

tions on sufficiency-oriented consumption remain rare (Geels et al., 2015; Sandberg, 2021;

Spangenberg and Lorek, 2019). By looking at sufficiency-oriented practices in the outdoor in-

dustry, this paper addresses, in particular, the lack of scientific knowledge about specific con-

sumption practices and related elements.

Sufficiency-promoting Marketing

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Businesses can take an active role in encouraging sufficiency-oriented consumption practices

(Freudenreich & Schaltegger, 2020; Heikkurinen et al., 2019). They can incentivize the avoid-

ance of over-consumption and planned obsolescence, reduce material and resource use in both

the production and consumption phase, and reuse products over time or across multiple people

(Bocken & Short, 2016). Implementing sufficiency strategies in businesses requires not only

lean and sustainable production processes, but also an active effort by companies to support

those sufficiency-oriented consumption changes at the consumer level (Freudenreich &

Schaltegger, 2020; Niinimäki et al., 2020). This includes focusing on durability, reparability,

and longevity in product design, as well as offering additional services to increase the longevity

and use of products (Bocken et al., 2014; Freudenreich & Schaltegger, 2020). Sufficiency-ori-

ented business models require organizational boundary changes and alignment in the value net-

work (Velter et al., 2020). This includes the relationship to the customer, who is not addressed

by mere one-way-directed traditional marketing techniques, but rather engaged in a multilateral

dialogue between the business and its stakeholders (Kropfeld & Reichel, 2021). Encouraging

consumers to rethink their needs, buy less and use the things they own longer requires suffi-

ciency-promoting marketing techniques based on degrowth business models (Nesterova, 2020).

Sufficiency-promoting marketing thus goes beyond other marketing approaches such as green

marketing (Dangelico & Vocalelli, 2017) or sustainable marketing (Belz & Peattie, 2012) by

enabling consumers to reduce absolute consumption levels for sustainability purposes. From a

strategic perspective, it answers to external demands to assume societal responsibility and can

be used to improve a company’s image, boost the relationship with customers and develop new

business areas (Gossen et al., 2019; Gossen & Heinrich, 2021). From an operational perspec-

tive, companies can make use of the traditional framework for the marketing mix (‘the 4Ps’)

and adapt it to sufficiency-oriented goals. The promotion policy includes advertising, infor-

mation and education to raise awareness of the need to change consumption practices and nar-

rative interventions, such as storytelling (Gorge et al., 2015; Hwang et al., 2016). In addition,

role models can strengthen sufficiency-oriented consumption as a social norm (Seegebarth et

al., 2016) and publicly questioning the act of consumption, particularly in using anti-consum-

erist messaging, can empower customers to refuse consumption (Niessen & Bocken, 2021). A

sufficiency-oriented product design philosophy focusses on longevity, high quality, durability,

reparability, modularity, and timelessness. This may be achieved in the production processes

through avoiding obsolescence and mandatory longer warranties (Bocken & Short, 2016), using

high quality materials (Ertekin & Atik, 2015; Seegebarth et al., 2016) and slower production

terms (Jung & Jin, 2016). Additional services for repair and care of products and second-hand

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markets, which allow to buy and sell used products, are also a means to save resources through

enhanced product longevity (Bocken, 2017; Bocken & Short, 2016; Ertekin & Atik, 2015).

Price-related instruments comprise avoidance of discounts, premium price models (Bocken &

Short, 2016; Jung & Jin, 2016) and full-cost pricing, which incorporate external effects of con-

sumption and production in product prices (Sodhi, 2011). Regarding the place policy, relying

on direct customer contacts, engaging for local communities, and emphasizing customer expe-

riences, for example through swapping parties (Ertekin & Atik, 2015), can further promote

sufficiency-orientated consumption practices.

Research on the effectiveness of sufficiency-promoting marketing shows that being aware of a

company’s altruistic sufficiency-oriented motives and trusting their credibility makes consum-

ers prone to behave more sufficiency-based themselves (Gossen & Frick, 2018). Sufficiency-

promoting communication thus leads to a lower purchase intention of clothing than traditional

advertisements (Hwang et al., 2016) and to more sufficiency-oriented behavior compared to

neutral and consumption-promoting communication (Frick et al., 2021).

Individual companies, i. a. from the outdoor industry and small pioneers in the slow fashion

sector, have been subject to recent studies on sustainable and sufficiency-oriented clothing con-

sumption (e. g. Gossen & Heinrich, 2021; Peters & Simaens, 2020). There has been scattered

but increasing research on the motivations and benefits behind sufficiency-promoting market-

ing (Gossen et al., 2019), also from a consumer perspective (Armstrong Soule & Reich, 2015;

Hesse & Rünz, 2020; Reich & Armstrong Soule, 2016). There is, however, a lack of cross-case

empirical studies of established players in the market on actual business behavior and how those

companies operationally implement sufficiency-promoting marketing.

Social Practice Theory

Using marketing to change unsustainable (outdoor clothing) consumption requires overcom-

ing the gap between pro-environmental values and actual behavior, which does not always re-

flect those values (Blake, 1999). Actual pro-environmental behavior is difficult to predict by

solely investigating cognitive factors, and that behavior generally leads to relatively small

positive environmental impacts, if any (Gatersleben et al., 2002; Kleinhückelkotten and

Neitzke, 2019; Moser and Kleinhückelkotten, 2018). Theories such as the Theory of Planned

Behavior explain situations of intentional and reflected behavior (Spangenberg and Lorek,

2019). However, people do not always consciously reflect their actions and choices, nor do

they have access to all the information that would be necessary to do so (Klein and O’Brien,

2018). Recognizing the shortcomings of common behavioral approaches (e.g., the agency-

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100

structure dichotomy and the value-action gap), SPT offers a contextual view on consumption

(Hampton and Adams, 2018; Spangenberg and Lorek, 2019). An SPT approach broadens the

perspective on human behavior by focusing on ritualized, everyday behaviors, which are re-

peated without specific reflection (Kumar and Kumar, 2008). It includes factors beyond the

control of individuals such as infrastructures or social norms (Evans et al., 2012). While SPT

is not a catch-all theory, it enables a sociological and contextual approach to consumer behav-

ior and lifestyles (Spaargaren, 2003). It connects production and consumption approaches and

thus challenges the supply-demand dichotomy (Labanca et al., 2020).

A social practice is “a routinized type of behavior which consists of several elements, inter-

connected to one other: forms of bodily activities, forms of mental activities, ‘things’ and

their use, a background knowledge in the form of understanding, know-how, states of emotion

and motivational knowledge” (Reckwitz, 2002: 249). For this study, we follow the simpler,

easier to operationalize, conceptualization by Shove, Watson, and Spurling (2015) and under-

stand a social practice as consisting of (i) ideas, meanings, and understandings, (ii) personal

skills and competences for carrying out a practice, and (iii) the materials of practice (Figure

1). This view allows an analysis of the dynamics between the three elements constituting a

practice, making it useful for sustainability transitions research (Spotswood et al., 2015).

Practices can emerge, change, stabilize, and also die out as new elements are introduced to

them and links between the elements are created, reconstructed, or broken (Hargreaves, 2011;

Pantzar and Shove, 2006). ‘Rules’ as the fourth element of social practices has so far not been

taken up by most scholars. However, Gram-Hanssen (2010: 155) criticizes that the element

‘competences’ is “overly simple, as the authors do not distinguish between the two main types

of competences: know-how or nonverbal knowledge and explicit, rule-based, or theoretical

knowledge”. Other perspectives suggest that rules are already part of the material or even the

competence dimension (Shove et al., 2015). For the purpose of this empirical study, we focus

on the three elements as suggested by Shove, Watson, and Spurling (2015), while returning to

‘rules’ as a fourth dimension in the discussion section.

Figure 1. Elements of a Social Practice (own illustration based on Pantzar & Shove, 2010)

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101

SPT has mainly been applied to observe everyday behavior or to describe policy interventions

(Kropfeld, 2019). On a business level, supporting more sustainable daily practices increas-

ingly involves customer integration, collaborative innovation, and consumer education

(Kropfeld and Reichel, 2021; Lüdeke-Freund et al., 2019). In line with the boundary work

framework for sustainable business models by Velter et al. (2020), creating sustainable value

requires mutual boundary changes in the process of multi-stakeholder alignment. Consumers

have to become actively involved in the business model and thus also in sufficiency-promot-

ing marketing (Kropfeld and Reichel, 2021). This perspective has so far remained under-ex-

plored in empirical studies (Parekh and Klintman, 2021), although it has long been agreed that

patterns of consumption are embedded within social practices (Warde, 2005), and practice

theory has been suggested as being useful for studying sustainable consumption and produc-

tion, e.g., in the circular economy (Corsini et al., 2019). Our study contributes to this body of

research by applying SPT to a business context and by attempting a holistic view of business

and consumer practices.

Methods

Since little research has been conducted in the field of sufficiency-promoting marketing

(Gossen et al., 2019; Niessen and Bocken, 2021), we undertook exploratory qualitative re-

search to answer this study’s research question. Exploratory research aims at seeking new in-

sights and assessing a phenomenon in a new light (Robson, 2002). As it evolves and is based

on small samples that provide an understanding of certain topics, exploratory research allows

us to further enhance theoretical observations about marketing practices that support suffi-

ciency-orientated clothing consumption. To improve generalizability, we chose a multiple

case study approach. Case study research allows the researcher to obtain a holistic, real-world

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102

perspective (Yin, 2003) through detailed in-depth data collection involving multiple sources

of information (Hyett et al., 2014).

Sample

For our sample, we defined three main selection criteria: (i) the company had to be in the out-

door industry, either as an outdoor retailer or outdoor clothing brand; (ii) it had to have sus-

tainability integrated into its corporate strategy; and (iii) it had to follow sufficiency-promot-

ing marketing principles (Table 1).

Table 1: Selection criteria for inclusion of sufficiency-promoting marketing activities

Criterion

Operationalization

Examples

Sufficiency-promo-

ting marketing

Sufficiency-related prod-

uct policy (Gossen et al.,

2019)

Circular, durable, repairable, and/or

high-quality products, and/or timeless

designs

Sufficiency-related com-

munication policy

(Gossen et al., 2019)

Critical reflection of consumption,

and/or tips for the sufficiency-oriented

handling of products, and/or infor-

mation and education campaigns,

and/or information on sufficiency-re-

lated product features

Sufficiency-oriented

consumption prac-

tices

Sufficiency-oriented

practices (Sandberg,

2021)

Absolute reductions, and/or modal

shifts, and/or product longevity, and/or

sharing practices

For the first two criteria, we compiled a list of outdoor companies that are either certified as a

B Corporation (B Lab Europe, 2021); members of the Fair Wear Foundation (2021); listed as

sustainable brands by the retailer’s Globetrotter (Arthur, 2021; Globetrotter, 2021), Bergzeit

(2021) or the website Utopia (2021); or those firms that came up in a web search on Ecosia

using the search term “sustainable outdoor company”. The full list compiled 67 outdoor in-

dustry companies. The third criterion was checked by exemplary desktop research including

website and social media accounts: 53 companies showed sufficiency-related product policies,

while only eleven of them also engaged in sufficiency-oriented promotion activities. After rat-

ing the eleven case studies in terms of the extent of their engagement in sufficiency-promot-

ing marketing and accessibility to the company, six of these companies remained as suitable

cases and were therefore selected for the final sample. Further practical limitations included

data availability and the capacity and resources available to the authors. The final sample

comprised the Swedish brand Fjällräven International AB, the German outdoor retailer Globe-

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trotter Ausrüstung GmbH (both part of the Fenix Outdoor E-Com AB based in Sweden), Bur-

ton Snowboard Inc. and Patagonia Inc. from the U.S., Devold of Norway AS and VAUDE

Sport GmbH & Co. KG from Germany (Table 2).

Data collection

We accessed both primary and secondary data sources from the selected companies. In a first

step, their communication on websites, sustainability reports, press news, and Instagram ac-

counts were scanned for sufficiency-promoting marketing messages. This secondary data col-

lection took place between October and December 2020. All material published between Jan-

uary 01, 2018, and December 31, 2020, was scanned and included in the analysis if the rele-

vant picture, video, and/or text indicated sufficiency-promoting marketing activities. We as-

sessed the data suitability based on criteria for sufficiency-promoting marketing as proposed

by Gossen et al. (2019) or sufficiency-oriented consumption practices as defined by Sandberg

(2021).

Following the preliminary findings of the secondary data research, we collected primary data

by conducting in-depth expert interviews with representatives from the marketing and sustain-

ability departments of five of the companies between January and April 2021. The Burton

Corporation did not consent to participating in the interview study. Expert interviews have an

informative and explorative character and record descriptive respondent knowledge (Lamnek

and Krell, 2016). The interviews served two purposes: to glean information about the design

and execution of the companies’ sufficiency-promoting marketing activities and to provide

data on the interviewees’ reflections for areas where the companies lacked official stances on

the matters discussed. We chose a semi-structured interview typology to allow for flexible in-

teraction between the interviewer and the respondent but also to work with a consistent set of

categories to define the boundaries of what to explore (Saunders et al., 2019). The interviews

were based on an interview guideline with a set of open and probing questions that encour-

aged extensive answers (Appendix A). We tested the guideline in a preliminary study for

weaknesses in content and question comprehensibility. The interview language was German

or English and interviews lasted on average for 45 minutes. We sent the interview guide to the

interviewees in advance. The interviews were audiotaped with the interviewees’ permission

and transcribed verbatim. We translated the quotes from German interviews to English to pre-

sent them in our findings chapter.

Data analysis

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The two data sources were complementary and allowed methodological triangulation (Miles

and Huberman, 1994). We coded the collected data using the qualitative data analysis soft-

ware MAXQDA. Both authors categorized the data according to a category scheme, which

was developed inductively-deductively. We reviewed each other’s data interpretations to en-

sure validity and reproducibility. Finally, we systemized and organized the category system

(Appendix B) (Kuckartz, 2016). For the data analysis, we followed a semi-quantitative ap-

proach (Mayring, 2015). First, we counted the code frequencies for all companies’ Instagram

channels, as this channel was the only one that allowed for a semi-quantitative analysis across

all companies (cf. section 4.1). We further investigated the codes in a comprehensive qualita-

tive content analysis. This procedure allowed a generalized overview over the sample, while

permitting various approaches to be distinguished and similarities and differences between the

cases to be discussed.

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Table 2: Overview over Company Cases

Company

description

Headquar-

ters

No. of

employees

Turnover2

Position of the re-

spondent(s)

Selected Key Sustainability Initiatives

Burton

Snowboard

Inc.

Snowboarding

equipment &

apparel brand

Vermont,

USA

ca. 1.000

ca. 345

mEUR

n. a.

Certified B-Corp

2020 Sustainability Goals

Burton Code of Conduct

Member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA)

Cooperation with various NGOs (e.g., POW)

Founding Member of Climate Action Corps

Devold of

Norway AS

Outdoor ap-

parel company

Langevåg,

Norway

ca. 30

ca. 28

mEUR

Marketing Director

“Sheep to Shop” Program (Transparency & Traceabil-

ity)

Commitment to natural fibers

Oeko-Tex certified factory in Lithuania

Fjällräven

Internatio-

nal AB1

Outdoor ap-

parel and gear

brand

Själevad,

Sweden

ca. 70

ca. 109

mEUR

Head of Marketing

Communications /

PR Manager

Fjällräven Code of Conduct

Part of the Global Compact Network (GCN)

Member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) &

FLA

Sustainable design philosophy

Climate compensation initiative

Globetrotter

Ausrüstung

GmbH1

Retailer for

outdoor ap-

parel and gear

Hamburg,

Germany

ca. 1.100

ca. 148

mEUR

Head of Marketing

Globetrotter Way

“Greener Choice” Label

Part of the GCN

Member of the SAC & the FLA

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Part of the Textile Exchange Organisation

Patagonia

Inc.

Outdoor ap-

parel and gear

company

Ventura,

USA

ca. 1.500

ca. 848

mEUR

Enviro & Marke-

ting Manager Ger-

many

Certified B-Corp

1% for the Planet

Zero Growth Strategy for new products

Worn Wear Program

Patagonia Action Works

Member of the FLA & SAC

VAUDE

Sport

GmbH &

Co. KG

Outdoor ap-

parel and gear

company

Tettnang,

Germany

ca. 500

ca. 110

mEUR

Head of VAUDE

Academy

VAUDE Eco-System

VAUDE Green Shape Standards

Member of the Fair Wear Foundation (Leader)

Member of the German Bündnis für nachhaltige Texti-

lien

Certified environmental management systems (EMAS,

ISO 14001)

GRI Sustainability Report

Member of the Welfare Economy (GWÖ)

1 Globetrotter and Fjällräven belong to the Swedish corporation Fenix Outdoor E-Com AB registered in Zug, Switzerland

2 estimated as of 2020

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Findings

In the following section, we present the findings of our exploratory study by including both

the semi-quantitative and the qualitative analyses. The semi-quantitative data (Section 4.1) il-

lustrates selected findings, while our focus lies on the qualitative cross-case analysis of our

case companies (Section 4.2 on the marketing mix and Section 4.3 on consumption practices).

4.1 Analysis of Sufficiency-oriented Marketing Strategies

Table 3 indicates essential elements in our in-depth qualitative analysis: the share of suffi-

ciency-related promotion content on the companies’ or brands’ social media channels. As In-

stagram was the only platform all six case studies used comparably and consistently, we com-

pared the share of sufficiency-related posts based on their Instagram posts in the chosen pe-

riod (January 01, 2018, to December 31, 2020). The table shows that Patagonia has the high-

est share of sufficiency-related messages (10.9%), followed by Devold (9.0%). The other four

companies all lie relatively close together with a share of about 2% of their Instagram posts

being dedicated to explicit sufficiency-promoting communication. Although our research has

a qualitative focus, this introductory analysis provides a first insight into the prevalence of

sufficiency-related content on the companies’ Instagram accounts, which will be analyzed in

more detail in the following sections.

Table 3: Share of Sufficiency-related Content in Instagram Posts per Case

Company (Instagram-Ac-

count)

Total no. of

posts*

No. of suffi-

ciency-related

posts*

Sufficiency-re-

lated posts in %

Burton (@burton)

1253

1.8%

Devold (@devoldofnorway)

434

9.0%

Fjällräven (@fjaellraevenoffi-

cial)

406

2.7%

Globetrotter (@globetrotterde)

2110

2.0%

Patagonia (@patagonia)

977

106

10.9%

VAUDE (@vaudesport)

848

2.2%

*based on the companies’ official Instagram accounts from 01.01.18-31.12.20

The quantitative analysis above indicates that the companies attach different importance to

promoting sufficiency-oriented consumption practices using social media communication. In

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our further analysis, we focus more on qualitative aspects and distinctions of the companies’

sufficiency-oriented marketing strategies (Table 4) and their marketing mixes (Table 5). The

cases present comprehensive strategic and operative approaches to support sufficiency-ori-

ented practices. The companies integrate a broad array of activities within their respective

marketing strategies. Table 4 provides an overview of their visions, sufficiency-oriented mar-

keting objectives and channels, and their analysis and measurement of sufficiency-promoting

activities.

The companies’ visions were similar: to enable outdoor experiences while protecting the natu-

ral environment:

“As a Swedish company from Scandinavia, nature, and living with nature are deeply rooted

in our DNA and have been part of and the reason why we exist from the very beginning. […]

It is still our mission today to bring people into nature and inspire them to go into nature.”

(Fjällräven interviewee)

Their core sustainability engagement ranges from offering more eco-friendly products (e.g.,

Burton) and preserving the environment (e.g., Fjällräven, Globetrotter) to using the whole

business to protect nature (Patagonia) or moderating and influencing consumer choices (e.g.,

Devold, VAUDE):

“For us, as a brand, we do a lot for sustainability, but from a consumer point of view, it is

about choices. We have to somehow reach out to the consumers and make them do the right

choices.” (Devold interviewee)

The companies’ sufficiency-related marketing objectives vary. Burton and Devold focus their

promotion of sufficiency-oriented consumption on product longevity and quality. The other

companies also support this goal, but each add another aspect. Fjällräven wants to promote

the emotional longevity of its products. Globetrotter and Patagonia also focus on offers such

as rentals and second-hand products, which can make buying new products redundant, and

VAUDE generally focuses on extending the product's use phase. This diversity enables the

companies to differentiate themselves from one another despite the many similarities and to

emphasize their respective unique selling points. It also involves rethinking and changing not

only their marketing approaches but also their core business model from selling new products

to more sufficiency-oriented alternatives:

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“Of course, this is a paradigm shift. In marketing, it’s a little easier for me than for some

salespeople or producers who first must accept that their business model will look a little dif-

ferent in 10 years and completely different in 20 years. We are seeing a clear trend toward

purchasing being only one option.” (Globetrotter interviewee)

Our interview partners were also aware of the conflict between strong sustainability and eco-

nomic growth:

“This also applies to us, to fathom out again and again how we manage on the one hand to

live from the sale of products as a company, to function as a business enterprise, but on the

other hand not to promote senseless excessive consumption, which gradually destroys our

livelihood on the planet.” (VAUDE interviewee)

Social media is one of the most important sufficiency-related marketing channels for all case

companies. Although they also use their websites to display information on their products and

sustainability initiatives, social media channels such as Instagram profiles allow them to di-

rectly interact with consumers and receive feedback on their activities:

“The channel [Instagram] is especially important to us because we believe it is very im-

portant to communicate with the users and to be in exchange, in other words, to build up the

community. […] it is also a good tool for exchanging ideas because it is not just a one-way

tool, but we also get feedback from the users, and we appreciate that we also get feedback.”

(Fjällräven interviewee)

All case companies use their websites, social media channels, or YouTube to publish DIY

care and repair guides for their outdoor apparel and gear.

In terms of impact measurement, the interviews showed that a measurement of the actual im-

pact of their sufficiency-related marketing activities is difficult at best and generally non-ex-

istent so far. To obtain an impression of the success of their marketing campaigns, some of

the companies collect several marketing performance indicators, e.g., key figures on social

media posts (fans/followers, reach, engagement rate), the number of press inquiries, the quan-

tity of second-hand products sold, download rates for repair and care instructions, the demand

for spare parts, and the number of sufficiency-related search engine queries. Devold and Pata-

gonia value qualitative customer feedback, while the latter also tracks sales volumes after

marketing campaigns. Following its temporary “Buy Less, Demand More” campaign, Patago-

nia noticed a definite decline in online sales. They concluded that the campaign was therefore

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successful in reducing consumption. Overall, however, actual impact measurement is a huge

challenge for the companies:

“So on the subject of repair instructions or care instructions, we see the click numbers on

iFixit, but we don’t know who then really repaired.” (VAUDE interviewee)

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Table 4. Sufficiency-promoting Marketing Strategies of Outdoor Companies

Burton

Devold

Fjällräven

Globetrotter

Patagonia

VAUDE

Vision

Minimizing footprint

so people can enjoy

the mountains for gen-

erations to come

Making choices that

create a better future

for people and the

planet

Living respectfully

with nature and con-

suming long-lasting

products

Preserving things, one

cares about like the

outdoors

Using business to pro-

tect nature

Supporting moderate

consumption that con-

tributes to an increased

quality of life

Sufficiency-

oriented Mar-

keting Objec-

tive

Producing high-quality

and durable products

to keep them in use for

as long as possible

Producing durable and

biodegradable prod-

ucts made from 100%

natural materials

Enabling material and

emotional longevity,

contributing to a

greater appreciation of

clothes

Replacing new pur-

chases by repairing,

reusing, renting, and

secondhand

Producing high-qual-

ity, circular products

and replacing new pur-

chases by repairing,

renting, and

secondhand

Producing high-qual-

ity, timeless, and dura-

ble products and ex-

tending the use phase

of products

Sufficiency-re-

lated Marke-

ting Channels

A website with infor-

mation on sustainabil-

ity measures

Social media for prod-

uct & promotion cam-

paigns

DIY instructions for

repair & care guides

A website with infor-

mation on sustainabil-

ity measures

Social media for prod-

uct & promotion cam-

paigns

Blog articles based on

customer stories

Social media for prod-

uct & promotion cam-

paigns

DIY videos for repair

& care guides

A website with infor-

mation on Greener

Choice products

Social media for prod-

uct & promotion cam-

paigns

DIY videos for repair

& care guides

Workshop, events, and

personal customer ser-

vice in stores

A website with infor-

mation on sustainabil-

ity measures

Social media for prod-

uct, promotion, & ac-

tivism campaigns

DIY instructions for

repair & care guides

Repair workshops,

mobile repair service

A website with sus-

tainability report

Social media for prod-

uct & promotion cam-

paigns

DIY instructions for

repair & care guides

Personal customer ser-

vice in stores

Analysis and

Measurement

of Sufficiency-

promoting Ac-

tivities

No information on im-

pact measurement

Tracking of quantifia-

ble company-internal

sustainability goals

Qualitative customer

feedback

Brand tracking & re-

KPIs of social media

and blog articles

General marketing &

sales KPIs

Number of second-

hand products sold,

number of repair or-

ders

Measuring online sales

volume following mar-

keting campaigns

Qualitative customer

feedback

KPIs of social media

Number of press in-

quiries, downloads of

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Share of Greener

Choice products

Brand awareness

repair & care instruc-

tions and spare parts

ordered

Search engine queries

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Table 5. Sufficiency-promoting Marketing Mix of Outdoor Companies

Burton

Devold

Fjällräven

Globetrotter

Patagonia

VAUDE

Product

Circular, durable,

high-quality, locally

produced, timeless

Circular, durable, high-

quality, locally pro-

duced, multifunctional,

repairable, timeless

Circular, durable, high-

quality, multifunc-

tional, repairable, time-

less

Circular, durable, high-

quality, repairable

Circular, durable, high-

quality, locally pro-

duced, multifunctional,

repairable, timeless

Circular, durable, high-

quality, locally pro-

duced, multifunctional,

repairable, timeless

Additional Ser-

vices

Care & repair tutori-

als

Repair service for

warranty claims

Internal up- and recy-

cling

Lifetime warranty

(soft goods)

Care tutorials

Repair tutorials

(planned)

Care & repair tutorials

Care stations in stores

Rental service (tempo-

rary)

Care & repair tutorials

Repair station in stores

Second-hand offer

Rental service

Take-back system

Care & repair tutorials

Repair service

Partnership with iFixit

Repair workshops

Second-hand offer

Rental service

(planned)

Take-back system

Lifetime warranty

(all products)

Care & repair tutorials

Repair service

Partnership with iFixit

Cooperation with re-

pair cafés

Second-hand offer

Rental service

Take-back system

Promotion

Tips for the suffi-

ciency-oriented han-

dling of products

Information and edu-

cation campaigns

Information on suffi-

ciency-related prod-

uct features

Critical reflection of

consumption

Tips for the suffi-

ciency-oriented han-

dling of products

Emotional longevity

Information on suffi-

ciency-related product

features

Critical reflection of

consumption

Tips for the suffi-

ciency-oriented han-

dling of products

Information and educa-

tion campaigns

Emotional longevity

Tips for the suffi-

ciency-oriented han-

dling of products

Information and educa-

tion campaigns

Information on suffi-

ciency-related product

features

Critical reflection of

consumption

Tips for the suffi-

ciency-oriented han-

dling of products

Information and educa-

tion campaigns

Information on suffi-

ciency-related product

features

Tips for the suffi-

ciency-oriented han-

dling of products

Information and educa-

tion campaigns

Information on suffi-

ciency-related product

features

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Information on suffi-

ciency-related product

features

Place

Staff training

Dedicated second-hand

section in stores

Mobile and stationary

repairing service

Staff training

Mobile repairing ser-

vice

Dedicated secondhand

stores

Staff training

Second-hand and up-

cycling offer on eBay

Price

Premium pricing

Anti-Black Friday

campaign

Premium pricing

No aggressive dis-

counts

Anti-Black Friday

campaign

Premium pricing

No aggressive dis-

counts

Premium pricing

No aggressive dis-

counts

Anti-Black Friday

campaign

Premium pricing

No aggressive dis-

counts

Anti-Black Friday

campaign

Premium pricing

No aggressive dis-

counts

Anti-Black Friday

campaign

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Analysis of Sufficiency-related Instruments of the Marketing Mix

Information on the sufficiency-related instruments of the marketing mix can be found in Ta-

ble 5. A comparison of the four elements of the marketing mix based on the sufficiency-pro-

moting Instagram posts between 2018 and 2020 clearly shows that most activities can be as-

signed to the product and promotion policies (Figure 2). Although there are some similarities

between the companies (e.g., regarding their product policy and a premium price positioning),

we find differences in the extent to which they offer additional services (as an alternative to

new purchases) and in their promotion policies.

Figure 2: Share of Marketing Instruments used by Outdoor Companies

Product Policy

The analysis of the product policy including additional services shows that all companies rely

on circular products – here understood as recyclable or biodegradable products or products

made from recycled or ‘upcycled’ materials. All the companies pay attention to the high-qual-

ity and durability of their products, which allows the use phase to be extended for as long as

possible. Outdoor products must be reliable for their users and withstand extreme cold, hu-

midity, or UV radiation without fault. Almost all the companies also commit to producing re-

pairable products. Four companies (Devold, Fjällräven, Patagonia, VAUDE) have a design

philosophy that follows the principles of slow fashion by using timeless and simple designs

that will not go out of fashion quickly:

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“Of course, it starts with how we develop and design products. In fact, for every VAUDE

product that is out there, there is also a reason why the product exists. This continues when it

comes to how I design the product so that it can be used as long as possible, for example in

terms of appearance, no fashionable colors, and that there is a uniform design language

across several collections.” (VAUDE interviewee)

They also produce multifunctional clothing that can be used for different activities and in var-

ious environments (outdoors/urban). Four brands (Burton, Devold, Patagonia, VAUDE) pro-

duce at least some of their products in a local factory. Devold mainly uses wool for its prod-

ucts because of its superior characteristics such as its natural anti-bacterial properties, which

reduces the need for washing and cleaning, thus reducing the overall resource consumption

after purchase. The other companies tend to rely on recycled plastic-based materials.

All case companies offer additional services, such as repairing services for their customers,

care and repair tutorials, second-hand offers, rental services, or take-back systems. These ac-

tivities aim at supporting manual skills, enabling repair practices for broken things, and main-

taining already owned products in such a way that they are kept up to date. The Globetrotter

interviewee explains the great importance of repair services for the outdoor industry:

“Repair has always been a huge issue in the outdoor industry simply because things are good

enough to fix and longevity has always been an issue for someone who travels the world.”

(Globetrotter interviewee)

Repair stations and workshops are further offerings to keep products in use. Furthermore,

Globetrotter and Patagonia have built up a service to recondition and sell second-hand prod-

ucts. They offer their second-hand collection online, in separate sections of their shops, or in

Patagonia’s dedicated second-hand (pop-up) stores, while counterbalancing the availability of

cheap second-hand clothing with new rules:

“And what is also exciting about these second-hand pop-up stores with a view to sufficiency

is that we had concerns that customers would come and buy a lot because the products are of

course much cheaper than new products. That's why we limited that, and each customer was

only allowed to buy one product. And there was no discussion at all, it was very well re-

ceived.” (Patagonia interviewee)

Also, some companies, such as Globetrotter and VAUDE, experiment with rental services for

outdoor gear. So far, however, these services have played a minor role and are not yet widely

used by customers.

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Promotion Policy

In terms of the promotion policy, we find three main approaches: (i) critically reflecting con-

sumption and encouraging an absolute reduction of consumption, such as “buy less”; (ii) tips

for the sufficiency-oriented handling of products, such as repair and care guides; and (iii) in-

formation and education campaigns, such as information on the environmental impact of con-

sumption. Providing tips for the sufficiency-oriented handling of products, i.e., caring for and

repairing products to keep them in use longer, is the most widespread sufficiency-related mes-

sage. The companies offer free online video tutorials on the care and repair of outdoor prod-

ucts (all companies) and encourage consumers to make use of their (free) repair services

(see above, Globetrotter, Patagonia, VAUDE). Sharing customer stories is a popular instru-

ment for communicating successful repairs or how customers passed on their apparel or gear

to friends or family (e.g., Patagonia). Fjällräven and Devold aim at promoting a positive emo-

tional relationship with their products as long used and loved items that are worth caring for

and keeping in use:

“That is very closely related to emotional longevity. With the current development, the emo-

tional longevity of the product tends to decrease. We want to point this out openly. Longevity

is one of the most underrated aspects of sustainability, but one of the most important, we

would say.” (Fjällräven interviewee)

Furthermore, Devold focuses on educating consumers about the properties of wool and in-

structing them on its special care (e.g., less washing). Especially Patagonia and VAUDE also

engage in information and education campaigns to raise awareness of the need to change con-

sumption patterns and current environmental hazards and initiatives. VAUDE has set itself an

educational mission and explains the concepts of degrowth and sufficiency in its sustainability

report. All companies question consumption in general, encouraging consumers to reduce

their overall consumption and live more sustainably by e.g., reducing plastic waste, and re-

fraining from shopping too much for Christmas or Black Friday:

“We made a conscious decision not to take part in Black Friday. […] I think that this has a

communicative effect, there are now more and more companies who decide against it or use

Black Friday differently and donate the sales.” (VAUDE interviewee)

Burton, Patagonia, and VAUDE go even further by motivating their customers for civic en-

gagement and promoting the Global Climate Strikes or the Fridays for Future movement.

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More generally, all the companies use their communication activities to advertise their suffi-

ciency-promoting products by giving information about the characteristics and materials of

their products, which prolong the use phase of their products (cf. paragraph on product pol-

icy).

Place Policy

The place and price policies do not seem to play important roles in the sufficiency-promoting

marketing strategies of our case companies. In terms of place, the main instrument was spe-

cialized staff training for shop floor personnel who have direct customer contact and can thus

influence their choices (e.g., to buy the right product for their needs or to encourage them to

buy products made from durable materials) or give advice on the correct treatment of a prod-

uct after purchase:

“Training is also a thing, so that the specialist staff knows and can explain in conversation

with the customer how the product needs to be cared for so that it lasts for a long time.”

(Fjällräven interviewee)

Furthermore, physical stores have great importance, especially for Globetrotter as a retailer to

inform people about their sufficiency-related offers in ‘walk-bys’ and to give customers a

good impression of Globetrotter’s products and services:

“Currently, our biggest drivers are the stores and the workshops, because the ‘aha-experi-

ence’ is: the customers are in the store, they look in the workshop and they're like ‘what are

you guys doing here?’ And we say, ‘well pretty much fix everything’ and there are quite a lot

of customers who say ‘crazy, I have quite a lot at home, can you fix that?’” (Globetrotter in-

terviewee)

Patagonia also makes use of their shops to advertise their WornWear line, with dedicated sec-

ond-hand pop-up stores worldwide, that attracts many consumers.

Price Policy

In terms of price, all the companies are positioned in the premium price segment, based on the

high-quality and durability of their products, and almost all explicitly refrain from aggressive

discount offers, some even engaging in anti-consumption campaigns such as closing business

(and online shops) on Black Fridays or days of Global Climate Strikes. Finally, new offers

such as secondhand or rental services also require new price structures to make those offers

attractive to the customer, but without encouraging overconsumption.

Analysis of Promoted Sufficiency-oriented Consumption Practices

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According to the identified Instagram posts between 2018 and 2020, our case companies pro-

mote different sufficiency-oriented consumption practices for outdoor apparel and gear (Fig-

ure 3). We found evidence of all four categories of Sandberg’s (2021) sufficiency-oriented

practices.

Figure 3: Sufficiency-oriented Consumption Practices promoted by Outdoor Companies

Reduction of Consumption

All companies, specifically Devold and Patagonia, explicitly encourage consumers to reduce

their overall consumption, mainly within their promotion-related activities:

“You want to change the consumption behavior of the community; that is also a super im-

portant behavior. So clearly, buy less, repair more, buy secondhand, recycle, reuse or other-

wise use other products and overall reduce consumption behavior.” (Patagonia interviewee).

Such ‘buy less’ campaigns are especially popular in consumption-intensive periods such as

Black Friday or Christmas time. Often, these calls for less consumption are combined with in-

formation on the environmental impact of clothing consumption and inspiration for less re-

source-intensive alternatives and are connected to meanings such as the joy of experiencing

the outdoors rather than going shopping. Patagonia’s rule of only buying one piece of clothing

from their second-hand pop-up stores also restricts the consumption of cheaper outdoor cloth-

ing.

Modal Shift towards Less Resource-Intensive Options

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All the companies offer circular and sustainable products, i.e., made from recycled products,

recyclable, or biodegradable, or made from natural fibers such as wool or organic cotton.

Within their product policy, they aim at shifts from an unsustainable production model to one

that is less resource-intensive. This shift relies on introducing alternative materials such as re-

cycled fibers in the design process. Our case companies also appeal to the aspect of compe-

tences and encourage consumers to choose their more sustainable options if they need to buy

something new:

“I think the ultimate goal would be if consumers were to check the labels and then buy less.

So, two things, check the labels, [and] make sure that they don’t buy products that are under

70% natural fiber.” (Devold interviewee)

They also promote their efforts in finding less resource-intensive alternatives to produce out-

door apparel and gear, mostly connected with meanings related to protecting the natural envi-

ronment.

Extending Lifespans of Products

This practice is the most promoted one and mainly relates to the product policy: to buy high-

quality, durable, and repairable products (change of materials) that will not go out of fashion

quickly and to keep the products one already owns in use for as long as possible. All the com-

panies engage intensively via their product and promotion policy in encouraging consumers to

extend the lifespan of the things they own, indicating that this is the most sustainable thing

one can do:

"Because the most sustainable purchase is not a purchase, but a reuse." (Globetrotter inter-

viewee)

They support this by offering free care and repair guides or repairing services, which requires

teaching consumers new competences and skills such as fixing a zipper or offering additional

materials such as spare parts. Some companies even offer lifetime warranties on some of their

products (change of rules). Also, the case companies aim at changing the emotional relation-

ship with the things one owns towards seeing used apparel as loved items that have many sto-

ries to tell and are worth keeping in use (change of meanings):

“Our products are functionally durable, timeless; the emotional longevity also plays a big

role for us. […] we believe that if you have a high attachment to the product, you are willing

to wear the product longer and pass it on.” (Fjällräven interviewee)

Sharing Among Consumers

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This practice is not yet widely supported by the outdoor companies of our study. Mainly

Globetrotter and Patagonia, who actively promote their second-hand offer within their product

policy, encourage consumers to buy used items instead of new ones, but this business section

is still rather small:

“We’ve started early […] on secondhand, repair, and rental and we see now how this curve

very slowly begins to become interesting. It’s no secret that until we start to make money with

it, a lot of time will pass.” (Globetrotter interviewee)

The companies that do not yet have a second-hand offer, share customer stories about passing

items from generation to generation or sharing apparel between friends and family. VAUDE

and Globetrotter also experiment with rental options. All these offers require a whole set of

new elements to be introduced to consumption practices, such as used apparel (materials), the

know-how of how to rent gear (competences), and finally a new understanding that moves

away from the need to own things towards using rented products (meanings). New ‘rules’ for

renting products or how many second-hand pieces one is allowed to buy have to be created

and communicated to the customer.

As SPT also offers a detailed analysis of the elements of consumption practices, Table 6 sum-

marizes the key elements found for each of Sandberg’s (2021) practices.

Table 6: Key Elements of Sufficiency-Oriented Consumption Practices

Materials

Competences

Meanings

Rules

Reduction

of Con-

sumption

None

Less resource-in-

tensive alterna-

tives

Awareness and

knowledge of

environmental &

social impacts

Joy of experienc-

ing the outdoors

instead of shop-

ping

Stores temporar-

ily closed

“One Piece

Only” rule for

second-hand

items

Modal Shift

Circular & more

sustainable mate-

rials

Checking cloth-

ing labels for

knowledge about

fibers used

Reducing nega-

tive impact on

environment

Criteria for

“Greener

Choice” labeled

products

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Extending

Lifespans

High-quality, du-

rable, repairable

products with

timeless designs

Spare parts for

repairs

Repair & care

skills (via tutori-

als or work-

shops)

Emotional at-

tachment to

product (“loved

items”)

“Future vintage

pieces”

Lifetime warran-

ties

Free repairing

services

Sharing

Second-hand

products

Rental products

Reflection on de-

mand for novelty

Know-how of

renting gear

Passing down

“loved items” to

next generation

Valuing products

with stories &

histories

Pricing and buy-

ing restrictions

for second-hand

items

Process and rules

for renting gear

Discussion

Theoretical Contributions

Making Marketing Meaningful for Sufficiency

Although sufficiency has emerged as a vital sustainability strategy, approaches to foster the

concept are not yet widely studied in marketing research. While there has been extensive liter-

ature on concepts such as green marketing and social marketing, sufficiency-promoting mar-

keting still lacks a sound theoretical foundation (Gossen et al., 2019).

In this study, we have used the traditional 4Ps (promotion, product, place, price) of the mar-

keting mix as a conceptual heuristic to analyze of sufficiency-promoting marketing in the out-

door industry, as suggested by Gossen et al. (2019). There are several criticisms of the 4Ps

and suggestions for alternatives or extensions of the concept to promote more sustainable be-

havior, such as, e.g., Belz and Peattie’s (2012) 4Cs (customer solutions, customer cost, con-

venience, and communication), Pomering’s (2017) six additional Ps (participants, physical ev-

idence, processes, principles, promise, and partnerships), three additional Ps (providing infor-

mation, processes, and policies) as suggested by Matin and Alauddin (2016), or two addi-

tional Ps (policy and partners) discussed by Gossen et al. (2019). However, these have been

argued mostly on a theoretical basis and lack empirical evidence and application.

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Employing the traditional 4Ps in our empirical study has proven useful in analyzing suffi-

ciency-promoting marketing measures of businesses. We examined all marketing mix compo-

nents simultaneously, thereby addressing a shortcoming in marketing research (Leonidou et

al., 2013). The 4Ps offer wide definitions and space for interpretation and allow us to contrast

our findings with previous empirical research, e.g., on green marketing. Here we find similari-

ties, such as the importance of activities related to product and promotion (Lampe and Gazda,

1995), highlighting the environmental benefits of products, promoting ecological lifestyles,

and improving a brand’s green image (D’Souza et al., 2007), and premium price strategies for

environmentally-friendly products (Esmaili and Fazeli, 2015). Although, the willingness to

pay significant premiums for high-quality outdoor clothes is given (Casadesus-Masanell et al.,

2009), not everybody can afford high-priced and high-quality products. High prices can act as

a barrier to sufficiency-oriented product choice. Companies should therefore enable customers

to participate in affluent consumer societies without having to purchase new and expensive

goods, e.g., by offering rental or repairing services, subscription models, or approaches for

self-subsistence. Of course, promoting sufficiency-oriented consumption in bottom of pyra-

mid (BOP) markets requires different approaches (Belz and Bilharz, 2005; Mathur et al.,

2020), as poorer population segments are concerned with securing existential consumption

needs (Jaiswal, 2007; Prahalad and Hart, 1999). Furthermore, our findings support the pro-

posed changes of place policies from solely sales channels for products towards digital and

physical touchpoints for interaction that are convenient for consumers to access (Belz and

Peattie, 2012).

Sufficiency-promoting marketing also supports the shift from an internal orientation of the

traditional marketing mix towards a more interactive and consumer-oriented one (Kumar and

Ghodeswar, 2015). From on these insights, we suggest that the discussed limitations of the

marketing mix might not lie within the tool itself but rather in a narrow interpretation of its

elements. However, promoting sufficiency-oriented consumption practices affects the whole

business strategy (Dangelico and Vocalelli, 2017) and goes beyond the scope of product inno-

vation or new communication strategies. It also builds on a sufficiency-related company vi-

sion and a diversification of the business model, e.g., replacing new purchases through ser-

vices. This finding is in line with Zott and Amit (2008) suggesting that product-related mar-

keting strategies and business models are complementary concepts rather than substitutes, as

well as with Molina-Castillo et al. (2020), who found that marketing innovations may be

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driven by diverse business model objectives such as entering new markets. Furthermore, our

findings support the dual focus of promotion as suggested by Belz and Peattie (2012): not

only to communicate the sustainability solutions the company provides through its products

and services to the consumer but also to involve consumers and stakeholders in a conversation

about the company as a whole, e.g., by encouraging two-sided communication on social me-

dia platforms. Our findings broaden the scope and call for an interdisciplinary approach to-

wards sufficiency, integrating not only marketing and business studies but also sustainability

and consumer research.

There are still boundaries to what marketing can do for sufficiency due to its sales-oriented

nature. Advocates of the degrowth movement call for stricter regulation on or even a complete

ban of advertising (Alexander, 2012; Kallis et al., 2018; Nesterova, 2020). Instead, for a better

understanding of customers’ real needs, companies should strive to reach out to communities

and intensify interaction with stakeholders (Nesterova, 2020). This outreach aligns with ap-

plying a stricter understanding of sufficiency in the sense of strong sustainable consumption

(Lorek and Fuchs, 2013), necessitating a modified marketing mix. The importance of promot-

ing products would decline, whereby promotion policies should be redirected – from tradi-

tional advertisement towards a critical reflection of consumption practices and community

building. This approach would address criticisms about placing the responsibility for sustaina-

ble behavioral change on individuals (Beatson et al., 2020): promoting sufficiency as an abso-

lute reduction of consumption cannot rely on individuals’ capacity to change their behavior.

Rather, the social structures and embodied values that configure everyday behavioral patterns

must be taken into account (Butler et al., 2016). Combining marketing research with SPT of-

fers a possible solution by dissolving the agency-structure debate (Spotswood et al., 2017).

Changing Unsustainable Consumption Practices

Similar to Spotswood et al. (2017) and Parekh and Klintman (2021), we applied SPT to un-

derstand which changes of practices our case companies are aiming for. We found evidence of

marketing activities promoting all forms of sufficiency-oriented consumption practices as de-

fined by Sandberg (2021). However, our analysis showed that most attempts so far are not

consistent with a practice-oriented perspective, due to a rather sporadic targeting and a behav-

ioristic focus with an emphasis on individual choices, which is in line with Parekh and Klint-

man’s (2021) practice-oriented investigation of civil society interventions to foster sustainable

food consumption. We conclude that substantive and lasting attempts to change consumption

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practices are an important prerequisite and would need to consider the complexities of every-

day life as well as partnerships with customers (Parekh and Klintman, 2021).

These partnerships can be achieved by understanding businesses and their customers as com-

munities of practices, in which new competences are developed and shared amongst members

(Kropfeld and Reichel, 2021). Although Shove et al. (2012) claim it is not feasible to engineer

communities of practice, identifying them, is an essential step in encouraging the spread of

sufficiency-oriented consumption practices (Sahakian and Wilhite, 2014). Our case compa-

nies showed the first steps towards engaging their communities in practices (e.g., repairing)

by offering community events (e.g., repairing workshops). According to Parekh and Klintman

(2021), communities of practice favor the development of specific skills, such as repairing,

which then also could translate into related communities, thereby spreading sufficiency-ori-

ented consumer practices.

Consumer practices can change due to changes of their elements, e.g., of materials used (such

as durable or repairable apparel), of competences (such as repairing skills), by change of prac-

titioners (i.e., people who perform the practice), or of the interrelation or links between differ-

ent practices (Shove et al., 2012; Watson, 2012). In our study, we mostly found evidence of

new elements being introduced to practices (e.g., products) or new members (i.e., consumers)

being recruited into the practice (e.g., using community events). The strongest focus the case

companies’ marketing efforts, however, remains on consumer education and persuasive mes-

sages to change individual behavior (i.e., changing the meanings of practices). Next to ra-

tional arguments, the case companies use emotional messages related to the ownership of

loved apparel and gear or enjoying adventures in an intact environment. This finding complies

with Vita et al.’s (2020: 2) findings that organizations attempt to promote alternative social

practices by aligning “with the values and envisioned lifestyles pursued by their members.”

The orientation of sufficiency-promoting marketing must, however, “shift away from per-

suading, influencing and encouraging attitudinal change in the hope that millions of people

will simultaneously change their behaviours, and towards a focus on how daily practices are

co-ordinated and ordered within collective daily life” (Southerton et al., 2012: 34). SPT

should therefore be a tool not only for analysis but also for planning sufficiency-promoting

marketing activities. A better understanding of the interrelation between practices could make

such activities more successful.

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Although focusing on the three elements of social practices suggested by Pantzar and Shove

(2010), we also found evidence that would fit the fourth element ‘rules’ as proposed by Gram-

Hanssen (2010) (e.g., buying only one piece at the second-hand pop-up store). Some of them

were, however, also directly connected to the product or service itself (e.g., terms and condi-

tions for renting), and could thus be understood as part of the material or competence element,

such as Shove and Pantzar (2005) suggest.

Beyond SPT, there are several different frameworks for analyzing behavior, that could be rel-

evant to our study objective. The 4As of sustainable consumer behavior (awareness, ac-

ceptance, ability, action), for example, describe the four main steps between awareness and

action (Moscardo, 2013). Here, we see parallels to the SPT approach, although the latter ex-

plicitly moves away from individual consumer choices and understands consumption behav-

ior as part of everyday social practices. Also, in this study, we analyze social practices as enti-

ties, while the 4As reflect a process. Nevertheless, aspects such as awareness and ability in-

clude the social practice elements materials and competences, while acceptance reflects the

element meanings, thus acknowledging the attitude-behavior gap. While SPT is usually used

to describe actual practices, applying it to sufficiency-promoting marketing shifts this focus

towards intended practices and behavior, in line with the 4As’ aims. We suggest that, for fu-

ture studies, it would be interesting to combine the 4As SPT to better understand and promote

sufficiency-oriented consumption.

Applying SPT has allowed us to understand better the intended change of consumption behav-

ior promoted by outdoor companies and to overcome the separation of supply and demand.

Currently, most marketing activities are not yet in line with a practice-oriented perspective but

have the potential to be further developed into practice-inspired marketing measures. By con-

sciously creating and steering communities of practice, introducing new materials, skills, and

rules, and by aligning the practices to customers’ values, outdoor companies can be drivers

towards more sufficiency-oriented consumption practices.

Practical Implications

Sufficiency-promoting Product and Promotion Strategies

Sufficiency-related product features such as durability, high-quality, or timeless design, which

we found in our case studies, help ensure that products are used for as long as possible and are

replaced less often, which can reduce the number of new purchases. The ‘greening’ of prod-

ucts and production systems is traditionally a characteristic of green marketing (Peattie,

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2001). However, selling the ‘greener alternative’ can be seen as a rather easy option for busi-

nesses to support sufficiency-oriented consumption (Niessen and Bocken, 2021).

Instead of relying only on sustainable materials and greener products, nearly all companies in

our study are diversifying their offer by integrating service solutions, such as care and repair

tutorials. This diversification is in line with Peattie’s (2001) early suggestions that a more sus-

tainable economy requires a transition from purchasing products to using services and an in-

crease in the offer of aftersales support to increase product durability. Some companies initi-

ate sharing and rental models, which seem to be feasible strategies to operationalize suffi-

ciency as they become more widely adopted and accepted by consumers and businesses due

to the recent success of the sharing economy (Boar et al., 2020; Martin, 2016). In the clothing

industry, product longevity is already a widespread sufficiency-related strategy (Gossen and

Heinrich, 2021) because it works against the fast-fashion system building on inexpensive

products with short lifespans (Niinimäki et al., 2020).

Besides the high relevance of product-related marketing measures, the companies mainly rely

on their communication policy. Since critical voices describe sufficiency as a lifestyle of sac-

rifice and asceticism, the companies strive for presenting it as a positive image of the future

(Schneider et al., 2010) and as a lifestyle rich in unique experiences and deeply rooted in con-

nectedness with nature. Research suggests that those who already practice sufficiency do not

perceive the personal restrictions as a loss, but appreciating them instead as a strengthening

action (Speck, 2016). Companies can enhance this self-reinforcing effect by framing the

transformation’s narrative towards more sufficiency-oriented lifestyles positively. At the same

time, the influence of Instagram (as the main social media channel used by our case compa-

nies) on behavioral changes towards sufficiency-oriented lifestyles can be questioned (Frick et

al., 2021). Instagram is often criticized for its consumption-stimulating role, especially among

the younger generation (Pappas et al., 2017). Furthermore, we observed a focus on short-term

communication efforts among the case companies, e.g., on an event such as the ‘Greener

Week’ by Globetrotter, instead of a continuous, overarching, and brand-related communica-

tion strategy to advertise sufficiency-related outdoor practices.

The success of sufficiency-promoting marketing remains an open issue. Previous studies on

the effects of sufficiency interventions on consumer behavior also remain contradictory. In an

online experiment, Frick et al. (Frick et al., 2021) showed that sufficiency-promoting social

media communication can enhance sufficiency behavior, although they observed rather short-

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term effects, whereas other studies found no effects of interventions on sufficiency orientation

and behavior (Tröger et al., 2021; Young et al., 2017). None of our case companies so far has

systematically measured or evaluated the effects of their sufficiency-related marketing. The

actual impact on consumers’ consumption practices, therefore, remains unclear. This finding

is in line with Niessen and Bocken (2021), who also conclude that businesses already employ-

ing sufficiency strategies had no suitable method to measure their impact on consumption.

Sufficiency-induced rebound effects, as described by Reimers et al. (2021), might offset or

even reverse any reduction of environmental or social impacts. We therefore agree with the

current discourse that sufficiency and sufficiency-promoting marketing strategies need to be

examined more closely for potential negative (environmental) rebound effects, such as spend-

ing saved money on new outdoor clothes or gear. Moreover, to better reach the targeted con-

sumer groups, marketers should apply segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies sup-

ported by market and consumer research. Especially due to the heterogeneity of consumption

practices, target groups, and marketing elements, and marketing measures should be sounded

out as precisely as possible.

The Ambiguity of Sufficiency as Business Strategy

In our study, we found evidence of various sufficiency-related business strategies that are in

line with the business sufficiency strategies defined by Niessen and Bocken (2021), such as

awareness-raising, demand reduction service, design, life extension service, long product war-

ranties, or repair support. As we have shown, most marketing activities focus on promoting an

extended product lifespan. Some of the companies even developed new sufficiency-oriented

offers after our data collection phases, such as Burton 2nd Lap or Devold’s repair guide for

wool garments, confirming the strong emphasis on extending the physical and emotional

lifespans of products. But why is extending lifespans such a popular strategy for the outdoor

industry? We speculate this might be because durable and robust apparel and gear are essen-

tial for outdoor sports, and the customers expect reliability. This longer lifespan makes the re-

search and development process of the big outdoor brands cost-intensive, thus making the

products more expensive than usual outdoor apparel. As a result, consumers will expect the

product to last long and they might probably rather pay for a repair than buy a new item.

Although several scholars propose long-lasting and repairable products as one of several crite-

ria for a degrowth business (Hankammer et al., 2021; Khmara and Kronenberg, 2018), pro-

moting sustainably produced, high-quality and durable products or incentivizing customers to

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use an additional service does not necessarily reduce business turnover (Kelleci and Yıldız,

2021). Increasing the quality of products is often connected with premium pricing and might

therefore still contribute to economic growth (Khmara and Kronenberg, 2018). For our case

companies, generating continued sales and growing moderately was vital to surviving in the

current growth-oriented economy and the consolidating outdoor market and to contributing to

a transition towards a more ecological economy (Khmara and Kronenberg, 2018). Such mar-

ket-driven, strategic considerations can be guiding motives for applying sufficiency-oriented

marketing, as was recently shown for sufficiency-oriented textile companies (Gossen and

Heinrich, 2021). If businesses perceive a contradiction between supporting moderate con-

sumption and at the same time reaching economic growth, they justify increasing sales by ar-

guing that their products will reduce the consumption of less sustainable options of other

companies (ibid.). Some of the companies we investigated in our study, however, have a more

growth-critical mindset. They are accepting and considering absolute limits to growth, which

in the case of VAUDE implies reducing their budget for advertisement in favor of spending

more money on climate compensation (W&V, 2021) or, in Patagonia’s case, a commitment to

Zero Growth in terms of new product sales (Kaufmann, 2021). Both approaches are in line

with Nesterova’s (2020) suggestions for degrowth business models.

Conclusion

This study provides an exploratory, yet detailed, insight into the sufficiency-promoting mar-

keting of outdoor companies to support sufficiency-oriented consumption practices. The anal-

ysis of selected business pioneers offers a first blueprint for promoting consumption changes

among customers. While these are still niche projects, they will be essential for a transfor-

mation towards an economy that respects social and environmental boundaries. By applying

SPT to the relatively novel research field of sufficiency-promoting marketing, we could illus-

trate how marketing activities, the business model, and consumer practices are connected and

open opportunities for change towards more sustainable consumption. Our findings and dis-

cussion offer practical implications as well as theoretical contributions to the fields of sustain-

ability marketing, sustainable business models, and SPT.

Because the study’s novelty and unconventionality, it was imperative to investigate suffi-

ciency-promoting marketing with exploratory and qualitative methods based on selected com-

pany cases. We carefully selected our case companies by applying strict selection criteria.

This selection process rendered a very small sample size, which – due to the focus of this

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study – stems from a single industry. While such qualitative research is subjective in parts,

plausible and defensible interpretations can be achieved through a structured and transparent

approach. Conducting several analyses from different perspectives, partly with two coders

acting independently, and supplementing these analyses with quantitative approaches and il-

lustrative visualization strengthen the rigor and validity of our research. More qualitative and

quantitative studies, also in other industries, are needed to add further insights to the field of

sufficiency as a sustainability and marketing strategy for businesses. As we focused on a

cross-case analysis, we suggest more in-depth discussions of companies’ sustainability strate-

gies and approaches to sufficiency as another avenue for future case-based studies. We con-

ducted our study under the assumption that sufficiency-oriented consumption can reduce neg-

ative ecological and social impacts. However, we acknowledge that this assumption must be

critically evaluated. Further research is needed to understand the actual impact of sufficiency-

promoting marketing on consumer practices to assess its potential for sustainable change and

detect possible rebound effects.

The climate crisis will not be solved by consumers and politicians alone. Businesses have

market power and, therefore, a responsibility, which more and more brands and retailers are

accepting and acting upon. Companies within the outdoor industry have the potential to act as

role models and drivers for change, who can encourage consumers to follow their slogan

‘Choose Nature. Buy Less.’

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Authors contribution

Both authors contributed equally to this work.

Funding

This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within

the project “Digitalisation and Sustainability” [grant number: 01UU1607B].

Acknowledgements

We would like to extend special thanks to Laura Niessen for her valuable comments on a pre-

vious version of this paper. We would also like to thank the editor Professor Konstantinos

Tsagarakis and the anonymous reviewers for their insights and comments, as well as the inter-

viewees for their participation.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relation-

ships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Appendix A: Interview guideline

Nr.

Question

Objective

Significance of sufficiency for the company

What do you understand by sufficiency?

What relevance does sufficiency have for your

company (compared to other corporate goals)?

Which special role does marketing play in this?

Warm-Up

General significance and

classification of sufficiency

for company

Implementation of sufficiency-promoting marketing

What is your focus in sufficiency-promoting mar-

keting?

What are the main market-

ing instruments (4P’s)

In your opinion, which example best illustrates suf-

ficiency promotion and why?

Important/successful exam-

ples

Effect of sufficiency-promoting marketing

Which effect should sufficiency-promoting market-

ing have on your customers?

When would sufficiency-promoting marketing be a

success in your view?

Promoted consumption

practices

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Do you measure and evaluate the actual impact of

sufficiency-promoting marketing? If so, how?

Systematic/long-term im-

pact measurement

Conclusion

What’s the future of sufficiency-promoting market-

ing?

Outlook

Appendix B: Category scheme

Codes

Subcodes

Marketing strategy

Vision

Marketing objective

Marketing channels

Cooperation and community-building

Measurement of impacts

Marketing Mix

Price

Product

Additional services

Promotion

Premium pricing

No aggressive discounts

Anti-Black Friday campaign

Durable

Circular (factory seconds, recyclable, recycled

materials, upcycled)

High quality

Locally produced

Multifunctional

Repairable

Timeless

Lifetime warranty

Second-hand product

Tips for the sufficiency-oriented handling of

products

Information and education campaigns

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Place

Questioning consumption

Emotional longevity

Informing about sufficiency-related product

features

Staff training

Dedicated second-hand section in stores

Rental option

Repair workshop

Local Infrastructures

Sufficiency-oriented practices

Reduction of consumption

Modal shift

Extending lifespans

Sharing

Elements of practices

Rules

Meanings

Competences

Materials

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III. Encouraging Consumption Reduction: Findings of a Qualitative Study

with Clothing Companies on Sufficiency-promoting Communication

Zusammenfassung

Sufficiency aims at reducing resource consumption and thus requires individual behaviour

change. Although it seems counterintuitive at first glance, companies can support sufficiency-

oriented, cleaner consumption as part of their societal responsibility. This article investigates

motives for sufficiency-promoting business communication and explores related challenges re-

sulting from the economic growth paradigm. Furthermore, it asks which digital tools are used

in this communication and for what reasons. The explorative interview study with six German

sufficiency-oriented clothing companies of the apparel sector reveals the significance of corpo-

rate sustainability values and strategic motives such as reputational benefits and customer loy-

alty. Since the companies are only pursuing moderate growth, the concurrence of supporting

sufficiency and operating in a growth-driven economy is perceived as an area of tension but

does not endanger their existence. Benefits of digital marketing arise from the wider audiences,

cost efficiency and effective targeting. Future research opportunities entail qualitative and quan-

titative research to further investigate motives and barriers with different types of companies

and to improve understanding of how companies ensure their continued existence whilst pro-

moting less consumption. With our study, we explore the role communication can play in en-

couraging cleaner and sufficiency-oriented consumption and thus contribute to a young but

flourishing research field.

Schlüsselwörter: Sustainable consumption, Sufficiency, Communication, Online marketing,

Qualitative research

Veröffentlicht in: Cleaner and Responsible Consumption, 3: 100028.

Autor*innen: Maike Gossen, Anneli Heinrich

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Introduction

Overconsumption is a central issue of our time, especially in the more affluent countries of the

Global North (Wiedmann et al., 2020), and a driver of environmental degradation. However,

consumption cannot be transformed towards sustainability through technological innovations,

efficiency gains, and producer-driven actions alone; absolute consumption levels must also be

reduced (Alfredsson et al., 2018; Blatt et al., 2020; Lorek and Fuchs, 2013). Reducing resource

and energy consumption is at the centre of the sufficiency strategy (Princen, 2005), and suffi-

ciency can be understood as a long-term objective for reaching sustainability. In many countries

of the Global North, resource use could be significantly reduced without impairing the satisfac-

tion of existential needs or human well-being (O'Neill et al., 2018). Instead, sufficiency may

even contribute to increased well-being as a simplistic and less materialistic lifestyle can lead

to wealth in social life and time (Kasser et al., 2014). Achieving sustainability requires, on a

macro-level, fundamental changes in how human society and the economy are organized. On a

micro-level, individuals can advance sustainability goals by voluntary sufficiency-oriented con-

sumption choices and a simpler life (Gorge et al., 2015).

Sufficiency acknowledges that individual consumption choices for ‘greener’ products cannot

bring the much-needed broader systemic shift away from materialistic lifestyles and continuous

consumption (Brown and Vergragt, 2016; Capstick et al., 2014). Instead, it calls for ‘living well

on less’ (Figge et al., 2014). In this context, the relevant literature refers to consumption corri-

dors, which define a minimum and a maximum level for individual consumption (Di Giulio and

Fuchs, 2014; Fuchs, 2020), the upper limit being defined by an equal distribution of limited

resources within planetary boundaries and the lower limit by basic human needs. Broken down

to individual behaviour, sufficiency means (1) lowering absolute reductions of consumption,

(2) modal shifts, which entail switching to a less resource-intensive consumption mode, (3)

product longevity, and (4) sharing practices (Sandberg, 2021). Examples are living in smaller

homes, buying fewer goods, consuming less red meat, and driving and flying less (Veleva,

2020). This article focuses on the micro-level and investigates how individual sufficiency-ori-

ented consumption choices can be promoted by businesses.

The study at hand concentrates on the clothing domain since the apparel industry is fourth in

the list of industries putting pressure on primary raw material and water use (European Envi-

ronment Agency, 2019). Besides the ecological damages, it is also problematic that clothing is

predominantly produced under socially critical conditions (Ellen MacArthur Foundation,

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2017). Moreover, the clothing life cycle has shortened considerably as fast fashion brands in-

troduce up to 24 different collections to the shops annually (Remy et al., 2016). The length of

time a garment is worn is further reduced because fast fashion items are usually inexpensive

and have a short lifespan. This short lifespan may stem from low-quality apparel but also arises

from a product's symbolic value being reduced when it becomes outdated by newer trends

(Gwozdz et al., 2017). If sustainability targets are to be reached, producing and trading textiles

and using and handling clothes must be slowed down (Fletcher, 2007). Consequently, degrowth

of the global fashion industry is needed (Niinim€aki et al., 2020). For Europe alone, making

clothes last longer through swapping and repairing could lead to a 2% reduction in their envi-

ronmental impact (Vita et al., 2019). Consumers can contribute to this slow fashion by reducing

the purchase of new textiles and pro- longing product lifetime by engaging in behaviours such

as care, repair, second-hand acquisition, and clothing exchange. However, these practices still

represent a niche phenomenon (Kleinhückelkotten and Neitzke, 2019).

All too often, the responsibility for a more sustainable consumption is left to individuals (Sand-

berg, 2021), although sustainability sciences have shown that structural and significant changes

can only take place if societal and economical systems change (Bengtsson et al., 2018). There-

fore, for sufficiency in clothing to leave the niche, multiple actors need to be activated. In this

sense, the business sector should take over responsibility and actively support sufficiency-ori-

ented clothing consumption (Heikkurinen et al., 2019; Freudenreich and Schaltegger, 2020).

As companies strongly influence the available range of products and services and thus bear co-

responsibility for excessive consumption (Heath and Chatzidakis, 2012), they are to be seen as

also responsible for promoting sufficiency-oriented behaviour. Although reducing consumption

appears as a rather controversial and counter-intuitive endeavour within the profit-driven mar-

ket sector, businesses are increasingly seeking to reduce their environmental impact. Marketing

is both the preferred tool to create and maintain customer relationships and a valuable tool in

changing consumption habits (Peattie and Peattie, 2009).

Apparel companies have played an outstanding role in promoting sufficiency since they have

often emphasized durability, reparability and high quality of their products. In contrast to that

focus on product characteristics and extending the use phase, communication activities aiming

to encourage consumers to buy less are a relatively new phenomenon. Those activities are es-

pecially interesting as they are contradictory to common business practice. Hence, this article

focuses on sufficiency-promoting communication within the marketing mix. Patagonia's ‘Don't

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buy this jacket’ campaign is the most prominent example of how, in its communication, a cloth-

ing company is encouraging repair and purchase of second-hand garments instead of the pur-

chase of new products (Hwang et al., 2016). For, even if Patagonia's advertising was initially

criticised as damaging the company's image, the company ultimately achieved sales growth of

over 30 percent (Meltzer, 2017). That campaign is a visible example of the ambiguity of suffi-

ciency-promoting communication: although it aims to reduce consumption, it can (at least in

the short term) increase sales.

Therefore, the question of why companies realise sufficiency- promoting communication is es-

sential, but under-researched. Based on a comprehensive literature analysis, Gossen et al.

(2019) identified motives for and barriers to sufficiency-promoting marketing. The motives can

be differentiated into altruistic and strategic motives. The normative conviction that companies

want to contribute to sustainable development and change the social role of consumption moti-

vates them to promote sufficiency-oriented consumption (e.g., Ramirez et al., 2017). By reduc-

ing the risk of debts through moderate consumption, sufficiency-promoting marketing also con-

tributes to consumers’ individual well-being (Seegebarth et al., 2016). In addition, it can be

viewed as a component of provision-oriented and future-proof economic activity (precautionary

principle) (e.g., Sheth et al., 2011). From a strategic point of view, companies use sufficiency-

promoting marketing to improve their image, boost relationships with customers, and develop

new business areas or increase sales, and thus profits (e.g., Bocken and Short, 2016; Armstrong

Soule and Reich, 2015). The empirical investigation of reasons for communication to enhance

sufficiency-oriented clothing consumption is still pending, which is why this article poses the

following research question:

RQ1: What are the motives to pursue communication activities that aim to support suf-

ficiency-oriented clothing consumption?

In addition to the reasons in favour of sufficiency-promoting communication, the reasons

against are also of interest for our study. As mentioned above, sufficiency-promoting commu-

nication could be accompanied by endangering a company's existence or simply opting out of

the growth paradigm of the economy. Sufficiency-driven business models are characterized by

going against the business-as-usual trends and realising radically different marketing cam-

paigns (Bocken and Short, 2016). This opposition implies a new understanding of corporate

value creation. The value-added process no longer serves only to maximise profits; it ensures

that a company's activities, partners and customers contribute to sufficiency (Kropfeld and

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Reichel, in press). Sufficiency-driven companies not focusing on pure profit maximization and

corporate growth create non-monetary profits through long-term customer loyalty and by taking

market share away from less sustainability-oriented companies (Bocken et al., 2020). Thus,

successful non-growing companies distinguish between traditional growth in numbers and

growth in qualities – not ‘more’ but ‘better’ appears to be their dominant management philos-

ophy (Gebauer et al., 2015). However, these business models are still at odds with the current

economic system in many countries, which is focused on growing consumption and sales

(Khmara and Kronenberg, 2018; Leonhardt et al., 2017). Research on the barriers that compa-

nies experience by following a sufficiency-promoting communication strategy is limited, which

leads to the following research question:

RQ2: What challenges arise from the dichotomy of promoting sufficiency-oriented

clothing consumption and the economic growth paradigm?

Apart from the question of why companies engage in sufficiency- promoting communication,

we were also interested in how they realise it. Since the communication between clothing com-

panies and their customers is increasingly taking place online, we focus on digital tools for

sufficiency-promoting communication. Digital tools have been the primary channel for cus-

tomer communication for some time, and the Covid- 19 pandemic has solidified this (He and

Harris, 2020). Blogs, websites, smartphone applications, and Social Media offer new channels

for providing sustainability-related information accessible to users anytime and anywhere (Bör-

jesson Rivera et al., 2014; Frick and Santarius, 2019). For example, in an online shop, com-

municating sustainability-oriented descriptive norms can increase sustainable product choice

(Demarque et al., 2015). However, online marketing and Social Media marketing currently pri-

marily targets increased consumption by personalising information or by promoting the desired

behaviour as a social norm (Pappas et al., 2017) rather than by supporting sufficiency. Moreo-

ver, it was shown that consumption-promoting content is more prevalent online than suffi-

ciency-promoting content (Frick et al., 2020). Apart from a few insights, which primarily focus

on sufficiency-promoting communication's effects on customers (e.g., Hwang et al., 2016;

Ramirez et al., 2017; Frick et al., 2021), the question remains unanswered as to whether and

how companies are using digital tools to successfully promote sufficiency-oriented clothing

consumption. This is addressed in an additional research question:

RQ3: Which digital tools are used in sufficiency-promoting communication and for what

reasons?

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This study follows a qualitative approach and contributes to the literature on sustainable com-

munication (Fischer et al., 2021) by expanding the view to one strong approach to sustainable

consumption, namely supporting sufficiency-oriented consumption. The article is structured as

follows. First, the research method is presented, followed by key findings. Then the main les-

sons learned and further research opportunities are discussed. The article finishes with a con-

clusion.

Methodology

A research process guided by openness and flexibility is a prerequisite for investigating a novel

research topic such as sufficiency-promoting communication. Therefore, this study is based on

qualitative expert interviews. Expert interviews have an informative and explorative char- acter

and record descriptive respondent knowledge on the subject of interest (Lamnek and Krell,

2016). Due to its character, a qualitative study cannot provide representative findings as it can

only reflect the interviewees’ opinions (Przyborsky and Wohlrab-Sahr, 2014).

The study sample consists of six German companies in the apparel sector (see Table 1). Most

of them are very small companies managed by a founder or owner. All companies are dedicated

to sustainability and prove this orientation through environmental management systems, sus-

tainability labels and certifications, or sustainability awards. In their customer communication,

they explicitly call on people to buy and own less instead of purchasing new clothes (see Table

1). Moreover, we have included them into our study because of their sufficiency-oriented prod-

ucts, which are designed to be repairable, multifunctional, durable, and timeless. To extend the

product lifetime, they also publish instructions and guides for product care, storage, and repair.

The sample size and composition fulfil an inductive and reconstructive approach to the research

questions. As described above, the companies were selected based on preliminary research on

examples of sufficiency-promoting communication because, to answer the research questions,

it was important for companies to have had experience with the topic. This condition limited

the selection of companies from the outset since sufficiency-promoting communication is not

widespread.

We developed a semi-structured guideline (Witzel, 1982) to conduct the telephone interviews

with managing directors, heads of corporate social responsibility or staff members of the se-

lected companies. The interviewees’ views were acquired through narrative answers and were

supplemented by guideline-based questioning and the resulting dialogues. The range of topics

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included motivation and objectives of sufficiency-promoting communication; obstacles in im-

plementation, within and outside the company and regarding the dichotomy of sufficiency and

economic growth; and questions about online marketing and its role for the development and

effectiveness of sufficiency-promoting communication. Interviews on an average lasted for 45

minutes thus covering the research issues comprehensively. The interview guideline can be

found in Appendix A. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Verbatim quotes have

been translated by the authors for this article.

The study's content analysis was conducted using the program MAXQDA. The theory-guided

procedure (Mayring, 2015) enables a systematic data evaluation. The data was categorized by

two coders ac- cording to a category scheme (see Appendix B), which was developed induc-

tively-deductively, i.e., based on the research questions as well as on the material. Quality as-

surance of the content analysis was based on the quality criteria reliability, systematics, and

objectivity of the analysis (Mayring, 2015). The validity and reproducibility of the findings

were ensured by checking the intercoder reliability, i.e., that the coding of several coders was

consistent. Objectivity was guaranteed by the exact operationalisation of the terms used. This

objectivity enabled the inter- subjective traceability of the analysis (Berelson, 1971). The sys-

tematic approach was guaranteed by the exact description and delimitation of the data material

to be analysed and the orientation towards text analysis rules.

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Table 1. Study sample.

Company

description

Founding

Year

Sustainability orientation

Number

employees

Position of the

interviewee

Example of sufficiency-pro-

moting communication

Avocadostore

GmbH

Online market-

place for sus-

tainable clothing

and green prod-

ucts

2010

Sustainability criteria for

products

Managing di-

rector

Sufficiency-promoting posts on

Instagram (e.g., ‘Buy less, buy

better, and really wear it’)

Insaka GmbH

Sustainable

swimwear

2016

Products made in Europe and

made of ECONYL

Staff (cus-

tomer commu-

nication)

Campaign #whitemonday and

sufficiency-promoting posts on

Instagram (e.g., ‘Reduce Reuse

Repair Recycle’)

Manitober

GmbH

Sustainable chil-

dren´s clothing

2017

Federal Ecodesign Award

2018

Managing di-

rector

Sufficiency-promoting posts on

Instagram (e.g., ‘Care for your

clothes, like the good friends

they are’ or ‘Sometime they'll

have a sale and nobody will

come’)

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Salzwasser.EU

GmbH

Sustainable

clothing

2019

GWÖ (Gemein-

wohlökonomie - welfare

economy) oriented social

business model,

GOTS certified products

Managing di-

rector

Sufficiency-promoting posts on

Instagram (e.g., ‘Wear your con-

viction – buy favourite items and

wear them a long time’, ‘buy

less, choose well’)

VAUDE Sport

GmbH & Co.

Sustainable out-

door clothing

and gear

1974

Member of GWÖ,

EMAS and ISO 14001 certi-

fied, Standard bluesign®,

Brand performance check by

Fair Wear,

GRI Sustainability Report

536

Senior Man-

ager CSR

Sufficiency-promoting messages

(e.g., ‘Don't buy this tent – rent

it.’) on website, Instagram, and

in the sustainability report

Jyoti – Fair

Works gUG

Sustainable

clothing

2014

Social Hero Award, Start-

social Award, Social Impact

Start grant

Staff (product

design)

Tag with sufficiency-promoting

messages in garments (e.g.,

‘Treat me well and repair me’)

and sufficiency-promoting post

on Instagram (e.g., ‘No Black

Friday Sale’ or ‘Fair instead of

Black Friday’, ‘Clothes Swap-

ping’)

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Findings

In the following, the findings of the expert interviews are analysed and summarised in groups

according to the research questions.

Reasons for sufficiency-promoting communication

Certain company-specific drivers and external events are among the triggers that prompted the

interviewed companies to enhance sufficiency-oriented behaviour in their communication. In

one case, the reorientation of the business model led to the additional offer of a repair or rental

service. External events include, for instance, media reports on the negative effects of fast fash-

ion.

Motives for sufficiency-promoting communication span idealistic commitments and strategic

considerations. All companies are idealistically motivated by their own sustainability-oriented

values, i.e., aligning their business activities with sustainability and sufficiency principles and

the anchoring of corresponding values in their corporate strategies. The interviewed companies

even assert that dealing with the current sustainability challenges was the basis of their business

start-up. To meet the claim of contributing to sufficiency, the companies underpin their ideal-

istic commitment with products that focus on longevity, high quality, timelessness, and repara-

bility (in low quantity) and some of them additionally offer repair or rental services that allow

life cycle extension. The interviewed companies acknowledge the crucial importance of the

product policy: Without a product offering enabling sufficiency, communication activities fo-

cusing on sufficiency would not make sense. Strategic motives cited by almost all companies

cover raising awareness for the role consumption plays in society. This awareness- raising in-

cludes educating on the negative effects of excessive consumption in general and on the eco-

logical damage the clothing industry is responsible for, encouraging customers to reduce con-

sumption or demonstrating alternatives to purchasing new products, and giving practical rec-

ommendations for sufficiency-oriented behaviour:

“Since then, we regularly post tips on Social Media on how to consume sustainably, and

that it is not necessary to buy several things, not even from us, to fill the cupboard, but

that one should consciously deal with consumption.” (Inaska interviewee)

“[...] that you can repair a pair of jeans or that clothes last longer if you wash them

differently, or that you can create five looks with one pair of pants. That's the kind of

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thing we do on Social Media because we think it's good ourselves.” (Avacadostore in-

terviewee)

“[...] raise awareness about what's going on in the clothing industry because that's quite

interesting. We do have an opinion on it, and we can and want to educate about it.”

(Manitober interviewee)

The interviewee from Jyoti – Fair Works summarizes the company's aims for sufficiency-ori-

ented communication as “promoting conscious consumption instead of excessive consumption”

on the one hand and, on the other hand, selling own products to replace fast fashion clothing

from competitors. That was only one of similar statements from other companies showing that

none of the companies pursue exclusively altruistic goals. All of them also have to think of their

existence and advertise less consumption to generate sales. According to two rather small com-

panies, one strategy to deal with the contradiction between supporting moderate consumption

and at the same time selling things is for other (unsustainable) companies to sell less (see section

3.2).

Furthermore, increasing popularity and reaching an improved reputation are strategically im-

portant reasons for sufficiency-promoting communication, especially for the large companies

of the sample. Sufficiency is a fairly new topic that is now also attracting mainstream attention

due to the rise of fashion trends such as minimalism and decluttering. It can thus help a company

develop its image as future- oriented and innovative:

“So that one simply prefers to buy reasonably, and to that belongs that I get something

that lasts for my money, and that I don't want to buy a lot anymore. Minimalism is also

a mega trend right now. Well, people simply notice that it has been all too much, and if

you go into this niche, I think it's possible to win over a lot of people.” (Avacadostore

interviewee)

Some interview partners consider their company's sufficiency- promoting communication as a

unique selling proposition. Because such communication measures stand out from the general

flood of advertising, the company may benefit and set themselves apart from competitors. Thus,

positioning their brand against the mainstream emerged as a further strategic motive for almost

all interviewed companies. In this context, the interview partners consider authenticity of suf-

ficiency-promoting communication as essential. Enabling transparency and, thus, avoiding con-

tradictions between their own actions and their communication messages are important for the

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companies because the resulting credibility and trust could contribute to improving customer

loyalty.

“I think you have to be careful not to contradict yourself. So, we don't do sales, we don't

do sales seasons or anything like that.” (Jyoti – Fair Works interviewee)

“That's why this brand communication on the topic of alternative consumption is pri-

marily a topic for brand image and differentiation for us [ ...] Of course, the products

have to be able to even meet this requirement, the products and supply chains. That's of

course a prerequisite.” (VAUDE interviewee)

Challenges in implementing sufficiency-promoting communication against the background of

the economic growth paradigm

Despite strong motives for a sufficiency-orientation in communication, the interviewed com-

panies experience several challenges, which arise from the dichotomy of promoting sufficiency

and operating in a growth-driven economy. The interviewed companies are still dependent on

sales. Although they are not primarily growth-oriented, they are nevertheless aware that a sharp

decline in sales could certainly jeopardize the company's continued existence:

“One should not forget there is no social business without business. If we don't sell as

an online marketplace, then why do we exist?” (Avocadostore interviewee)

All company representatives interviewed were aware of this dilemma and demonstrated a strong

will to maintain their sufficiency-driven corporate values and philosophy and to reconcile them

with sound turnover. According to the interview partners, this reconciliation can mainly be

achieved by offering timeless and durable products that do not follow fashion trends and are of

high quality:

“One can run an economically sustainable company that is also ecologically and so-

cially sustainable and not based on constant in- crease in consumption. That is what

we're trying to achieve, primarily through durable and timeless products.” (Salzwasser

interviewee)

The compatibility of sufficiency and moderate growth can further- more succeed if companies

extend their business models to include a rental, resell, or repair service, as is the case of

VAUDE, Jyoti – Fair Works, and Manitober. At the same time, some interviewed companies

face the challenge that not all customers take notice of and demand these additional services.

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Thus, these companies are often unable to fully compensate the decline in sales due to suffi-

ciency-oriented marketing. However, most of the companies accept the potential revenue losses

because their altruistic motives for promoting sufficiency are stronger than their pursuit of

profit.

However, in general, the companies’ quantitative expectations of turnover growth are moderate.

They strive more for a growth of their brand range to replace other, less sustainable companies.

In the end, this strategy targets reducing overall clothing consumption and, simultaneously,

increasing market share of fair and sustainable clothing companies:

“[...] if you buy, we'd like you to buy less overall and to buy these items from us.” (Jyoti

– Fair Works interviewee)

“Growth for us therefore doesn't necessarily mean economic growth, but rather reach

growth, so that we can spread our philosophy and encourage people to reflect.” (Jyoti

– Fair Works interviewee)

Many interview partners evaluated sufficiency-promoting communication as challenging if key

stakeholder groups resist or doubt its legitimacy. In their experience, critics can be convinced

if the company's reputation and customer loyalty benefits from the communication activities.

To reach that goal, credibility and authenticity are indispensable (see section 3.1). Therefore,

strengthening credibility and authenticity appear to be practicable ways for a sufficiency-ori-

ented company to survive in a competitive market.

Digital tools applied in sufficiency-promoting communication

Above all, decisive benefits of digital communication are, in general, the range and immediacy

that can be achieved through digital media. According to the companies interviewed, compared

with analogue advertisements such as print or billboard advertising, digital media allows more

people to be reached directly and independently of time and place. Users sharing the corporate

content with other users within social net- works can further extend the range. Moreover, con-

tent marketing and Social Media marketing enable more spontaneous, direct, and personal com-

munication with users. Digital communication allows various inter- action with target groups,

i.e., feedback, which most of the interviewed companies see as a further benefit. The interview

partners had different opinions about cost and time. Some rather small companies evaluate dig-

ital communication as at least as cost-intensive as analogue advertisement, and the needed effort

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and skills even more demanding. In digital communication, there are more channels, the fre-

quency is higher, and the need for customer research and data analysis has also increased.

“The effort is probably similar. But Social Media can reach more people more individ-

ually, and also much faster.” (Jyoti – Fair Works interviewee)

As a further advantage of digitalisation, the interviewed companies discuss the increase in con-

tent- and channel-related options for sufficiency-promoting communication. Especially with a

complex, counterintuitive and sensitive topic such as consumption reduction, adequate framing

is important in allowing different target groups to grasp and understand the contents. This fram-

ing can be achieved with digital and Social Media tools, which provide many ways of conveying

texts, images, and videos via different channels. Thus, all the interviewed companies are active

on platforms such as Instagram or Facebook, with some going further and pursuing storytelling

or sharing ideas for sufficiency-oriented lifestyles in their newsletters or blogs:

“I would say content marketing and Social Media are very suitable. Simply because,

even subconsciously, the message is somehow pre- sent. Even if you only post a small

photo which says ‘Buy Less, choose well’, it somehow stays in mind.” (Jyoti – Fair

Works interviewee)

“And this is key, I think, that digitalisation provides more options by using videos and

music to catch the users emotionally and effectively.” (Avocadostore interviewee)

Another potential benefit of digital communication, brought up by some of the interview part-

ners, is the ability to track user data. By collecting personal data and, hence, by considering

individual preferences, companies can target their communication efforts more effectively. As

a downside, targeted advertising may stimulate consumption, which is why some interviewed

companies avoid certain online marketing channels. Some companies even use their reach and

trust in their brands to educate customers about the manipulative effects of advertising and to

enhance political and societal debate about consumerism.

“Social Media marketing is still primarily aimed at a young audience and promotes

sales through consumption incentives. At the same time, these platforms are also a great

asset for drawing attention to critical opinions on consumption. Political consumer de-

bates thus become more visible and reach a broader mass than conventional marketing.

However, a lot of educational work still needs to be done here to ensure that these chan-

nels do not develop into pure ‘consumer incentive machines’.” (Inaska interviewee)

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“We are keen to promote conscious buying, instead of ‘intoxicating’ consumption. If

many people buy consciously, there is still enough for everyone.” (Jyoti – Fair Works

interviewee)

Digital communication simplifies the process of addressing target groups by increasing the

number of recipients and allowing the information to be steered according to the target group.

As indicated above, specific customer groups such as younger people open-minded towards

sufficiency and conscious consumption can be reached efficiently as they use digital media

frequently. On the other hand, potential target groups might not be reached by digital means

since they do not use digital media (very often). And, beyond digitalisation, personal contact

will remain important, especially for communicating sufficiency issues.

Discussion and further research directions

This study explores motives and obstacles for sufficiency-promoting communication in the ap-

parel domain from a business perspective and the role digital tools plays in realising such a

communication strategy. In this final section, we discuss our findings and propose future re-

search opportunities.

Our study indicates that promoting sufficiency-oriented consumption arises from a general en-

trepreneurial orientation towards sustainability and the common good. Hence, altruistic reasons

(e.g., moral obligation) (Graafland and Mazereeuw-van der Duijn Schouten, 2012) for the CSR-

engagement of companies are also crucial for implementing sufficiency-promoting communi-

cation. The interviewed companies represent a niche insofar as most of them (four of six) are

very small clothing companies with only few employees and managed by a founder or owner.

As a result, they are less externally determined than large companies are. This independence

allows decisions that are more autonomous and sometimes even represent more radical and

progressive innovations (e.g., Utterback and Abernathy, 1975) such as approaching sufficiency,

which is still at odds with the mainstream consumer culture and economy. Therefore, the choice

of our sample and its size are an opportunity for experimenting and learning from niche pioneers

of an alternative fashion market.

Cross-case analysis revealed no noteworthy differences between the interviewed companies

regarding their motives and barriers. It seems that other factors are more decisive for the adop-

tion of sufficiency-promoting strategies than the question of whether they are large or small

companies, start-ups or incumbent firms. This should be followed up by further research.

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When discussing the role of companies in transforming markets and society to become more

sustainable, the sustainable entrepreneurship literature often distinguishes between small pio-

neers or large incumbents (Hockerts and Wüstenhagen, 2010). In the study at hand, the focus

is on small pioneers, which are well aware of the considerable challenge in resisting the growth-

driven market with competitors that pursue an opposite business strategy relying on profit max-

imization. Hence, their small size, while offering clear advantages, also holds challenges. Since

the small companies' range of influence is limited, they are challenged to grow, to multiply, or

to successfully influence others in order to trans- form the market (Schaltegger et al., 2016). On

the other hand, their small size allows them to avoid organizational inertia and to operate in a

more flexible and independent way. Our findings indicate that these ‘Emerging Davids’ (Hock-

erts and Wüstenhagen, 2010) are more visionary and more willing to take risks than larger

companies. With regard to the requirement to grow, the interviewed companies view growth

critically; still, none of them aims to shrink or gain large market shares. Yet, if they increase

sales, they justify it by arguing that their products will reduce the consumption of less sustain-

able options. In these cases, growth could even be desirable (Bocken et al., 2020). Supporting

sufficiency and at the same time operating in a growth-driven economy is perceived as an area

of tension but does neither endanger their existence nor their altruistic commitment. For exam-

ple, they can continue to survive if they extend their business models by building on producing

and selling products to include rental or repair services.

Our focus on small pioneers is not only an advantage but also a limitation of our study. The

findings are not necessarily generalizable for bigger companies, non-sustainable companies, or

companies from other sectors. A repetition of the qualitative study with a mixed sample includ-

ing conventional and medium-size or large companies would enable a comparison between

different types of companies and their motivations for sufficiency-promoting communication.

To explore barriers against sufficiency-promoting communication in more depth, the study

could also be repeated with sustainability-oriented companies that have not yet applied suffi-

ciency-promoting communication.

A comparison between our interview findings and the theory in the literature (e.g., Gossen et

al., 2019) highlights some interesting differences regarding the motives for realising suffi-

ciency-promoting communication. The interviewed companies did not cite an orientation to-

wards the precautionary principle or aiming to increase individuals’ well-being as altruistic

motives for supporting sufficiency-oriented clothing consumption, which in the literature were

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identified as relevant motives. Similarly, developing new business areas and positively affect-

ing sales and profits were not explicitly mentioned, even though these gains can certainly be

the result of improved customer relations and increased visibility – strategic motives that were

also identified in the empirical study at hand. These differences can again be explained by the

chosen study sample, which is composed of companies with a pronounced orientation towards

sustainability and an idealistic view of their work and impact.

The aim to increase awareness of non-materialistic lifestyles amongst customers and to stand

out strategically from competitors is a common motive for realising sufficiency-promoting

communication. The inter- viewed companies demarcate themselves from other (sustainability-

oriented and conventional) companies by using eye-catching and unusual messages, hoping for

reputational benefits. Other studies have shown that sufficiency-promoting advertising contrib-

utes to company credibility and to a positive perception of a company's intentions (Gossen and

Frick, 2018; Ramirez et al., 2017; Frick et al., 2021), which is supported by the study at hand.

Yet, the interviewed companies were taking a certain risk – their credibility could quickly be

damaged if customers identified a discrepancy between the communication and the actual cor-

porate action. In this case, sufficiency-promoting communication could lead to accusations of

greenwashing. Yet, greenwashing can be excluded, or is at least unlikely, if such communica-

tion tools meet the criteria of credibility, transparency, authenticity, consistency, readiness for

dialogue, and have relevant content (e.g., Heinrich and Schmidpeter, 2018). Accordingly, the

interviewed companies make a great effort to establish an authentic and consistent communi-

cation. However, another scenario is also possible: although sufficiency-promoting communi-

cation is currently a niche phenomenon and only few companies pursue the marketing goal of

consuming less (Gossen et al., 2019), if this communication was to be picked up by more com-

panies, a unique selling point for the pioneers of sufficiency-promoting communication could

vanish. The requirements and conditions for authentic and credible sufficiency promotion

should be investigated in further research.

Although our study focusses on communication, it emphasized the importance of other ele-

ments of the marketing mix for effectively promoting sufficiency-oriented clothing consump-

tion. Thus, fostering attitudes in favour of sufficiency through information and communication

alone is not enough to change the behaviour of most consumers. The interviewed companies

offer high quality, durable, repairable, and timeless products and accompanying services for

rental or repair options in order to support moderate lifestyles through their product policy. In

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this way, customers are enabled to purchase fewer new items and to use the things they own

until the end of the product life cycle. A strong focus on product and communication policies

is also discovered in the literature on sufficiency-promoting marketing (e.g., Ertekin and Atik,

2015; Gossen et al., 2019). Activities within the price and place policies were not discussed in

the interviews. Therefore, future empirical research should investigate if price-related instru-

ments, such as premium pricing and wavering of discounts (e.g., Jung and Jin, 2016; Bocken

and Short, 2016), and place-related instruments, such as community building, are of practical

relevance and if so, how they can be best used for the goal to enhance sufficiency.

Alongside other objectives, this study investigates which digital communication tools are ap-

plied in sufficiency-promoting communication and for what reasons. When compared with an-

alogue communication, generally beneficial features of online marketing are, e.g., the reacha-

bility independent of time and location (Börjesson Rivera et al., 2014), the increase of cost

efficiency, the increased range, and the direct dialogue and interaction possibilities with con-

sumers (Shankar et al., 2010). These benefits are also advantageous to sufficiency-promoting

communication. The role of personalised advertising based on evaluating personal data from

Social Media, user profiles, and community forums was only briefly discussed in the interviews,

and more in the sense that these techniques can stimulate consumption. The increasing im-

portance of micro-targeting, on- and offline tracking, and big data evaluation means that their

significance for the targeted communication of sufficiency-oriented messages will most likely

grow as well. Further research must be undertaken in this area, especially since the conventional

marketing techniques mentioned above currently tend to create new consumption needs and

purchasing intentions (Pappas et al., 2017) and thus increase consumption. Further, our study

revealed that content marketing and Social Media marketing are especially suitable for convey-

ing complex messages in need of explanation such as sufficiency, which is consistent with pre-

vious research on digital green marketing (Luck and Ginanti, 2013). The task of inspiring cus-

tomers to reduce consumption and change social norms through awareness-raising is ambitious

and requires using normative motives in digital communication (Joanes et al., 2020). Whether

current sufficiency-promoting messages already meet this requirement should be investigated

in future studies.

The primary goal of marketing is to increase buying intentions, and digital marketing technol-

ogies and tools are especially fitting (Pappas et al., 2017). A recent study showed that suffi-

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ciency-promoting communication on Social Media leads to more sufficiency behaviour com-

pared to neutral and consumption-promoting communication (Frick et al., 2021). That result is

reflected in the findings of this study, which indicate that sufficiency-oriented companies are

using Social Media to enhance transparency and information, raise awareness for minimalistic

lifestyles, and initiate discussions about the social and environmental effects of overconsump-

tion. In some cases, the interviewed companies even consider themselves promoters of political

activism and educators on sustainability.

Finally, our study reveals that, with current sufficiency-promoting marketing means, clothing

companies merely focus on enhancing product longevity, repairing, and renting practices. They

are taking a step towards sufficiency since these practices are relatively low-threshold and eas-

ily adoptable and do not overall challenge consumerist culture and possession of goods. Less

addressed by these activities is the ‘hard nut’, namely restricted consumption (Spangenberg and

Lorek, 2019). Further research should be concerned with the question of if and how the business

sector can contribute to this endeavour or whether it must be left to policy interventions.

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Conclusion

Sufficiency-oriented consumption can be an answer to over- consumption in affluent societies,

which is partly responsible for environmental degradation. To change consumption modes, so-

cietal and economical systems have to change. The apparel industry is dominated by the fast

fashion system with rapid turnovers of clothing, which will be discarded long before a product's

lifetime has really ended. Changes in the ways clothing companies market their products have

to be pushed. Yet, reducing consumption appears as a controversial and counter- intuitive en-

deavour within the profit-driven market sector. The reasons clothing companies promote suffi-

ciency-oriented consumption are un- clear and have not been empirically investigated so far.

Since digital tools are the primary channel for customer communication, and online marketing

and Social Media marketing mainly target increased consumption and invent new consumption

desires, investigating their role in sufficiency-oriented communication is vital. Therefore, this

study applied a qualitative approach to explore the motives and challenges of sufficiency-pro-

moting communication and to discuss the role digital communication plays in promoting suffi-

ciency. The study focuses on small pioneering companies for sustainable clothing, which have

special requirements but also favourable factors for supporting sufficiency.

Our findings show that motives for sufficiency-oriented consumption span both idealistic and

strategic considerations. For example, contributing to sustainability is as much a guiding prin-

ciple as improving the reputation of the company. Our study indicates that companies find dif-

ferent ways to deal with the challenges arising from operating in a growth-driven economy

whilst promoting sufficiency. None of the companies are aiming at contraction, but most pursue

only moderate growth targets. Supporting sufficiency and simultaneously operating in a

growth-driven economy is perceived as an area of tension but does not endanger a company's

existence if it, for example, extends its business model to include rental or repair services. An-

other central finding is that digital marketing tools facilitate conveying sufficiency-promoting

messages. The interviewed companies stated how online marketing and Social Media market-

ing allow them to address sufficiency-promoting messages efficiently and to a large circle of

customers.

Our analysis is limited in that it is based on a small sample size, focuses on small sufficiency-

oriented companies in the apparel sector, and is an exploratory approach. Nonetheless, it offers

a way of discovering new contexts and future research prospects in sufficiency-orientated com-

munication. To expand our preliminary findings, more qualitative and quantitative research is

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necessary. An important task for future research is to repeat the qualitative exploration of mo-

tives and challenges of sufficiency-oriented communication with different types of companies

to exclude the possibility that the given size and the high sustainability orientation of the inter-

viewed companies make the findings less generalizable. Moreover, further research is needed

to investigate accompanying strategies within the product, price, and place dimension of the

marketing mix to foster sufficiency and to better understand how companies handle the growth

dilemma and ensure their continued existence. Our study also motivates consumer research to

conduct quantitative studies to measure the impacts of (digital) sufficiency-promoting commu-

nication and, thus, to clarify whether online marketing supports or negates the intended effects

of sufficiency-promoting communication.

Investigating sufficiency-promoting communication is a young but flourishing research field

within the marketing, consumer, and sustain- ability research community. Niche experiments

with sustainability entrepreneurs can provide valuable insights into the challenges and oppor-

tunities in advancing sufficiency-oriented lifestyles. With this study, we contribute to a better

understanding of the role marketing can play in encouraging cleaner and sufficiency-oriented

consumption.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Maike Gossen: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Investigation, Writing –

original draft, Writing – review& editing, Project administration.

Anneli Heinrich: Formal analysis, Methodology, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writ-

ing – review & editing.

Declaration of competing interest

None of the authors are aware of any conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgement

Funding for this research was granted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Re-

search within the project “Digitalisation and Sustainability” and by the Senate of Berlin within

the “Berliner Chancengleichheitsprogramm”. We would thank the Editor and the two anony-

mous Reviewers for the kind support and the constructive feedback.

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Appendix A. Semi-structured interview guide

1. At first, I would like to know what is your understanding of consumption reduction?

2. When did you initiate your sufficiency-promoting communication?

3. What are motives for your sufficiency-promoting communication?

4. What outcomes do you expect from your sufficiency-promoting communication?

5. Are you planning to expand your sufficiency-promoting communication?

6. What obstacles or challenges did you experience when introducing the topic of consumption

reduction in your communication policy?

7. Do you see a contradiction in the communication of consumption reduction and your sales

targets? If yes, how do you manage to reconcile this contraction?

8. Marketing, in particular advertising, is supposed to increase sales. In your opinion, can a

company's communication promote consumption reduction or is that paradoxical?

9. What role does digitalisation play for your sufficiency-promoting communication?

10. Which digital and Social Media tools do you use for your sufficiency-promoting communi-

cation?

11. Is online communication better suited to conveying consumption-reduction messages than

analogue communication? What advantages do you see and what are the limits?

12. How do you evaluate cost and time input for your digital sufficiency-promoting communi-

cation?

13. Have you got something to add in terms of sufficiency-promoting communication?

14. Considered everything, would you rate the communication of consumption reduction posi-

tively for your company?

Appendix B. Category scheme

Codes

Subcodes

Understanding of sufficiency

Motives

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Triggers for implementing sufficiency-pro-

moting communication

External triggers

Internal triggers

Motives for / outcomes from sufficiency-pro-

moting communication

Intentions to expand sufficiency-promoting

communication

Strategic motives

Altruistic motives

Digitalisation

Role of digitalisation

Advantages of digital communication

Limits of digital communication

Cost and time input for digital communication

compared to analogue communication

Range and immediacy

Increase in content and channel-re-

lated topics

Simple addressing of target groups

Adequate addressing of complex

and sensitive topics

Obstacles

Challenges and obstacles associated with suf-

ficiency-promoting communication

Dependence on sales and company

growth

Consistency of company activities

and communication

Opposition/Concerns from stake-

holders

Pressure from the competitors

Dealing with the challenge ‘growth and con-

sumption reduction’

High quality products

Expansion of business model

Lower expectations of sales growth

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IV. Brauchst du das wirklich? – Wahrnehmung und Wirkung suffizienzför-

dernder Unternehmenskommunikation auf die Konsummotivation

Zusammenfassung

Suffizientes Konsumverhalten gilt als eine wichtige Strategie, um Nachhaltigkeitsziele zu er-

reichen, und kann von nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Unternehmen unter anderem mithilfe von

suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation unterstützt werden. In einer Online-Befragung von

Kund*innen eines Online-Marktplatzes für nachhaltige Produkte (N =1626) wurde untersucht,

wie ein Unternehmen mit suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation als Sender von seinen

Kund*innen wahrgenommen wird, ob diese Kommunikationsform tatsächlich zu suffizientem

Konsumverhalten motivieren kann und welche Faktoren suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation

wirkungsvoll begünstigen können. Die Befragten bewerteten die Inhalte der suffizienzfördern-

den Kommunikation sowie die Glaubwürdigkeit und die Motive des Unternehmens als sehr

positiv und drückten eine hohe Motivation zu suffizientem Konsumverhalten aus. Nur verein-

zelt wurden die Motive des Unternehmens infrage gestellt. Die positive Bewertung der Glaub-

würdigkeit und der Motive des Senders sowie ausgeprägte Werte umweltfreundlichen Konsums

bei Kund*innen begünstigten zudem die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der Kommunikations-

maßnahme, während sich die Wahrnehmung strategischer Motive des Unternehmens sowie in-

dividuelle hedonistische Konsummotive nicht maßgeblich auswirkten. Die Ergebnisse legen

nahe, dass sich suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation positiv auf das Ansehen nachhaltigkeits-

orientierter Unternehmen auswirkt und die Motivation zu suffizientem Konsumverhalten för-

dern kann. Daher kann dies als ein wertvolles Instrument für die Übernahme unternehmerischer

Verantwortung gesehen werden.

Schlüsselwörter: Konsumethik, Nachhaltige Entwicklung, Sozialmarketing, Umweltschutz-

verhalten, Unternehmensethik

Veröffentlicht in: Umweltpsychologie 22(2): 11-32

Autor*innen: Maike Gossen, Vivian Frick

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Stand des Problems und Fragestellungen

Hintergrund und Problemstand

Globale Probleme wie Klimawandel, Umweltverschmutzung und Ausbeutung von ökologi-

schen Ressourcen und menschlicher Arbeitskraft werden maßgeblich durch eine konsuminten-

sive und materialistische Lebensweise in Ländern des globalen Nordens verursacht (Lorek &

Fuchs, 2013). Dies macht ein rasches Umsteuern auf Seiten von Konsumentinnen und Konsu-

menten, Politik und Wirtschaft erforderlich. Zunehmend setzt sich die Erkenntnis durch, dass

technologiebasierte und effizienzorientierte Strategien die drängenden Nachhaltigkeitsheraus-

forderungen aufgrund von Rebound-Effekten und ausgeblendeten Gerechtigkeits- und Vertei-

lungsfragen nicht ohne eine gleichzeitige gesellschaftliche Ausrichtung am Prinzip der Suffizi-

enz lösen können (Santarius, 2015; Wuppertal Institut, 2008; Zahrnt & Schneidewind, 2013).

Unter Suffizienz wird die absolute Reduktion des Verbrauchs von natürlichen Ressourcen und

Energie verstanden. Auf individueller Ebene zielt Suffizienz auf Verhaltensweisen ab, die

durch eine Verringerung der Nachfrage nach ressourcenintensiven Gütern und Dienstleistungen

zu einer Pro-Kopf-Reduktion des Volumens benötigter Material- und Energiemengen führen

(Jenny, Grütter, & Ott, 2014). Dies setzt eine Reflektion persönlicher Konsumbedürfnisse vo-

raus (Stengel, 2011), womit Suffizienz auch Fragen nach dem genügenden Maß an Gütern und

Dienstleistungen für ein gutes Leben impliziert (Jenny, 2016). Die Schaffung förderlicher Rah-

menbedingungen für suffiziente Verhaltensweisen wird zumeist von der Politik oder Zivilge-

sellschaft erwartet – und zunehmend auch von Unternehmen (Bocken & Short, 2016). Da Suf-

fizienz auf der Ebene der individuellen Lebensstile und Konsumreduktion ansetzt, kommt hier-

bei dem Marketing und insbesondere den Kommunikationsaktivitäten eines Unternehmens eine

besondere Bedeutung zu (Kleinhückelkotten, 2002). Zudem gilt konventionelles Marketing als

Mitverursacher der negativen ökologischen und sozialen Folgen der materialistischen Konsum-

gesellschaft (Achrol & Kotler, 2012; Assadourian, 2010; Varey, 2010).

In der Praxis wird die unternehmerische Förderung von suffizienten Konsumstilen durch Mar-

ketingmaßnahmen vereinzelt bereits umgesetzt: Beispielsweise rief der Outdoor-Hersteller

Patagonia vor einigen Jahren ausgerechnet am „Black Friday“, dem wichtigsten Einkaufstag

des Jahres in den USA, seine Kundinnen und Kunden dazu auf, Produkte aus seinem Sortiment

an diesem Tag nicht zu kaufen. Das Anzeigenmotiv des Aufrufs zeigte eine Jacke von Patagonia

und den Spruch „Don’t buy this jacket“ (Meltzer, 2017). Auch bei Unternehmen, die anstelle

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von ökonomischem Wachstum primär Nachhaltigkeitsziele verfolgen, wie Postwachstumsun-

ternehmen (Gebauer, Mewes, & Dietsche, 2015; Posse, 2015) oder Gemeinwohlunternehmen

(Sommer, Kny, Stumpf, & Wiefek, 2016), können Bezüge zur Förderung von suffizienten Kon-

sumstilen hergestellt werden.

Konzeptionell bezieht sich ein Marketing zur Förderung von Suffizienz vor allem auf das Social

Marketing, welches individuelle und gesellschaftliche Verbesserungen durch Verhaltensände-

rungen zum Ziel hat (Andreasen, 1994). Peattie & Peattie (2009) konstatieren beispielsweise in

einer viel beachteten Veröffentlichung die Eignung des Social Marketing – umgesetzt von po-

litischen oder zivilgesellschaftlichen Akteuren – für die Förderung von Konsumreduktion. Im

Unterschied dazu ist das suffizienzfördernde Marketing auf den Anwendungsbereich von Unter

nehmen fokussiert. Es ermöglicht und fördert suffizienten Konsum, wertet gemäßigte Lebens-

stile auf und unterstützt Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten bei der Fokussierung auf das Not-

wendige (Gossen & Schrader, 2018) bei einer gleichzeitig steigenden Lebensqualität (Griese &

Halstrup, 2013b). Damit steht suffizienzförderndes Marketing gewissermaßen im Widerspruch

zum ökonomischen Wachstumsparadigma und dem Ziel der Absatzsteigerung im klassischen

Marketing. Daher wird es teils als kontrovers und kontraintuitiv bewertet (Bocken & Short,

2016; Griese & Halstrup, 2013a; Peattie & Peattie, 2009). Operativ kommt der klassische Mar-

ketingmix zum Einsatz, bei dem für die Bereiche Produkt, Kommunikation, Preis und Vertrieb

suffizienzfördernde Maßnahmen umgesetzt werden. Dieser Artikel legt einen besonderen Fo-

kus auf Interventionen im Bereich der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikationspolitik.

Forschungsfragen

Die Marketing- und Konsumforschung beschäftigt sich erst seit wenigen Jahren mit der Ver-

antwortung von Unternehmen für suffiziente Konsumstile und in diesem Zusammenhang mit

Fördermöglichkeiten im Rahmen von Werbung und Kommunikation. Griese und Halstrup

(2013a) haben beispielsweise eine empirische Untersuchung mit qualitativen und quantitativen

Methoden durchgeführt, die auf eine positive Bewertung von suffizienzfördernder Kommuni-

kation durch Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten hinweist, was sich wiederum positiv auf die

Wahrnehmung des jeweiligen Unternehmens auswirkt. Angesichts der für Unternehmen unge-

wöhnlichen und kontroversen Aufforderung, den eigenen Konsum zu reflektieren beziehungs-

weise Konsumalternativen gegenüber dem Neukauf zu bevorzugen, und der Möglichkeit, dass

Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten suffizienzfördernde Interventionen als Einmischung in ihre

individuellen Konsumentscheidungen auffassen (Wahrung der Konsumentensouveränität) oder

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sie als Greenwashing wahrnehmen und aus diesem Grund eher ablehnend auf diese reagieren,

ist die Frage nach der Akzeptanz und Wahrnehmung von Inhalten suffizienzfördernder Kom-

munikation von besonderer Relevanz. Um das diesbezügliche Wissen empirisch weiter auszu-

bauen, lautete die erste Forschungsfrage dieser Studie:

Wie wird die inhaltliche Botschaft der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation von Kun-

dinnen und Kunden eines nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Unternehmens wahrgenommen?

(FF1)

Da Suffizienz Verhaltensänderungen in Richtung alternativer Konsum und Konsumreduktion

impliziert, zielt die Studie darüber hinaus darauf ab, die von den Kundinnen und Kunden wahr-

genommene Wirkung der Anzeige auf ihre Motivation, suffizient zu konsumieren, zu erfassen.

Die zweite Forschungsfrage ergründete daher, ob suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation die er-

wünschte motivierende Wirkung für suffizientes Konsumverhalten bei Kundinnen und Kunden

entfaltet:

Steigert suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation die Motivation für suffizientes Konsumver-

halten? (FF2)

Ferner stellt sich die Frage, wie das Unternehmen als Sender der suffizienzfördernden Kom-

munikation von Kundinnen und Kunden wahrgenommen wird. Diese Frage fällt in den Unter-

suchungsbereich von zwei aktuellen Studien. Im Mittelpunkt der Arbeit von Fricke (2015) steht

die Glaubwürdigkeit von Kommunikation zur unternehmerischen Corporate Social Responsi-

bility, die auf Konsumentenverantwortung gerichtet ist (CnSR-Kommunikation). Die Arbeit

untersuchte unter anderem die wahrgenommene Glaubwürdigkeit des Senders (also des Unter-

nehmens) und zeigte diesbezüglich, dass eine hohe Glaubwürdigkeit des Senders die Glaub-

würdigkeit der CnSR-Kommunikation unterstützt. Armstrong Soule und Reich (2015) unter-

suchten die Erreichbarkeit von Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten für „Green Demarketing“,

also Werbung, die als zentrale Botschaft dazu aufruft, weniger zu konsumieren. Ein Ergebnis

ihrer Studie verdeutlicht, dass Green Demarketing dazu führt, dass dem entsprechenden Unter-

nehmen altruistische (also für Gesellschaft und Umwelt vorteilhafte) sowie strategische (also

auf Kundengewinnung, -bindung und Gewinn ausgerichtete) Motive zugeschrieben werden,

während ausnutzende Motive im Sinne von Greenwashing-Absichten eher nicht unterstellt wer-

den. Weiterhin zeigte die Studie, dass ein Image als ökologisch-orientiertes Unternehmen mit

höheren wahrgenommenen altruistischen und niedrigeren wahrgenommenen ausbeuterischen

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Motiven zusammenhängt. Strategische Motive konnten jedoch nicht mit dem ökologischen

Image des Unternehmens in Verbindung gebracht werden. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie

war es daran anknüpfend, die Ergebnisse der beiden genannten Untersuchungen mit einer grö-

ßeren Stichprobe und in einem realen Setting, also mit einem real existierenden nachhaltigkeits-

orientierten Unternehmen, zu replizieren. Die dritte Forschungsfrage lautete dementsprechend:

Werden nachhaltigkeitsorientierte Unternehmen als Sender von suffizienzfördernder

Kommunikation als glaubwürdig wahrgenommen und welche Motive werden ihnen un-

terstellt? (FF3)

Das Forschungsinteresse bezog sich zudem auf die Frage, ob unternehmens- und kundenseitige

Einflussfaktoren die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung begünstigen oder erschweren. Die vierte For-

schungsfrage lautete daher: Welche kunden- und unternehmensseitigen Faktoren begünstigen

oder erschweren die Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation? (FF4) Zu dieser For-

schungsfrage werden im Folgenden mehrere Hypothesen gebildet.

Je eher Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten davon ausgehen, dass sich ein Unternehmen an

Nachhaltigkeitskriterien orientiert, desto eher werden die Motive des Unternehmens als altru-

istisch wahrgenommen (Armstrong Soule & Reich, 2015). Zudem wird vermutet, dass ein Un-

ternehmen, das suffizienzförderndes Marketing anwendet, dann als glaubwürdig angesehen

wird, wenn ihm altruistische Motive zugeschrieben werden. Die erhöhte Glaubwürdigkeit wirkt

sich wiederum positiv auf die CnSR-Kommunikation aus (Fricke, 2015). Daher prüft die Un-

tersuchung, ob die Wahrnehmung altruistischer Motive, mediiert über die Glaubwürdigkeit des

Senders, die Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation erhöht.

H1a: Je höher das altruistische Motiv des Senders wahrgenommen wird, desto größer

die Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation.

H1b: Dieser Zusammenhang wird über die Glaubwürdigkeit des Unternehmens medi-

iert.

Wie sich die Wahrnehmung strategischer Motive des Unternehmens auf die Wirkung der An-

zeige auswirkt, darüber finden sich gemischte Befunde in der vorhandenen Literatur. Einerseits

sind Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten eher bereit, ein Unternehmen zu unterstützen und dort

zu kaufen, wenn es die strategischen Motive hinter den Aktivitäten im Rahmen seiner Corporate

Social Responsibility (CSR) offenlegt (Kim, 2014). Andererseits scheint die Attribution strate-

gischer Motive bei CSR-Aktivitäten den Skeptizismus gegenüber diesen Aktivitäten weder zu

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stärken noch zu vermindern (Skarmeas & Leonidou, 2013) und kann sogar einen positiven Zu-

sammenhang mit der Einstellung zum Produkt (Armstrong Soule & Reich, 2015), zur Firma

oder der Kaufintention aufweisen (Groza, Pronschinske & Walker, 2011). Es wurde daher ein

positiver Zusammenhang zwischen strategischen Motiven und der Wirkung der Anzeige erwar-

tet.

H2: Je höher die strategischen Motive des Senders eingeschätzt werden, desto größer

die Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation.

Ferner zeigen Armstrong Soule und Reich (2015), dass es einen Zusammenhang zwischen der

Wahrnehmung der Nachhaltigkeitsorientierung und ausnutzenden Motive eines Unternehmens

gibt. Es wird daher geprüft, ob suffizienzförderndes Marketing weniger Wirkung zeigt, wenn

dem Unternehmen ausnutzende Motive zugeschrieben werden.

H3: Je niedriger die ausnutzenden Motive des Senders eingeschätzt werden, desto grö-

ßer die Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation.

Nicht nur die Wahrnehmung des Senders, auch die persönlichen Merkmale der Empfängerin-

nen und Empfänger können die Wirkung suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation beeinflussen.

So belegen Studien einen Zusammenhang zwischen einem hohen ökologischen Bewusstsein

und der Bereitschaft zu suffizienten Konsumverhalten (Cherrier, Black & Lee, 2011; Egea &

Frutos, 2013). Zudem legt die Marketingforschung nahe, dass Selbstkongruenz, also die Pas-

sung der Werte von Kundinnen und Kunden mit den wahrgenommenen Werten der Organisa-

tion, zu einer besseren Bewertung des Unternehmens durch Kundinnen und Kunden führt (Jo-

har & Sirgy, 1991; Sirgy, Grewal & Mangleburg, 2000). Daraus folgt, dass Konsumentinnen

und Konsumenten insbesondere dann positiv auf suffizienzfördernde Unternehmenskommuni-

kation reagieren, wenn diese mit ihren eigenen Werten übereinstimmt. Daher wurde für diese

Studie angenommen, dass die Kommunikation wirkungsvoller ist, je höher die Werte umwelt-

freundlichen Konsums der Empfängerinnen und Empfänger ausgeprägt sind, also je höher die

individuelle Tendenz ist, das Konsumverhalten durch ökologisches Bewusstsein leiten zu las-

sen.

H4a: Je höher die Werte umweltfreundlichen Konsums der Empfängerinnen und Emp-

fänger sind, desto größer ist die Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation.

H4b: Der Zusammenhang wird durch das suffiziente Konsummotiv mediiert.

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Werden die Aneignung und der Besitz von Gütern im Zusammenhang mit einer Orientierung

der Lebensweise am Konsumismus als besonders bedeutsam eingeschätzt und treten diese da-

mit in Konkurrenz zu Suffizienz, kann das eine Barriere für suffizientes Konsumverhalten dar-

stellen (Speck, 2016). So hängt Materialismus beispielsweise negativ mit umweltfreundlichem

Verhalten zusammen (Hurst, Dittmar, Bond & Kasser, 2013). Das Einkaufen und der Besitz

von Produkten können über ihren reinen Gebrauchswert hinaus zudem ein hedonistisches Er-

lebnis sein, wobei das hedonistische Vergnügen durch das Produkt im Zentrum steht (Alba &

Williams, 2013). Hausman (2000) wiederum betont in seiner hedonistischen Konsumskala in

erster Linie das Vergnügen während des Einkaufsprozesses. Da das Konsumieren von Gütern

demnach sowohl durch dieFreude am Produkt als auch durch die Freude am Einkaufsprozess

hedonistische Bedürfnisse befriedigt, war in der vorliegenden Studie zu erwarten, dass ein stark

ausgeprägtes hedonistisches Konsummotiv die Wirkung suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation

verringert.

H5: Je höher das hedonistische Konsummotiv der Empfängerinnen und Empfänger,

desto geringer die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kommunika-

tion.

Methode

Für die vorliegende Studie wurde ein Mixed Methods-Design gewählt, das quantitative und

qualitative Forschungselemente verknüpft. Dieser so genannte „single study“-Ansatz erlaubt

die gegenseitige Replikation der Ergebnisse und führt so zu besonders belastbareren Aussagen

(Johnson, Onwuegbuzie & Turner, 2007). Die Ergebnisse beider Forschungszugänge wurden

als substanzielle Integration ausgewertet und in die abschließenden Schlussfolgerungen einbe-

zogen (Brake, 2011).

Ablauf

Die Befragung wurde unter Kundinnen und Kunden des Online-Marktplatzes für nachhaltige

Produkte Avocadostore.de durchgeführt und in enger Abstimmung mit Verantwortlichen auf

Ebene der Geschäftsführung und aus dem Marketing konzipiert. Der im deutschsprachigen

Raum operierende Online-Marktplatz wendet im Rahmen seiner Social Media- und Online-

Marketing-Aktivitäten bereits suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation an und weist daher ein aus-

geprägtes Interesse an den Fragestellungen der Studie auf.

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Die Studie wurde als Online-Befragung konzipiert. Ein Vorteil von Online-Befragungen liegt

in der zeit- und ortunabhängigen Umsetzung. Methodisch gesehen lassen sich Interviewer- Ef-

fekte ausschließen und Befragungstendenzen wie soziale Erwünschtheit spielen eine geringere

Rolle, woraus offenere und ehrlichere Antworten der Befragten resultieren können (Holzhauer,

Gossen, Schipperges & Scholl, 2015). In einem Pretest mit Forschenden und Studierenden aus

der Umweltpsychologie wurden Anmerkungen zur Verständlichkeit der einzelnen Fragen und

der Vollständigkeit und Strukturierung des Fragebogens erfasst. Im Anschluss wurde der Fra-

gebogen entsprechend leicht modifiziert. Für den zweiwöchigen Befragungszeitraum im Au-

gust 2017 wurden über einen gesonderten Newsletter des Online- Marktplatzes insgesamt über

50.000 Newsletter- Abonnentinnen und Abonnenten zur Teilnahme an der Befragung aufgeru-

fen. Als Anreiz zur Beteiligung erfolgte eine Gutscheinverlosung.

Nach einem Einstieg mit einem Begrüßungstext, der über den Durchführungskontext und die

Befragungsziele informierte, wurde den Befragten ein realer Stimulus präsentiert. Dabei han-

delte es sich um eine Anzeige des Online- Marktplatzes, mit der suffizienter Kleidungskonsum

unterstützt werden soll (siehe Abbildung 1). Anhand einer offenen Frage wurden die Befragten

zunächst gebeten, spontan zu äußern, was ihnen zu dieser Anzeige einfällt. Im Anschluss wur-

den Einschätzungsfragen bezüglich der Anzeige gestellt. Dabei wurde nach der Gestaltung und

der suffizienzfördernden Wirkung der Anzeige, sowie der Glaubwürdigkeit und den Motiven

des Senders der Anzeige gefragt. Weiterhin wurde das ökologische Bewusstsein zu nachhalti-

gem Konsum durch Werte des umweltfreundlichen Konsums und das hedonistische Konsum-

motiv erfasst. Zuletzt wurden soziodemografische Merkmale und die Häufigkeit bestimmter

nachhaltiger Verhaltensweisen der Befragten erfasst.

Abbildung 1. Suffizienzfördernde Kommunikationsanzeige

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Messinstrumente

Abhängige Variablen

Verständlichkeit und Attraktivität der Anzeige. Die Verständlichkeit der Anzeige wurde durch

das Item „Die Anzeige ist gut verständlich.“ Und die Attraktivität der Gestaltung durch das

Item „Die Gestaltung der Anzeige spricht mich an.“ erfasst.

Wahrnehmung der Anzeige. Da der Untersuchungsgegenstand dieser Studie vergleichsweise

neuartig ist und bezüglich der Wahrnehmung von suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation bisher

wenige wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse vorliegen (vergleiche Kapitel 1.1), wurde zur explora-

tiven Beantwortung der Forschungsfragen ein qualitatives Messinstrument in Form einer offe-

nen Abfrage eingesetzt. Die offene Frage wurde mit Bezug auf die Kommunikationsanzeige

gestellt und lautete: „Was fällt Dir spontan zu dieser Anzeige ein?“. Die Befragten konnten

begründete Meinungen und Einstellungen spontan und frei äußern. Durch die Wahl der offenen

Frage wurde eine suggestive Richtungsvorgabe vermieden (Züll, 2015), in der erwartete Effekte

bereits genannt werden und so zu sozial erwünschtem Antwortverhalten führen könnten. Quan-

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titativ wurde die Wahrnehmung der inhaltlichen Botschaft außerdem durch das Item „Die in-

haltliche Botschaft der Anzeige spricht mich an“ erfasst. Suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der An-

zeige.

Neben der Wahrnehmung der Anzeige wurde die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der inhaltlichen

Botschaft mit Hilfe der offenen Abfrage (siehe oben) qualitativ erhoben. Quantitativ wurde die

suffizienzfördernde Wirkung durch zwei Items erfragt, und zwar ob die Anzeige die Befragten

dazu anregt, „sich ausführlicher mit dem Thema nachhaltiger Konsum zu befassen“, und ob sie

sich durch die Anzeige motiviert fühlen, ihr „Kaufverhalten zu verändern“ (α = .87).

Wahrnehmung des Senders. Zur qualitativen Erfassung der Wahrnehmung des Unternehmens

wurde ebenfalls die obenstehende offene Abfrage eingesetzt. Zur quantitativen Messung der

wahrgenommenen Glaubwürdigkeit des Unternehmens wurde die Skala „Glaubwürdigkeit des

Senders“ (Fricke, 2015) verwendet. Das Konstrukt umfasst die zwei Dimensionen „Vertrau-

enswürdigkeit“ und „Expertise“ mit jeweils drei Items: wie „ehrlich“, „vertrauenswürdig“ und

„zuverlässig“ der Sender eingeschätzt wird (α = .80) sowie für wie „qualifiziert, um über nach-

haltiges Kaufverhalten zu informieren“ der Sender gehalten wird und ob er „über große Erfah-

rung im Bereich nachhaltiges Kaufverhalten“ verfügt beziehungsweise „das nötige Fachwissen,

nachhaltige Einkaufstipps zu geben“ mitbringt“ (α = .86). Die interne Konsistenz der gesamten

Glaubwürdigkeits-Skala ist hoch (α = .90).

Prädiktoren

Wahrnehmung der Motive des Senders. Die wahrgenommenen altruistischen, strategischen und

ausbeuterischen Motive des Senders wurden mit jeweils drei Items erfasst (Armstrong Soule &

Reich, 2015). Zur Erfassung des altruistischen Motivs wird gemessen, inwieweit die Befragten

annehmen, dass der Sender sich „moralisch verpflichtet [fühlt], der Umwelt zu helfen“, „ver-

sucht, der Gesellschaft etwas zurückzugeben“ und „sich aufrichtig um das Wohlergehen der

Umwelt [kümmert]“ (α = .78). Das strategische Motiv wird durch die wahrgenommenen Be-

strebungen des Senders erfasst, „seinen Gewinn zu erhöhen“, „neue Kunden zu gewinnen“ oder

„bestehenden Kunden zu gefallen“ (α = .55). Mit Blick auf das ausbeuterische Motiv werden

die Befragten gebeten einzuschätzen, ob der Sender „das Angebot attraktiver darstelle, um die

Preise erhöhen zu können“, den „grünen Trend nur [nutze], um mehr Geld zu verdienen“, und

„sich nicht wirklich um die Umwelt [kümmere]“ (α = .64).

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Werte des umweltfreundlichen Konsums. Die Werte des umweltfreundlichen Konsums wurden

mithilfe der GREEN Scale erfasst (Haws, Winterich & Naylor, 2014). Die Skala umfasst sechs

Items und misst die Tendenz, ökologisches Bewusstsein durch Kauf- und Konsumverhalten

auszudrücken. Die Items lauten: „Ich sorge mich um die Verschwendung der Ressourcen unse-

res Planeten.“, „Ich würde mich selbst als ökologisch verantwortungsvoll bezeichnen.“, „Es ist

wichtig für mich, dass die Produkte, die ich nutze, der Umwelt nicht schaden.“, „Ich nehme

Unannehmlichkeiten in Kauf, um umweltfreundlich zu handeln.“, „Bei vielen meiner Entschei-

dungen berücksichtige ich den potenziellen Einfluss meiner Handlungen auf die Umwelt.“ und

„Meine Kaufentscheidungen werden durch meine Sorge um die Umwelt beeinflusst.“. Die in-

terne Konsistenz der Skala ist hoch (α = .88).

Suffizientes Konsummotiv. Das Motiv, suffizient zu konsumieren, wurde durch drei eigens für

die Studie entwickelte Items erfragt. Diese erfassen die Kriterien beim Kleiderkauf, und zwar:

„nur so viel ein[zukaufen], wie ich tatsächlich brauche.“, „Alternativen zum Neukauf finden

(zum Beispiel Second Hand /gebraucht zu kaufen, zu leihen oder tauschen)“ sowie „Kleidungs-

stücke sollten ein zeitloses Design haben, so dass ich es auch nach längerer Zeit noch nutze.“

(α = .39).

Hedonistisches Konsummotiv. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde das hedonistische Konsummo-

tiv durch vier Items erfasst, die an die Skala von Barbopoulos und Johansson (2017) angelehnt

sind, jedoch das Vergnügen sowohl am Produkt als auch am Einkaufsprozess erfassen. Die

Items lauten: „Die Kleidungsstücke, die ich kaufe, sollten mir Freude bereiten / ein ansprechen-

des Design haben / mir beim Kauf ein freudiges Erlebnis bereiten / mir beim Auswahl-Prozess

Vergnügen bereiten“. Die interne Konsistenz der Skala ist hoch (α = .71).

Soziodemografie. Die soziodemografischen Merkmale der Stichprobe wurden durch Ge-

schlecht, Bildungsniveau, Einkommen und Wohnort (Stadt oder Land) erfasst. Das Alter

konnte aufgrund einer technischen Störung des Software-Tools nicht erfasst werden.

Datenauswertung

Quantitative Inhaltsanalyse der qualitativen Daten. Mit dem Ziel der Komplexitätsreduktion

des Datenmaterials wurde die offene Frage zur Wahrnehmung der suffizienzfördernden Kom-

munikation mit der Methode der quantitativen Inhaltsanalyse ausgewertet (Früh, 2017). Dabei

wurden die offenen Antworten nach Vorgabe eines Kategorienschemas durch zwei Kodiererin-

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nen und Kodierer kategorisiert. Wenn die Äußerungen mehrere inhaltliche Komponenten ent-

hielten, wurden sie mehrfach kodiert und damit auch mehrfach gezählt. Zu den insgesamt vier

Oberkategorien, die das Datenmaterial noch recht allgemein strukturierten, wurden jeweils Un-

terkategorien entwickelt, um eine genauere Analyse zur Beantwortung der Forschungsfragen

zu ermöglichen. Das Kategorienschema wurde induktiv-deduktiv entwickelt. Die Qualitätssi-

cherung der Inhaltsanalyse erfolgte anhand der Gütekriterien Reliabilität, Systematik und Ob-

jektivität der Analyse (Mayring, 2010). Die Gültigkeit und Reproduzierbarkeit der Ergebnisse

wurde durch die Prüfung der Interkoderreliabilität (also die Übereinstimmung der Kodierung

mehrerer Kodiererinnen und Kodierer) sichergestellt. Die Objektivität wurde durch die exakte

Operationalisierung der verwendeten Begrifflichkeiten gewährleistet, was wiederum die in-

tersubjektive Nachvollziehbarkeit der Analyse ermöglichte (Berelson, 1971). Das systemati-

sche Vorgehen wurde durch die genaue Beschreibung und Eingrenzung des zu analysierenden

Datenmaterials und die Orientierung an Regeln der Textanalyse garantiert.

Statistische Analyse der quantitativen Daten. Zur Auswertung der quantitativen Daten wurden

die deskriptive Statistik und Korrelationen in SPSS berechnet. Für die Bewertung der Einfluss-

faktoren auf die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der Anzeige wurde ein Strukturgleichungsmodell

(SEM) mit latenten Variablen im Statistikprogramm R mit lavaan gerechnet. 2.4 Stichprobe

Von den über 50.000 Adressatinnen und Adressaten des Newsletters nahmen 2.144 Personen

an der Befragung teil. Insgesamt füllten 1.626 Personen den Fragebogen vollständig aus. Die

Stichprobe ist durch ein hohes Bildungsniveau (über 60 % haben einen Hochschulabschluss)

und ein eher niedriges Einkommen (über 60 % verfügen über ein Haushaltseinkommen bis zu

2.000 Euro) gekennzeichnet. 80 % der Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer sind weiblich und et-

was über die Hälfte der Befragten lebt in Großstädten mit mehr als 100.000 Einwohnerinnen

und Einwohnern. Die Stichprobe weist hohe Werte des umweltfreundlichen Konsums auf (M =

5.87, SD = .91, vgl. Tabelle 1), was deutlich über den von Haws et al. (2014) aufgezeichneten

Werten der Skala liegt (Studie 1: M = 3.95, SD = .67; Studie 2: M = 4.49, SD = nicht berichtet).

Das suffiziente Konsummotiv ist eher hoch (M = 5.11, SD = 1.10, vgl. Tabelle 1) und auch das

hedonistische Konsummotiv ist stark ausgeprägt (M = 5.63, SD = 1.00, vgl. Tabelle 1).

Ergebnisse

Die Anzeige als Kommunikationsinstrument

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Die Anzeige wurde auf ihre Verständlichkeit sowie die wahrgenommene Attraktivität der Ge-

staltung geprüft, da beide Faktoren als wichtige Voraussetzungen für weitere Analysen gesehen

werden. Die Anzeige wurde als gut verständlich (M = 5.94, SD = 1.53) und die Gestaltung als

ansprechend beurteilt (M = 5.24, SD = 1.67).

Wahrnehmung und Wirkung der inhaltlichen Botschaft der suffizienzfördernden Kommunika-

tion

Für die Analyse der offenen Frage zur Wahrnehmung und Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden

Kommunikation wurden diejenigen Antworten der Befragten herangezogen, die sich positiv als

auch negativ auf die inhaltliche Botschaft der Anzeige beziehen. In 1.013 von insgesamt 1.626

Antworten fanden sich Aussagen mit Bezug auf die Wahrnehmung und Wirkung der inhaltli-

chen Botschaft. Da einzelne Antworten mehrere inhaltliche Aspekte (und damit Kodes) abde-

cken konnten, summierten sich die relevanten Nennungen auf 1.197. Die Mehrheit dieser Nen-

nungen (95 %) vermittelte eine positive Wahrnehmung der inhaltlichen Botschaft der Anzeige,

während entsprechend vergleichsweise wenige Äußerungen eine negative Einschätzung (5 %)

zum Ausdruck brachten (siehe Abbildung 2). Die Antworten wurden in weitere Unterkatego-

rien unterteilt, die im Folgenden ausführlich dargestellt werden.

Neben der allgemeinen Befürwortung der inhaltlichen Aussage in 25 % der kodierten Nennun-

gen („inhaltlich ansprechend“, „wahrer Gedanke“, „überzeugend“, „gute Message“ usw.)2 be-

zogen sich 23 % der Äußerungen darauf, dass die Anzeige als Anregung zur Reflektion des

Konsumverhaltens verstanden wird. Die Befragten fühlten sich animiert, sich kritisch mit den

eigenen Bedürfnissen auseinanderzusetzen („was will ich wirklich?“) und Neukäufe zu hinter-

fragen, beziehungsweise über Konsumalternativen nachzudenken („Man wird angeregt, über

sein Kaufverhalten nachzudenken. Erst, wenn sich der Kunde sicher ist, ob er wirklich ein

NEUES Produkt braucht, sollte er sich dieses zulegen.“). Als alternative Konsummöglichkeiten

zum Neukauf werden in der Anzeige Tätigkeiten wie Selbermachen, Gebrauchtkauf, Teilen

oder Tauschen vorgeschlagen. Diese Anregung wurde in etwa 11 % der Nennungen positiv

aufgegriffen, ebenso häufig wie die Anregung zu nachhaltigem Konsum („Dass man viel zu oft

Dinge neu kauft, die es auch gebraucht in gutem Zustand gibt.“, „Sich moralisch zu entschei-

den, dass man alte Sachen kauft (Flohmarkt, Freunde, etc.) und/oder nachhaltig kauft.“). In acht

Prozent der Fälle nahmen die Befragten die Anregung zum Konsumverzicht als positive Bot-

schaft wahr. Die Formel „weniger ist mehr“ verspricht in ihren Augen ein einfaches Leben.

Teils begründeten die Befragten ihre Zustimmung zum Konsumverzicht auch mit den negativen

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Umweltfolgen des Massenkonsums („Die Gesellschaft muss ihr Konsumverhalten immer mehr

überdenken, denn wir erfüllen schon lange nicht mehr nur unsere Bedürfnisse, sondern leben

darüber hinaus. Wir sollten uns viel öfters die Frage stellen, ob wir gewisse Dinge überhaupt

brauchen.“). Einige Befragte gaben zudem an, dass der dargestellte Entscheidungsprozess ih-

rem eigenen Verhalten beziehungsweise ihrer Konsumeinstellung entspricht. Dies ließ sich aus

etwa 10 % der Antworten mit Bezug zur inhaltlichen Botschaft ableiten. („So fälle auch ich

meine Entscheidungen, wenn ich einen Kaufimpuls spüre.“, „Die Anzeige bildet auf einfache

Weise meine Einstellung zum Thema Konsum ab.“). Eine gewisse Anzahl der Nennungen (7

%) ging auf den allgemeinen Beitrag des gezeigten Kaufverhaltens für Nachhaltigkeit ein („Ich

finde Nachhaltigkeit ein sehr wichtiges Thema“, „Ressourcen schonen, Nachhaltigkeit“).

Die Subkategorien Anregung zur Reflektion beim Konsum, Anregung zu Alternativen zum

Neukauf und Anregung zum Verzicht beim Konsum stellen suffiziente Verhaltensweisen dar.

Insgesamt enthalten also über 40 % der Nennungen Hinweise, dass sich die inhaltliche Bot-

schaft positiv auf die Bereitschaft, suffizient zu konsumieren, auswirkt.

Die negativen Einschätzungen der Inhalte der Anzeige bezogen sich in 2 % der Antworten auf

die Wahrnehmung als belehrend und anmaßend („Mein Händler muss mir nicht die Gewissens-

frage stellen, ob ich nicht lieber zum Flohmarkt will.“, „Erhobener Zeigefinger, spricht mich

nicht direkt positiv an.“). Ferner wurde die negative Einschätzung mit allgemeiner Ablehnung

(„Die Anzeige spricht mich nicht an.“, „(…) es ist unklar, was damit beworben werden soll!“

usw.) beziehungsweise der Wahrnehmung, dass die Botschaft ein schlechtes Gewissen erzeuge

oder zu kompliziert erscheint, begründet.

Auch die quantitative Abfrage bestätigt, dass die inhaltliche Botschaft der Anzeige stark positiv

(M = 6.25, SD = 1.34) und die Anzeige motivierend für suffizientes Konsumverhalten wahrge-

nommen wird (M = 5.13, SD = 1.69).

Abbildung 2. Anteile der Subkategorien zur Wahrnehmung der inhaltlichen Botschaft der

suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation

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Wahrnehmung des Senders

Aus einigen Antworten (insgesamt 244) zur offenen Frage ließen sich Rückschlüsse auf die

Bewertung des Senders der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation ziehen. Durch die Mehrfach-

kodierung ergaben sich 297 relevante inhaltliche Nennungen. Auch hinsichtlich dieser Frage

überwogen die positiven Äußerungen (88 %) gegenüber den negativen Äußerungen (12 %)

(siehe Abbildung 3), für die jeweils ebenfalls Unterkategorien gebildet wurden. In 37 % der

diesbezüglichen Antworten kam zum Ausdruck, dass der Ansatz, als gewinnorientiertes Unter-

nehmen Alternativen zum Neukauf zu präsentieren, uneigennützig und mutig wirkt. Anstatt

einer Verkaufs- und Gewinnorientierung unterstrich die Anzeige aus Sicht der Befragten das

Bestreben zu Nachhaltigkeit und Umweltschutz des Online-Marktplatzes („Selbstlosigkeit der

Nachhaltigkeit zuliebe.“, „anders, schön, bricht mit der kapitalistischen Logik, immer mehr

verkaufen zu wollen/müssen.“, „Toll, dass auch ein Shop, der mit Klamotten Geld verdient,

darauf hinweist, dass man nicht immer alles neu kaufen muss. Großes Lob dafür!“). Dazu pas-

send bezogen sich 22 % der Äußerungen auf den Glaubwürdigkeits- und Authentizitätsgehalt

des Unternehmens („ehrlich; wirklich an Umweltschutz interessiert, nicht nur vorgeschoben“,

„So wirkt das nachhaltige Image von Avocadostore authentisch und es wird nicht das Gefühl

vermittelt, dass es das Wichtigste ist Geld auf der Website auszugeben.“). In den Aussagen

wurde die hohe Glaubwürdigkeit mit der Wahrnehmung begründet, dass die Unternehmensphi-

losophie des Unternehmens an Nachhaltigkeit statt an Gewinnmaximierung ausgerichtet ist

(„Man bekommt den Eindruck, dass Avocadostore nicht auf Biegen und Brechen etwas ver-

kaufen will, sondern berücksichtigt, dass der Kauf von Neuware für unsere Umwelt die häufig

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schlechteste Option ist. Wirkt dadurch sehr authentisch.“). Die Befragten honorierten in 12 %

der Antworten die Andersartigkeit der Anzeige und des Unternehmens („konsumkritisch“, „un-

konventionell“, „ungewöhnlich“) im Vergleich zu herkömmlicher Werbung oder Green-

washing („Wirkt sehr authentisch und nicht nur fake green und nachhaltig.“), was ebenfalls als

konsistent mit dem Image des Online-Marktplatzes wahrgenommen wurde („Werbung mal an-

ders, die statt zum Kaufen zu verführen, den Kauf erst hinterfragt – wahre Nachhaltigkeit.“).

Aus 16 % der Aussagen ließ sich schließen, dass die Anzeige den Sender als sympathisch und

ansprechend erscheinen lässt („Find ich nett, der Verweis auf Secondhand wirkt sympathisch

und lässt vermuten, dass nicht nur Profit entscheidend ist.“, „Sympathisch, dass Avocadostore

Alternativen zum Konsumwahn aufzeigt!“).

Vergleichsweise wenige Nennungen vermittelten eine durch die Betrachtung der Anzeige aus-

gelöste negative Wahrnehmung des Senders. Der negative Eindruck entstand entweder durch

eine allgemeine Irritation über die Sinnhaftigkeit und den Zweck der Anzeige („Absurd, dass

ein Online-Shop Werbung gegen Shoppen macht.“) oder aufgrund von Zweifeln an der Glaub-

würdigkeit der inhaltlichen Aussage („Insbesondere beim Avocadostore gibt es ja nun wirklich

auch sehr viele Dinge, die man ganz definitiv nicht braucht und ganz sicher auch nicht neu, wie

all die Kleidung. Insofern ist meine Assoziation zu dieser Anzeige auch eine gewisse Heuchle-

rei.“, „Wirkt unglaubwürdig, da Avocadostore ja durchaus ein wirtschaftliches Interesse hat.“).

Diese beiden Aspekte machten jeweils 5 % der Antworten zum Sender der Anzeige aus. Aus

etwa 2 % ließ sich schließen, dass die Aktivitäten als geschäftsschädigend für den Online-

Marktplatz wahrgenommen wurden und dadurch ein negativer Eindruck entstand.

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Abbildung 3. Anteile der Subkategorien zur Wahrnehmung des Senders der suffizienzför-

dernden Kommunikation

Die Glaubwürdigkeit sowie die Motive des Senders wurden auch bei der quantitativen Befra-

gung als sehr hoch bewertet (siehe Tabelle 1).

Tabelle 1: Interkorrelation der Prädikatoren suffizienzfördernder Wirkung

M (SD)

Sender: Wahrgenommene Motive und Glaubwür-

digkeit

Glaubwürdigkeit

5.58 (1.04)

.71**

.15**

-.32**

.21**

.17**

.16**

Altruistische Motive

5.44 (1.15)

.07**

-.36**

.20**

.16**

.18**

Strategische Motive

4.94 (1.21)

.26**

.02..

.10**

Ausbeuterische Motive

2.33 (1.11)

-.11**

.04..

-.08**

Empfänger/Empfängerin: Werte und Motive

Werte umweltfreundlichen

Konsums

5.87 (0.91)

.38**

.03..

Suffizientes Konsummotiv

5.11 (1.10)

.02..

Hedonistisches Konsummotiv

5.63 (1.00)

** = Signifikanzniveau p < .001; * = Signifikanzniveau p < .05

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Einflussfaktoren auf die Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation

Welche Faktoren sich fördernd oder hemmend auf die Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kom-

munikation auswirken, wird mit Hilfe eines Strukturgleichungsmodells (SEM) mit latenten Va-

riablen analysiert (siehe Abbildung 4 und Tabelle 2). Von den Prädiktoren (siehe Tabelle 2)

beeinflussen unternehmensseitige altruistische Motive, die durch die Glaubwürdigkeit des Sen-

ders mediiert werden, positiv die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der Anzeige. Somit können die

Hypothesen 1a und 1b bestätigt werden. Hypothese 2 konnte nicht bestätigt werden, da strate-

gische Motive keinen Zusammenhang mit der Wirkung der Anzeige aufweisen. Ausnutzende

Motive des Senders haben einen Einfluss auf die Wirkung der Anzeige, wodurch Hypothese 3

bestätigt wird. Von den kundenseitigen Prädiktoren verstärken Werte nachhaltigen Konsums,

die durch das suffiziente Konsummotiv mediiert werden, die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der

Anzeige. Demnach können auch die Hypothesen 4a und 4b bestätigt werden. Das hedonistische

Konsummotiv hingegen hat entgegen der Erwartung aus Hypothese 5 einen leicht positiven

Einfluss auf die Wirkung der Anzeige. Das Modell hat eine gute Passung, χ2 (388)= 887, p <

.001, RMSEA = 0.031 (Konfidenzintervall 0.029 - 0.034); CFI = .96; TLI = .95, SRMR = 0.041.

Abbildung 4. Strukturgleichungsmodell zur suffizienzfördernden Wirkung der Anzeige

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Bemerkung. N = 1626. ** = Signifikanzniveau p < .01; * = Signifikanzniveau p < .05; n.s. =

nicht signifikant.

Tabelle 2: Zusammenhänge der Prädikatoren

S.E.

z-Wert



Altruistisches Motiv → Glaubwürdigkeit

2,15

0.24

8,92

<.001

.91

Werte → Motiv suffizienten Konsums

0.87

0.09

10,25

<.001

.66

Glaubwürdigkeit → Wirkung

0.20

0.03

7,10

<.001

.42

Strategisches Motiv → Wirkung

-0.06

0.08

-0,65

.51

-.05

Ausnutzendes Motiv → Wirkung

-0.15

0.08

-1,87

.06

-.13

Motiv suffizienten Konsums → Wirkung

0.13

0.04

3,71

<.001

.15

Hedonistisches Konsummotiv → Wirkung

0.08

0.04

2,08

.04

.07

Diskussion

Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse

Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit dem Potenzial der Unternehmenskommunikation für die Sensi-

bilisierung für und Förderung von suffizientem Konsummotivation. Die empirische Untersu-

chung wurde mit Kundinnen und Kunden eines Online-Marktplatzes für nachhaltige Kleidung

durchgeführt.

Die suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation wurde von der Mehrheit der Befragten im Zuge der

spontanen Meinungsäußerung auffallend positiv aufgefasst. So wurde die Anzeige als hilfreiche

Entscheidungshilfe für nachhaltigen Konsum wahrgenommen, der es gelingt, Alternativen zum

Neukauf überzeugend darzustellen. Selbst die Anregung zum Konsumverzicht wurde größten-

teils positiv aufgenommen. Einige Antworten lassen darauf schließen, dass die Befragten das

Abwägen von Konsumalternativen bereits routinisiert haben und ihre generelle Einstellung zu

Konsum eher kritisch ist. Eine wichtige Motivationsquelle für suffiziente Verhaltensweisen

liegt in der Bestrebung, dadurch Verbesserungen im Sinne der Nachhaltigkeit zu erreichen.

Negative Reaktionen rief die Anzeige lediglich bei wenigen Befragten hervor, die sie in diesen

Fällen zumeist als belehrend und anmaßend wahrnehmen.

In ähnlicher Weise wurde der Sender der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation bewertet. Auch

hier überwogen die positiven Äußerungen auf die offene Frage. Demnach korreliert die Wir-

kung der Anzeige positiv mit der wahrgenommenen Uneigennützigkeit und Glaubwürdigkeit

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des Online- Marktplatzes und wurde als übereinstimmend mit dem nachhaltigen Unternehmen-

simage wahrgenommen. Die vergleichsweise wenigen negativen Reaktionen wurden vor allem

durch Irritationen über die Sinnhaftigkeit und den Zweck der Anzeige hervorgerufen. Die quan-

titative Erfassung der wahrgenommenen – altruistischen und ausnutzenden – Motive des Un-

ternehmens bestätigte diese Ergebnisse.

Insgesamt zeigte sich also, dass Inhalte und Absender von suffizienzfördernder Kommunika-

tion unter den Befragten sehr positive Reaktionen hervorriefen. Damit werden die Befunde von

Griese und Halstrup (2013a) bestätigt und für eine größere Untersuchungsgruppe sowie einen

Stimulus bestehend aus Text und Bild (im Vergleich zu einem rein textlich basierten Stimulus

(Slogan), wie bei Griese und Halstrup (2013a)) empirisch fundiert. Da die Zielstellung von

suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation im Widerspruch zum eigentlichen Ziel von Marketing

steht, nämlich den Abverkauf zu steigern, wären auch kontroverse oder irritierte Reaktionen

von Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten denkbar. Dass diese in der vorliegenden Studie wei-

testgehend ausblieben, hängt möglicherweise mit einer starken Übereinstimmung der Werte der

Befragten und der wahrgenommenen Werte des Unternehmens zusammen.

Ein weiteres wichtiges Ergebnis der Studie bezieht sich auf die Wirkung der suffizienzfördern-

den Kommunikation. Den offenen Antworten zufolge konnte die Anzeige zu suffizientem Kon-

sum motivieren. Sie regte aus Sicht der Befragten dazu an, das eigene Konsumverhalten zu

überdenken und auf dieser Grundlage möglicherweise gänzlich auf den Kauf neuer Produkte

zu verzichten oder auf alternative Möglichkeiten wie Selbermachen, Gebrauchtkauf, Teilen o-

der Tauschen zurückzugreifen, wodurch wahllose Impulskäufe und unnötiger Konsum verhin-

dert werden könnten. Angesichts der recht unspezifisch und offen gehaltenen Frageformulie-

rung ist der Anteil derjenigen, die die Anzeige als Anregung zu suffizientem Konsum verstehen,

als hoch zu bewerten. Dies wurde durch die quantitativ abgefragte motivierende Wirkung und

Wahrnehmung der inhaltlichen Botschaft bestätigt.

Die Hypothesenprüfung zu Einflussfaktoren auf die Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kom-

munikation zeigte, dass die Anzeige umso stärker überzeugen konnte, je höher die wahrgenom-

menen altruistischen Motive des Unternehmens und dadurch seine Glaubwürdigkeit wahrge-

nommen wurden. Da altruistische Motive und Glaubwürdigkeit des Senders in der Stichprobe

sehr hoch ausgeprägt waren, lässt sich dieser Befund primär für Unternehmen mit hoher Nach-

haltigkeitsreputation verallgemeinern. Hingegen hatte das wahrgenommene strategische Motiv

des Unternehmens keine Auswirkungen auf die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der Anzeige.

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Auch wenn den Befragten somit bewusst ist, dass suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation von

nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Unternehmen genutzt wird, um die Kundenbindung zu erhöhen oder

Gewinne zu maximieren, wirkt sich dies nicht negativ auf die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung aus.

Hingegen konnte eine tendenziell (p = 0.06) negative Wirkung von ausnutzenden Motiven auf

die suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der Anzeige festgestellt werden. Allgemein wurde das aus-

nutzende Motiv in dieser Erhebung als sehr gering wahrgenommen. Der Effekt könnte jedoch

für Unternehmen ohne starke Nachhaltigkeitsreputation sowie für weniger umweltbewusste

Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten noch stärker zum Vorschein treten. Darüber hinaus zeigte

sich, dass die Werte umweltfreundlichen Konsums der Befragten, mediiert durch das Motiv,

suffizient zu konsumieren, positiv mit der suffizienzfördernden Wirkung der Anzeige zusam-

menhingen, wenngleich dieser Zusammenhang deutlich schwächer ausfiel als der Zusammen-

hang mit der wahrgenommenen Glaubwürdigkeit des Unternehmens. Dies weist darauf hin,

dass eine hoch ausgeprägte Selbstkongruenz der Ziele von Suffizienz – entgegen der Vermu-

tung – keine zwingende Voraussetzung für eine suffizienzfördernde Wirkung der Anzeige ist

(Sirgy et al., 2000). Es bleibt anhand einer repräsentativen, durchschnittlich umweltbewussten

Stichprobe zu bestätigen, ob suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation mit Blick auf die individuel-

len Werte von Verbraucherinnen und Verbrauchern tatsächlich weniger voraussetzungsreich ist

als angenommen und so auch weniger nachhaltigkeitsaffine Kundengruppen zu suffizientem

Konsum motivieren kann.

Interessanterweise zeigte sich für das hedonistische Konsummotiv ein leicht positiver Zusam-

menhang mit der suffizienzfördernden Kommunikation. Es scheint, dass die Motivation, aus

Vergnügen zu konsumieren, die Motivation, aus Nachhaltigkeitsgründen auf Konsum zu ver-

zichten, nicht ausschließt. Nachhaltiger Konsum wird durch unterschiedlichste Motive geför-

dert oder gehemmt und die Gründe für nachhaltigen Konsum und für nicht-nachhaltigen Kon-

sum weisen diskriminante Validität auf, sind also nicht das Gegenteil voneinander (Chatzidakis,

Hibbert & Winklhofer, 2016; Richetin et al., 2012). Dass sich insbesondere auch konsumfreu-

dige Personen für Suffizienz begeistern lassen, ist eine wichtige Erkenntnis, um die gesell-

schaftliche Akzeptanz und Verbreitung von suffizienten Lebensstilen zu erhöhen.

Stärken und Schwächen der Studie

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In der Online-Befragung des vorliegenden Artikels fielen die freiwilligen Antworten auf die

offene Frage zur Wahrnehmung und Wirkung der Anzeige vergleichsweise vielzählig und aus-

führlich aus. Es kann angenommen werden, dass die hohe Antwortrate auf eine sehr positive

Wahrnehmung des Unternehmens innerhalb der Stichprobe zurückzuführen ist.

Die Stichprobengröße kann mit 1.626 gültigen Datensätzen als sehr gut bewertet werden. Al-

lerdings wurde die Befragung an über 50.000 Abonnentinnen und Abonnenten geschickt. Die

Rücklaufquote von drei Prozent deutet auf Selektionseffekte hin, wodurch eine vorsichtige In-

terpretation der Ergebnisse indiziert ist (Kaiser & Henn, 2017). Durch die Erhebung im Kun-

densegment des Online-Marktplatzes konnte eine Stichprobenauswahl nach bestimmten Vor-

gaben wie Repräsentativität nicht ermöglicht werden. Die Befragten sind überwiegend weiblich

und weisen eine sehr hohe durchschnittliche Zustimmung zu Werten des ökologischen Kon-

sums auf. Damit ist die Generalisierbarkeit für die Gesamtbevölkerung nicht gegeben. Die über-

durchschnittlich hohe Bedeutung umweltbewussten Konsums innerhalb der Stichprobe ebenso

wie das stark positive Ansehen des Online-Marktplatzes als nachhaltigkeitsorientiertes Unter-

nehmen könnten die nahezu ausschließlich befürwortende Resonanz auf die suffizienzför-

dernde Kommunikation erklären. Diese hohen Werte drücken sich in leichten Deckeneffekten

bezüglich der Werte umweltfreundlichen Konsums, Altruismus und Glaubwürdigkeit des Sen-

ders sowie einem Bodeneffekt bei ausnutzenden Motiven aus und werden ebenfalls in einer

hohen Interkorrelation von Glaubwürdigkeit und Altruismus des Senders sichtbar. Da es sich

bei diesen beiden Konstrukten inhaltlich um eindeutig verschiedene Wahrnehmungsdimensio-

nen handelt (Fricke, 2015; Armstrong Soule & Reich, 2015), wurden sie trotz hoher Interkor-

relation distinkt behandelt.

Eine weitere Schwäche stellt die geringe interne Konsistenz des Motivs für suffizienten Kon-

sum dar. Dies kann dadurch begründet sein, dass dieses Konstrukt mehrere Aspekte zu bein-

halten scheint. Beispielsweise können sich Motive zur Reduktion der Anschaffung und zum

Ersetzen des Neukaufs durch alternativen Konsum (Secondhand) unterscheiden (siehe z.B.

Hüttel, Ziesemer, Peyer & Balderjahn, 2018).

Einschränkungen bei der Verallgemeinerbarkeit entstehen zudem durch die Auswahl des Ko-

operationspartners Avocadostore.de und den Konsumbereich Kleidung. Das Unternehmen ist

als Online-Marktplatz für nachhaltige Kleidung positioniert und das Markenimage umfasst

Werte wie Nachhaltigkeit und Qualität. Zudem stammen Kundinnen und Kunden von Avoca-

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dostore.de vermutlich aus einem besonders nachhaltigkeitsaffinen Milieu, das durch eine be-

sondere Aufgeschlossenheit gegenüber der Suffizienzstrategie geprägt ist. Damit sind die Er-

gebnisse insbesondere zur Wahrnehmung des Senders nicht auf andere, weniger an Nachhal-

tigkeitskriterien orientierte Unternehmen übertragbar (Hwang, Lee, Karpova & Diddi, 2016).

Dies gilt auch für die Produktgruppe Kleidung. Untersuchungen zu suffizienten Konsumstilen

etwa im Bereich der Ernährung kommen mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit zu anderen Ergebnis-

sen. Die Aussagekraft der Ergebnisse wird zudem von der Tatsache beeinflusst, dass der Un-

ternehmenspartner – wie die meisten Unternehmen – insgesamt in erster Linie auf Abverkauf

abzielende Kommunikationsaktivitäten verfolgt. Newsletter und andere Maßnahmen des Avo-

cadostore.de, die zu suffizienten Verhaltensweisen anregen, stellen eher die Ausnahme dar.

Dies hatten möglicherweise auch die Kundinnen und Kunden im Hinterkopf, die an der Befra-

gung teilnahmen.

Für die Studie wurde ein Design ohne Kontrollgruppe gewählt. Neben forschungspraktischen

Gründen sprach der explorative Ansatz der Studie und das neuartige Thema für dieses Vorge-

hen. Die Studie zielte darauf ab, erste empirische Befunde und vertiefte Einblicke in Begrün-

dungsmuster bezüglich der Wahrnehmung von suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation zu erlan-

gen. In nachfolgenden Studien sollte hingegen ein Kontrollgruppen-Design gewählt werden,

etwa um die Wirkung suffizienzfördernder Kommunikation mit der Wirkung herkömmlicher

Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation (zum Beispiel die Bewerbung von „grünen“ Produkten) ver-

gleichen zu können. Dabei könnte etwa auf der Studie von Griese und Halstrup (2013a) aufge-

baut werden, die die Wahrnehmung von suffizienzorientierter Kommunikation im Vergleich zu

Effizienz- und Konsistenzkommunikation anhand von Werbeslogans untersucht haben.

Aufgrund eines technischen Software-Problems musste in der Studie auf die Erfassung des Al-

ters der Befragten verzichtet werden. Altersbezogene Analysen hätten vermutlich interessante

Erkenntnisse mit Blick auf die Offenheit und Akzeptanz für suffizienzfördernde Unterneh-

menskommunikation in unterschiedlichen Altersgruppen gebracht.

Zukünftiger Forschungsbedarf

Wie bereits ersichtlich wurde, könnte eine Wiederholung dieser Umfrage mit einer repräsenta-

tiven Stichprobe als Befragungszielgruppe weitere wertvolle Erkenntnisse verschaffen. Unter

weniger umweltbewussten Personen könnte die Akzeptanz und Wahrnehmung von suffizienz-

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fördernder Kommunikation weniger hoch beziehungsweise positiv ausfallen, wodurch Reputa-

tionsrisiken für das Unternehmen entstehen können. Zudem wäre eine Wiederholung mit einer

generalisierbaren Stichprobe ratsam, um den inhaltlichen Zusammenhang der verwendeten

Konstrukte (Werte umweltfreundlichen Konsums, Altruismus und Glaubwürdigkeit des Sen-

ders) zu testen. Um kausale Rückschlüsse zur Wirkung der suffizienzfördernden Kommunika-

tion ziehen zu können, wäre für zukünftige Studien dieser Art ein experimentelles Design wün-

schenswert. So wäre einerseits der Vergleich mit einer Kontrollgruppe, die keiner suffizienz-

fördernden Kommunikation ausgesetzt wird, aber auch ein Referenzszenario mit klassischem

Nachhaltigkeitsmarketing sehr aufschlussreich. Da der voraussetzungsreichste und anspruchs-

vollste Aspekt der Suffizienzstrategie die tatsächliche Konsumreduktion darstellt, wären ferner

zukünftige Studien zur Untersuchung des Beitrags suffizienzfördernder Unternehmenskommu-

nikation auf tatsächliches Konsumverhalten von Interesse. Auch wäre es wünschenswert, die

Ergebnisse über andere Konsumsegmente und Produktkategorien wie beispielsweise Nah-

rungsmittel oder Mobilitätsangebote zu bestätigen.

Zudem stellt sich die Frage nach den unternehmensseitigen Motiven für suffizienzfördernde

Kommunikation – unabhängig davon, ob es sich um ein nachhaltigkeitsorientiertes oder kon-

ventionelles Unternehmen handelt. Letztlich könnte eine Förderung von Suffizienz eine Min-

derung des Profits bedeuten. Ob es möglich ist, dies mit der Gewinn- oder gar Wachstumsori-

entierung der meisten Unternehmen am Markt zu vereinbaren, ist eine offene Forschungsfrage.

Praktische Implikationen

Die vorliegende Studie zeigt, dass nachhaltigkeitsorientierte Unternehmen von suffizienzför-

dernder Kommunikation profitieren können, insofern als dass entsprechende Kommunikations-

mittel und -botschaften positive Assoziationen auslösen und Unternehmen als Sender dieser

Botschaften zudem als uneigennützig, vertrauenswürdig und sympathisch wahrgenommen wer-

den. Dies gilt vor allem für Unternehmen, die aufgrund ihrer sonstigen Nachhaltigkeitsaktivi-

täten besonders authentisch für suffiziente Konsumstile eintreten. Inwieweit suffizienzför-

dernde Kommunikation sich auf das Image konventioneller Unternehmen auswirkt, kann mit

den Ergebnissen der vorliegenden Studie hingegen nicht beantwortet werden. Dass suffizienz-

fördernde Kommunikation in einer für Nachhaltigkeit sensibilisierten und trotzdem konsum-

freudigen Zielgruppe die Motivation für Verhaltensänderungen in Richtung suffizienter Kons-

umstile fördert, ist ebenfalls von praktischer Relevanz. Unternehmen können diese innovative

Kommunikationsform einsetzen, um ihrer Verantwortung für nachhaltigen Konsum gerecht zu

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werden. Wie bereits angedeutet wurde, stellt sich in praktischer Hinsicht zudem die Frage nach

der Intention des Unternehmens, mit der es suffizienzfördernde Kommunikation einsetzt. Zielt

die übergeordnete Unternehmensstrategie tatsächlich auf eine Konsumreduktion und damit ge-

gebenenfalls einen Rückgang der Verkaufszahlen ab, oder handelt es sich bei suffizienzfördern-

der Kommunikation lediglich um einen „Marketing-Gag“?

Kommunikation ist nur ein Aspekt des Marketings, um für suffiziente Konsumstile zu sensibi-

lisieren oder diese zu befördern. So wirkt beispielsweise die Kommunikation von suffizienz-

fördernden Botschaften sicherlich unglaubwürdiger, wenn das Unternehmen nicht gleichzeitig

mit einem Produktsortiment aufwartet, das durch Langlebigkeit und Qualität eine ressourcen-

schonende Nutzung ermöglicht. Daher sollten Unternehmen nicht nur kommunikativ, sondern

bestenfalls auch durch den Einsatz des vollständigen Marketingmix suffizienten Konsum för-

dern. Gleichermaßen gilt, dass unternehmerische Unterstützung von Suffizienz nicht nur durch

die Befähigung und Sensibilisierung von Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten erfolgen kann,

sondern auch durch die Umsetzung von Suffizienz in anderen Unternehmensbereichen und -

prozessen wie dem Umwelt- und Energiemanagement oder Lieferkettenmanagement.

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Endnoten

1) Mit Ausnahme der offenen Frage und den Fragen zu soziodemografischen Merkmalen der

Stichprobe liegen dem Fragebogen ausschließlich Multi-Item-Skalen zugrunde, die alle mit

Hilfe einer 7-Punkt-Likert-Skala von 1 = „stimme überhaupt nicht zu“ bis 7 = „stimme voll und

ganz zu“ oder der Antwortoption „ich weiß nicht“ beziehungsweise im Falle der Frage zum

hedonistischen Konsummotiv mit einer 7-Punkt-Likert-Skala von 1 = „nie“ bis 7 = „immer“

gemessen wurden.

2) Die wörtlichen Zitate wurden sprachlich leicht an die Schriftsprache angepasst, um die Les-

barkeit zu erhöhen.

Anmerkung

Die vorliegende Studie wurde im Rahmen der Nachwuchsgruppe „Digitalisierung und sozial-

ökologische Transformation“ durchgeführt. Das Kooperationsprojekt des Instituts für ökologi-

sche Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW) und der TU Berlin wird vom Bundesministerium für Bildung

und Forschung (BMBF) im Rahmen der sozial-ökologischen Forschung gefördert. Die Befra-

gung wurde in Kooperation mit dem Online-Marktplatz für nachhaltige Kleidung und Acces-

soires Avocadostore.de durchgeführt. Wir danken Mimi Sewalski und Aleks Hilarski für die

erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit. Zudem möchten wir Dr. Sonja Geiger von der TU Berlin für ihre

wertvollen Rückmeldungen zu den verwendeten Methoden danken.

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V. When your shop says #lessismore. Online communication interventions for

clothing sufficiency

Zusammenfassung

To keep human resource consumption within planetary boundaries, individual consumption

levels need to drop. We therefore investigated whether online communications interventions,

especially on Social Media, can foster sufficiency in the clothing domain. In two experiments,

consumption reduction and prolonging the lifetime of clothes were promoted. In Study 1, we

conducted an online field intervention. All participants, both in the experimental and the control

groups, reduced their clothing consumption. Hence, the intervention itself did not change cloth-

ing consumption levels. Study 2 was a laboratory experiment with sufficiency promoting Social

Media communication. Sufficiency-promoting communication led to more sufficiency behav-

iour compared to neutral and consumption-promoting communication. This effect was medi-

ated by a lower desire to acquire new clothes (aspiration level). Peer endorsement of the com-

munication by other Social Media users did not strengthen the communication’s effect. How-

ever, the attitude towards the sender and the communication was more positive in the suffi-

ciency-promoting communication than under the other two conditions. Although the field in-

tervention was not effective, Social Media posts could increase sufficiency behaviour in the

short-term. To test longterm effects, further experimental studies are needed.

Schlüsselwörter: Sufficiency, Sustainable consumption, Behaviour change, Intervention, So-

cial Media, Online environment

Veröffentlicht in: Journal of Environmental Psychology

Autor*innen: Vivian Frick, Maike Gossen, Tilman Santarius, Sonja Geiger

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Introduction

Climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation and pollution are on the rise, and

our society is facing the challenge of limiting their consumption’s impacts to remain within

planetary boundaries (Steffen et al., 2015). Three strategies are often proposed to face this chal-

lenge (Sachs, 2015). Following the efficiency strategy, production, use and disposal of con-

sumed goods and services should require as little energy and few resources as possible, and

following the consistency strategy, products should be biodegradable, reusable and environ-

mentally friendly. These measures can only prove effective in combination with the sufficiency

strategy, which requires behavioural changes of consuming less goods and services in absolute

terms (Lorek & Fuchs, 2013; Spangenberg & Lorek, 2019). Sufficiency denotes a self-deter-

mined reduction of consumption levels in absolute terms while ensuring individual well-being

(Princen, 2005). The affluent societies of the Global North could decrease resource use sub-

stantially without impairing well-being or the satisfaction of existential needs (O’Neill et al.,

2018). At the level of individual consumption, sufficiency behaviour means reducing the pur-

chase of new resource-intense goods, choosing goods that are smaller or of lower capacity, or

using resource-intense goods and services less often (Jenny, 2016).

The clothing domain is especially prone to overconsumption, and the vast majority of clothes

are produced under socially and ecologically unsustainable conditions (Ellen MacArthur Foun-

dation, 2017). The fast-fashion system amplifies consumption habits such as buying more items

and wearing them less frequently. Accordingly, Europe experienced a 40% increase in clothing

purchases between 1996 and 2012 (European Environment Agency, 2014). Decreasing clothing

purchases and increasing garment lifetimes can help minimize and mitigate the environmental

impacts of the clothing industry (Niinima ki et al., 2020). In line with the above characterisa-

tion, sufficiency behaviour in the clothing consumption domain means reducing the purchase

of new clothing and prolonging product lifetime by engaging in behaviours such as care, repair,

second-hand acquisition, and clothing exchange.

While clothing sufficiency is currently a niche phenomenon in the Global North

(Kleinhückelkotten & Neitzke, 2019), consumption-promoting communication predominates

in online environments (Frick et al., 2021): Online marketing is ubiquitous, increasingly intru-

sive, and primarily targets increased consumption (Pappas et al., 2017). Clothing is among the

goods most strongly advertised online (Statista, 2019), and clothing-related communication in

Social Media abounds. Social Media use is also related to conspicuous consumption (Taylor &

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Strutton, 2016), and the majority of studies concerning Social Media’s influence on consump-

tion focus on the marketing perspective of increasing consumption. Nevertheless, online envi-

ronments can also support consumption reduction. Currently, a growing interest in sufficiency

can be observed through sustainability trends such as minimalism, slow fashion, or voluntary

simplicity (e.g., Etzioni, 1998; Jung & Jin, 2016).

We report on two consecutive studies on sufficiency-promoting communication in online envi-

ronments. In Study 1, we conducted a field experiment with customers of a sustainable online

shop. We studied behavioural change towards clothing sufficiency by examining the impact of

an online intervention applying sufficiency-promoting communication in Social Media. Study

2 was an online laboratory experiment with a representative sample of Social Media users.

There, we investigated the impact of sufficiency-promoting communication on sufficiency be-

haviour and on attitudes towards the communication and its sender, and compared it with the

impact of consumption-promoting communication and with a neutral condition without any

consumption- related content. Additionally, we tested whether peer endorsement through likes

and comments from other Social Media users increased the effect of sufficiency-promoting or

consumption-promoting communication.

Sufficiency interventions

From a theoretical standpoint, Steg and Vlek (2009) categorize behaviour change interventions

for pro-environmental behaviour into structural strategies and informational strategies. Struc-

tural strategies consist of providing incentives to reduce behavioural costs and increase self-

efficacy. Informational strategies induce motivational change, e.g., increasing knowledge or

changing motives such as social or personal norms towards pro-environmental behaviour. Ac-

cording to the multiple goals theory (Lindenberg & Steg, 2007), these motivational changes can

be induced for three motive categories, that are relevant for pro-environmental behaviour: Nor-

mative motives of what one should do to reflect personal or social norms, gain motives of what

brings personal advantages, and hedonic motives of what feels good. Informational strategies

can thus foster sufficiency behaviour by strengthening normative motives towards sufficiency,

decreasing gain and hedonic motives opposed to consumption reduction, or aligning gain and

hedonic motives with normative motives (Steg et al., 2014; Steg & Vlek, 2009).

The normative motive can be addressed by means of the personal norm. It describes a feeling

of moral obligation and is a widely established determinant of pro-environmental behaviour

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(Schwartz, 1977; Steg & Vlek, 2009). A recent study discovered personal norms to be espe-

cially relevant for sufficiency intentions in clothing (Joanes et al., 2020). Moreover, normative

goal framing can increase sufficiency behaviour (Thøgersen & Alfinito, 2020). Normative mo-

tives also include what individuals perceive as a social norm in their community. Descriptive

social norms are especially effective in pro-environmental behaviour change by providing nor-

mative information about a peer group’s behaviour (Abrahamse & Steg, 2013; Cialdini et al.,

1991; Goldstein et al., 2008). They also increase the effectiveness of informational strategies

(Abrahamse & Matthies, 2012).

Gain and hedonic motives may weaken sufficiency behaviour, for example when hedonic en-

joyment or comfort through consumption are in conflict with consumption reduction (Steg et

al., 2014). Accordingly, some hedonic values negatively relate to sustainable fashion consump-

tion (Geiger & Keller, 2018). To many, the experience of shopping is rewarding (hedonic shop-

ping value, Babin et al., 1994). Status and conspicuous consumption both describe the desire to

increase one’s status or social prestige by acquiring consumer goods, including clothing and

fashion (O’Cass & McEwen, 2004). Conspicuous consumption is also an outcome of material-

ism, which describes the belief that well-being can be attained through acquiring goods (Gold-

smith & Clark, 2008), and negatively correlates with pro-environmental behaviour (Hurst et al.,

2013; Kasser & Kanner, 2004). Additionally, the activation of self-enhancement values such as

material aspirations has been shown to weaken self-transcendence values such as environmen-

talism and benevolence, and vice versa (Maio et al., 2009). The motive to pursue gain and

hedonic motives by frequent consumption can be operationalised as the aspiration level. It has

been examined in a consumption context by Easterlin (2001), who measured material aspira-

tions as the importance of owning certain material goods (e.g., a car, a house, or clothes in the

latest style). Similarly, Karlsson et al. (2004, p. 755) define the aspiration level as “the degree

to which households consider consumption of different goods and services to be necessary”.

Finally, in a psychological setting, it was defined as the perceived need or desire to acquire

goods and services (e.g., Frick et al., 2021; Jenny, 2016).

As a result, we expect that framing communication on consumption reduction with intrinsic,

non-materialistic benefits of sufficiency (e.g., lightness, freedom, autonomy, meaning in life)

decreases the hedonic motive of aspiration levels and thus strengthens sufficiency behaviour

(Pelletier & Sharp, 2008; Steg et al., 2014). Such communication may allow materialistic mo-

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tives to be replaced by non-materialistic ones: embedded in concepts such as voluntary simplic-

ity or minimalism, sufficiency behaviour has personal advantages such as monetary savings

and less pressure to earn money to spend (Etzioni, 1998).

Sufficiency communication on Social Media

To apply the described sufficiency interventions, online environments offer various new possi-

bilities (Guadagno & Cialdini, 2005). Blogs, websites, smartphone applications, and Social Me-

dia offer new channels for providing sustainability-related information that is accessible to us-

ers at anytime and anywhere (Börjesson Rivera et al., 2014; Frick & Santarius, 2019). For ex-

ample, in an online shop, communicating sustainability-oriented descriptive norms can increase

sustain- able product choice (Demarque et al., 2015).

Communication interventions on Social Media are expected to be especially effective due to

social influence, with some authors claiming they may be as influential as face-to-face interac-

tions while having a wider reach (Goldsmith & Goldsmith, 2011). Arguably, Social Media can

improve distribution of pro-environmental social norms (Ballew et al., 2015). A field experi-

ment on social influence and political mobilization showed, albeit with a small effect size, that

Social Media posts influence individual decision-making on a large scale (Bond et al., 2012).

The study found it was the descriptive social norm demonstrated by close peers that particularly

influenced decision-making. Peer communication can lead to behavioural and motivational

change through social influence such as social learning (Bandura, 2009), social norms, or per-

suasion (Guadagno & Cialdini, 2005). Accordingly, an online intervention including visible

peer engagement on Social Media was effective in encouraging college students to save energy

(Senbel et al., 2014). A Social Media field experiment aiming at reducing food waste, however,

found no effects (Young et al., 2017).

“Peer endorsement” is used to describe when peers visibly embrace Social Media communica-

tion (e.g., videos or pictures) with likes, shares, and supportive comments. It has been shown

to influence behaviour and a communication’s popularity (e.g., Sherman et al., 2016; Tofighi

et al., 2020). Similar concept used in informatics and marketing research are “social contagion”,

describing peer influence through Social Media net- works (e.g. to promote products, Aral &

Walker, 2012; Langley et al., 2010) or “word-of-mouth”, the impact of informal communica-

tions between Social Media users on consumption decisions (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006; Ste-

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phen, 2016). In this study, we therefore expect that peer endorsement of a company’s suffi-

ciency communication strengthens the descriptive social norm for sufficiency and thereby, be-

haviour.

Companies as senders of sufficiency interventions

Marketing endeavours to promote consumption reduction for a social purpose mostly stem from

political or civic actors (McKenzie-Mohr, 2011). Yet commercial actors can also play their part

in fostering sufficiency (Bocken & Short, 2016; Heikkurinen et al., 2019). They may foster

sufficiency through their marketing activities since those activities create and maintain cus-

tomer relationships and can effectively influence consumption decisions. Sufficiency-promot-

ing marketing focuses on satisfying ‘needs’ rather than promoting ‘wants’ and aims at only

selling the customer what she or he needs at the moment of purchase (Bocken et al., 2020;

Gossen & Frick, 2018). This strategy is increasingly proving its relevance – both in practice,

shown, for example, in Patagonia’s prominent campaign “Don’t buy this jacket” (Hwang et al.,

2016), and in scientific discourse (Gossen et al., 2019). There are other marketing concepts that

seek to reduce consumption, such as demarketing (Cull- wick, 1975; Kotler and Levy 1975) or

social marketing (Andreasen, 1994; Peattie and Peattie 2009). What differentiates sufficiency-

promoting marketing from those concepts is the clear focus on voluntary behaviour change, the

contribution to sustainability through consumption reduction, and the fact that the sender is a

commercial actor.

Companies might not implement sufficiency-promoting marketing if it appears unusual, con-

troversial, or untrustworthy in the eyes of their customers and leads to image loss (Gossen et

al., 2019). Empirical studies on sufficiency-promoting advertising show that customers per-

ceive the company as more altruistic (i.e., socially and environ- mentally beneficial) and stra-

tegic (e.g., customer loyalty or profit), but exploitative motives in the sense of greenwashing

are often not assumed (Armstrong Soule & Reich, 2015; Gossen & Frick, 2018). Ramirez et al.

(2017) further found companies applying sufficiency-promoting communication to be per-

ceived more environmentally concerned and trustworthy.

Two-study outline

We combined a field experiment to maximize external validity (Study 1) with a laboratory ex-

periment to maximize internal validity (Study 2) (Lusk et al., 2006). With Study 1, we tested

whether online sufficiency-promoting communication can increase sufficiency behaviour and

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if so, which motives mediate this effect. The longitudinal design enabled us to measure con-

sumption levels of clothing over two periods of four weeks. However, the transdisciplinary

approach posed practical constraints that prevented all our hypotheses from being addressed.

Also, a substantial long-term effect of a single instance of sufficiency-promoting communica-

tion is somewhat unlikely, due to the sheer amount of competing in online environments, espe-

cially from marketing sources promoting consumption. Yet, as shown by Bond (2012), even

very small interventions can have a significant impact on attitudes and behaviour when com-

munication is broadcast to a big enough target group. Therefore, in an exploratory approach,

we examined the hypothesis that sufficiency-promoting communication on Social Media can

in fact change sufficiency behaviour, albeit with a small effect size. Further, the field experi-

ment provided a conceptual and exploratory setting to determine whether there were small ef-

fects of the field intervention.

To gain additional insights on short-term effects of sufficiency- promoting communication in a

controlled setting and to address further hypotheses that could not be examined in the field, we

con- ducted a complementary laboratory experiment. Study 2 included best- practice strategies

that strengthen internal validity. Full randomisation was provided by the laboratory setting, and

the experiment was assessed and approved by an ethical committee. In a cross-sectional design,

sufficiency behaviour was assessed as an ad-hoc consumption decision. Study 2 included and

manipulated further factors such as the comparison of sufficiency-promoting and consumption-

promoting communication with a neutral communication condition. It also intended to deepen

the understanding of social norms by investigating the effect of peer endorsement on Social

Media. Additionally, we addressed the organisational perspective on practicability and appeal

of sufficiency- promoting communication. For these purposes we tested how the attitude to-

wards sufficiency communication and its sender differ between the sufficiency-promoting, con-

sumption-promoting and neutral communication condition.

Study 1: Exploratory field experiment

Hypotheses

The main hypothesis addresses the effectiveness of an intervention in online environments via

Social Media and newsletters that promote sufficiency behaviour, with a clothing company

sending the communication. The communication’s impact can be measured by self-reported

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sufficiency behaviour. Notably, based on the literature, this online intervention is expected to

yield only a small effect.

H1a. Sufficiency-promoting communication increases sufficiency behaviour compared

to a neutral communication condition.

Past research ascribed effects of Social Media on behaviour change largely to the perception of

social norms. As social norms play a major role in pro-environmental behaviour, we expect that

the sufficiency- promoting communication strengthens social norms, which then sup- ports suf-

ficiency behaviour.

H2a. The perceived descriptive social norm mediates the positive impact of sufficiency-

promoting communication on sufficiency behaviour.

At the same time, moral motives are established drivers for pro- environmental behaviour. We

expect sufficiency-promoting communication to strengthen the personal norm for sufficiency.

As a mediator, it promotes sufficiency behaviour.

H3a. The personal norm for sufficiency mediates the positive impact of sufficiency-pro-

moting communication on sufficiency behaviour.

Sufficiency-promoting communication highlights non-materialistic values and decreases he-

donic and gain motives for consumption. We expect a mediating effect for the aspiration level

for clothing:

H4a. A decrease in the aspiration level for clothing mediates the positive impact of suf-

ficiency-promoting communication on sufficiency behaviour.

Figure 1. Hypotheses for study 1 (H1a: c; H2a: a1b1; H3a: a2b2; H4a: a3b3)

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Method

Study 1 was designed as a field experiment to measure the impact of a sustainable online shop’s

sufficiency-promoting communication on its customers. In a quasi-experimental design, the

subjects were assigned to either the experimental or control group by self-report of intervention

perception. In a longitudinal design, sufficiency behaviour, operationalised as clothing con-

sumption levels, was assessed before (T1) and after the intervention (T2, T3).

Sample

The sample consisted of customers of the sustainable online shop. Prior to the intervention,

participants were recruited by the online shop’s newsletter (invitation newsletter). As described,

only a small effect was expected from the field experiment. For a small effect size of f = 0.05,

given α = 0.05 and Power = 0.95, power analysis with G*Power indicated a sample size of 1302

participants. In fact, however, sample size was determined by the return rate on the online

shop’s invitation. In total, N = 3308 participants completed the T1 questionnaire, yet only N =

3278 gave their e-mail address. They received an invitation for the second questionnaire (T2),

which was completed by N = 2405 participants (27% drop-out rate). N = 2113 participants filled

out the third questionnaire (T3), representing the final sample (36% drop-out rate from T1).

This convenience sample (Table 1) cannot be generalised for the German population, but was

typical for the customers of the sustainable online shop, with a high rate of young, female par-

ticipants, with low income and a high education level (as shown in a previous study by Gossen

& Frick, 2018). Compared to the control group, the experimental group was younger, t(2105)

= 4.05, p < .001, had a slightly lower education level, χ2(2) = 12.46, p < .01, and a lower income,

t(744.4) = 4.41, p < .001 a higher percentage was female, χ2(3) = 24.58, p < .001, spent more

time online, t(2079) = − 2.16, p < .001, dCohen = 0.12, and had slightly higher environmental

awareness, t(2110) = − 2.75, p < .01, dCohen = 0.13.

Table 1. Sample description of the field experiment.

Field experiment

Control Group

Experimental group

N = 1685

N = 428

Age M (SD)

33.5 (10.5)

30.6 (9.9)

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Education level*

7.2% secondary

59.2% graduate

10.3% secondary

35.3% undergrad.

Income M (SD)

1524 (1134) €

1282 (981) €

Gender*

79.6% female

90.0% female

Online h/day

2.82 (1.67)

3.02 (1.67)

Enviromental awareness

4.53 (0.38)

4.58 (0.34)

Notes. Percentages not adding up to 100% due to participants choosing “other” or “no indica-

tion”. Range environmental awareness: 1 = very low, 5 = very high.

Material

The intervention was planned in a transdisciplinary process (Lang et al., 2012). This means that

the online shop was involved in the formulation of the research question, the design of the study,

and the interpretation of the results. The study design was co-produced during several work-

shops and meetings with representatives of the online shop. As a result, a ‘theme week’ inter-

vention was implemented, during which the online shop promoted clothing sufficiency through

its Social Media accounts and in one of their weekly newsletters (intervention news- letter),

along with the hashtag #lessismore. The intervention advertised the benefits of buying less and

only owning ‘favourite pieces’. The intervention newsletter, presented different styling options

for a single clothing piece (trousers). On Instagram and Facebook, a staff member of the online

shop posted photos and stories on a daily basis, showing alternative outfits for her favourite

trousers and presenting capsule wardrobe collections. In addition, polls for feedback were con-

ducted, and discussions and interactions with the online shops’ followers about the benefits of

sufficiency in their dealings with fashion were initiated in the comments section of the Social

Media channels.

Procedure

The sustainable online shop recruited participants via their weekly newsletter, inviting its cus-

tomers to take part in an online survey (invitation newsletter on week prior to the intervention

newsletter), incentivised by a coupon raffle. The invitation gave no indication on the topic of

the survey. In the first survey before the intervention (T1, Fig. 2), the self-reported amount of

new and second-hand clothing purchased in the previous four weeks, as well as aspiration level,

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personal norm and social norm for sufficiency were assessed. Additionally, e-mail addresses

were collected in order to send out the post-surveys. The survey contained further scales on

frugality, materialism, fashion consciousness and attitude towards the sender, which are, how-

ever, not included in this study. After the intervention week, participants were invited to take

part in the second survey (T2). Here, participants completed a manipulation check by stating

whether they had taken note of the #lessismore theme week. We assessed whether participants

remembered the intervention newsletter, two exemplary posts from Social Media, and they

could further indicate whether they had seen any comments on the posts from other Social

Media users or whether they had commented on the posts themselves. If participants recalled

at least one of the communication tools shown in screen-shots or reported to have seen com-

ments or have commented, they were assigned to the experimental group. Participants who did

not agree with any of these statements were assigned to the control group. Cued recall revealed

that 9% of the sample had only seen the intervention newsletter, 4% only Social Media posts

and 7% had seen both, whereas 80% had not seen any of the intervention tools.

The post-intervention survey (T2) contained the same questions as T1 except for shopping be-

haviour and additional questions about environmental concern, time spent online and socio-

demographic variables. Only subjects in the experimental group were asked about their attitude

towards the theme week and sender. The third survey (T3) was conducted four weeks after the

intervention to assess behavioural impacts. This time, participants were again questioned about

the self-reported number of new products and second-hand clothing purchased in the last four

weeks.

Figure 2. Procedure study 1

Measures

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All measures can be found in Appendix A. If not specified otherwise, items were assessed on a

5-point Likert scale, with the option ‘I don’t know’, which was defined as a missing variable in

subsequent analyses.

Sufficiency behaviour was operationalised as a low consumption level of clothing. This was

assessed at T1 and T3. We asked for the amount of clothes obtained in local or secondhand-

shops, clothes swapped or gifted, clothes bought online, online-reselling or online- exchange

of clothing, and for the amount of self-made clothes, each on a scale from ‘0 pieces of clothing’

to ‘6 or more pieces’ during the last four weeks.

Personal norm for sufficiency consisted of three items (αT1 = 0.78, αT2 = 0.78) and were con-

structed following Schwartz (1977), e.g. ‘I feel obliged only to buy new clothes when I really

need them’.

Social norm for sufficiency was assessed as the perceived descriptive social norms (Cialdini et

al., 1991) of customers of the sustainable online shop as the peer group. Five items assess

whether participants think other customers show sufficiency behaviour, e.g. ‘customers of the

on- line shop buy new clothes if they really need them’ (− ),aT1 = 0.78, αT2 =0.79.

Aspiration level of clothing was assessed by the mean of the subjectively ideal level of clothing

consumption (‚Given limitless availability of money and time, how many pieces of clothing

(outerwear) would you ideally like to buy annually?‘; Frick et al., 2021), and the subjectively

sufficient level of clothing consumption (‘How many pieces of clothing would you need to buy

annually for your well-being not to be restricted?’; Jenny, 2016) ( r T1 = 0.63, p < .001, r T2 =

0.62, p < .001).

Environmental awareness was assessed by using a short version of the German environmental

awareness scale (Geiger, 2019) including 9 items, α = 0.66. The option ‘I don’t know’ was also

included and later defined as missing value in subsequent analyses.

Socio-demographics were gender, age, education level, and income level.

Statistical analysis

To test hypothesis 1a, repeated-measure variance analysis was applied. The interval-scaled var-

iables measuring the aspiration level were tested for outliers. Outliers were identified, as pro-

posed by Tabachnick and Fidell (2013), as values scoring higher than 3.29 standard deviations

above the sample mean. They were truncated, i.e. recoded to scores one unit above the highest

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value within the described range. Missing data resulted in a decrease of the sample through

listwise deletion.

Mediation analyses to test hypotheses 2a-4a and the pretest-posttest control group design from

Valente and MacKinnon (2017) was applied (see Fig. 4). This method adjusts for pretest scores

and thus controls for confounders invariant over time. Path analyses with manifest variables

were executed with R lavaan (Rosseel, 2012), using robust maximum likelihood. In order to

handle missing data, we used full information maximum likelihood (Graham, 2009; Steinmetz,

2015).

Results

All measured variables are listed in Table 2. To check whether randomisation led to comparable

groups, we tested differences in all study variables before intervention (T1) via multiple vari-

ance analysis (MANOVA). We found no significant differences between experimental and con-

trol groups, except for social norm for sufficiency, which was higher in the experimental group,

F (1) = 23.63, p < .001, partial ε2 = 0.015.

Table 2. Desciptive statistics of study 1.

Control group (n = 1685)

Experimental group (n = 428)

Dependent variable

Consumption level

2.41

2.58

1.98

2.29

2.51

2.60

2.08

2.34

Mediators

Aspiration level

13.16

7.90

13.00

7.82

13.22

7.43

13.34

7.86

Personal norm

3.70

0.82

3.84

0.70

3.79

0.79

3.94

0.76

Social norm

3.41

0.59

3.46

0.59

3.58

0.55

3.63

0.53

Notes: Social Norm: CG T1 n = 1390, T2 n = 1319; EG T1 n = 390, T2 n = 386.

Repeated-measure variance analysis showed that consumption levels dropped in both the ex-

perimental and control groups from pre-to post- intervention measurement, F(1, 2111) = 25.94,

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p < .001, ε = .012. There was no main effect of the group, F(1) = 0.91, p = .34. Yet the experi-

mental group did not differ from the control group in their consumption reduction, F(1, 2111)

< 0.01, p = .98. The intervention therefore did not make a difference in participants’ clothing

consumption, but all participants reduced their clothing consumption.

Figure 3. Clothing consumption level in the last month before (black) and a month after

(grey) the theme week intervention. Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals.

Addressing H2a-H4a, we examined whether an influence of the intervention on the consump-

tion level was mediated by motive changes. As Table 3 shows, the intervention had a small

effect on the perceived descriptive social norm for sufficiency with regards to other customers

(path a1), yet this social norm had no effect on the consumption level of clothing (path b1).

The consumption level after the intervention was influenced by the aspiration level (path b3).

Yet the intervention had no effects on personal norm or aspiration level, and mediation effects

turned out to be non-significant. It is noteworthy that although mediators were stable over

time (stability sm1-3), the consumption level of clothing before and after the intervention only

showed a weak positive relationship (stability sy).

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Figure 4. Mediation model of consumption reduction after Valente and MacKinnon (2017).

Model includes the effects of intervention on mediators (a), effects of mediators on outcome

(b), effect of intervention on outcome (c′), stability of mediators (sm) and stability of dependent

variable (sy), cross-lagged effects on mediators (ca), cross-lagged effects on outcome (cb), and

the pretest correlations between mediators and outcome.

Table 3. Mediation model predicting consumption reduction.

Path

0.08

0.03

.06*

3.25

<.01

0.05

0.03

.03

1.75

.08

0.22

0.29

.01

0.76

.45

-0.05

0.13

-.01

-0.37

0.71

-0.13

0.09

-.04

-1.34

.18

0.03

0.01

.10*

2.64

.01

c‘

0.09

0.12

.02

0.74

.46

Stability

sm1

0.61

0.02

.61*

26.15

<.01

sm2

0.67

0.02

.70*

40.28

<.01

sm3

0.90

0.02

.79*

44.09

<.01

0.13

0.02

.14*

5.43

<.01

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Cross-lagged effects

ca1

-0.01

0.00

-.03

-1.43

.15

ca2

-0.01

0.01

-.05*

-2.71

.01

ca3

0.10

0.05

.03

1.94

.05

cb1

0.15

0.11

.04

1.31

.19

cb2

-0.25

0.09

-.09*

-2.77

.01

cb3

0.01

.04

1.01

.31

Covarites

Consumption (pre) – social norm

(pre)

0.04

0.03

.03

1.08

.28

Consumption (pre) – pers. norm

(pre)

-0.21

0.05

-.10*

-4.19

<.01

Consumption (pre) – aspiration l.

(pre)

3.67

0.49

.18*

7.43

<.01

Indirect mediation effects

Social norm (H2)

0.00

0.01

.00

-0.37

.71

Personal norm (H3)

-0.01

0.01

.00

-1.05

.30

Aspiration level (H4)

0.01

.00

0.74

.46

Notes. SEM fit indices: χ2(16) = 463.87, CFI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.12, SMSR = 0.11.

Discussion

All participants had reduced their clothing consumption and thus increased their sufficiency

behaviour, whether they had perceived the intervention or not. Limitations of our study design

are, of course, a prerequisite for interpreting these findings and are discussed below. However,

our result replicates findings from a similar field experiment in the Social Media, which aimed

at reducing food waste (Young et al., 2017) and showed that both Social Media and control

groups significantly reduced their self-reported food waste. We conclude that the questionnaire

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may itself have had an effect as participants reflected on their clothing consumption during the

pre-test questionnaire: It has been shown that assessing consumption intentions alone may alter

subsequent behaviour, at least in the short term (mere-measurement effect, Morwitz & Fitzsi-

mons, 2004). A second explanation for the overall consumption reduction may be the point of

time in a clothing consumption cycle. When participants first completed the questionnaire, they

may merely have been interacting with the online shop (irrespective of their perception of the

intervention), and thus were more likely to have bought clothes whereas, a month later, they

may not have been in a ‘consumption phase’. Also, clothing consumption is under- taken infre-

quently, leading to a high error variance in the outcome variable and thus possibly weakening

effects. The low stability of clothing consumption in the four weeks prior to intervention, com-

pared to the four weeks after intervention, supports this explanatory approach. Third, partici-

pants from the control group could have been unconsciously exposed to the campaign and there-

fore, both groups would have been affected by the treatment. Yet this explanation seems un-

likely, as informational strategies change motives or knowledge, which involves conscious re-

flection (as opposed to structural strategies which do not need reflection, e.g., Steg & Vlek,

2009).

Mediation analysis showed no mediation effects. The intervention had a small effect on the

social norm of other customers’ clothing sufficiency, but that did not affect consumption. From

the mediators, only the aspiration level influenced the consumption level, yet the change of

aspiration levels before and after the intervention could not predict the change in consumption

levels. In any case, the non-significant results and low visibility of the theme week show that,

in the way we implemented the intervention, single posts were not influential enough to have a

measurable effect. The reason for this insignificance may be found in deficiencies of our study

design, as discussed below, but also in low attention levels on Social Media and the sheer

amount of competing information available online (Maurer & Wiegmann, 2011). Therefore,

Social Media communication might be too weak when it appears as singular posts in partici-

pants’ newsfeeds.

The transdisciplinary approach and the field setting were additional challenges, which resulted

in a dependency on the interests and technical availabilities of the cooperating online shop (e.g.,

they formulated the daily posts on their own), giving us less control regarding the intervention’s

topic and wording. Focussing on the hashtag #lessismore and on ‘favourite pieces’ within the

theme week may not be explicit enough to foster sufficiency behaviour. Also, only 21% of

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participants perceived the theme week communication activities. Another recent study showed

that reminding individuals about the environmental consequences of their purchases can effec-

tively increase voluntary simplicity (Peifer et al., 2020). Thus, it seems advisable to educate

individuals on the link between overconsumption and the ecological harnesses of fast fashion

before they indicate their purchase intentions.

Whereas the study’s strength lies in its sample size and external validity, another methodolog-

ical limitation is its quasi-experimental approach. Assigning participants post-hoc to experi-

mental and control groups resulted in selection effects. The groups were inherently different in

terms of their initial consumption level, Social Media use, and sociodemographic characteris-

tics. Also, we could not completely rule out that drop-outs between T1 and T3 (36%) were

selective, even if there is no strong rationale for this. Finally, the sample was not representative

of the German population. Participants were recruited among customers of a sustainable online

shop, which attracted participants with higher- than-average education levels, environmental

concern, and female gender, as was also found in other convenience sample studies on con-

sumption reduction (Herziger et al., 2020; Joanes et al., 2020). Recruiting participants through

a newsletter may have excluded potential participants who are irregular customers not as tied

to the company or not interested in frequent information.

As a practical research implication, the study demonstrates how effectiveness of interventions

has to be interpreted with caution and within the limitations of the study design. Despite meth-

odological weaknesses, the field experiment indicates positive effects of sufficiency- promoting

communication on clothing sufficiency and provides valuable practical implications. To ad-

dress these potentials, a laboratory experiment was conducted to follow up on open questions.

Study 2: Online laboratory experiment

Hypotheses

In Study 2, we tested further hypotheses we had derived from the literature, while we could also

retest the hypotheses from Study 1. We compared sufficiency-promoting and consumption-

promoting communication with a neutral communication condition that does not suggest any

change in the recipient’s consumption levels, expecting inverse effects on sufficiency behaviour

by consumption-promotion. Further, the aspiration level, personal norm and social norm for

sufficiency were also expected to mediate this relationship analogous to H2a-H4a (Fig. 1).

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H1b. Consumption-promoting communication decreases sufficiency behaviour com-

pared to a neutral communication condition.

H2b, H3b, H4b. The perceived descriptive social norm, personal norm and aspiration

level mediate the negative impact of consumption- promoting communication on suffi-

ciency behaviour.

In the laboratory setting, the impact of peer endorsement of communication conditions through

likes and comments could be controlled for and tested. Each communication condition was

presented either with or without peer endorsement. We hypothesised that peer endorsement of

Social Media communication increases its effectiveness, proposing a moderating effect on the

impact of communication conditions on sufficiency behaviour (Fig. 5). Note that most above

cited literature detected effects for peer groups that participants knew in person. In our research,

we focus on Social Media communication from organisations and therefore test whether de-

scriptive social norms shown by the more distal peer group of other Social Media users are

equally effective.

H5a, H5b. Peer endorsement moderates the positive impact of sufficiency-promoting

communication on sufficiency behaviour (a) and the negative impact of consumption-

promoting communication on sufficiency behaviour (b).

Figure 5. Moderation effect of peer endorsement by Social Media users

Since in Study 1 we examined only customers of a sustainable online shop who reported high

environmental awareness, in Study 2 we controlled for such values in a representative sample.

Numerous studies established that pre-existing values of self-transcendence and self-enhance-

ment influence pro-environmental behaviour and curtailment (Steg et al., 2012; Steg et al.,

2014; for sustainable clothing consumption see; Geiger & Keller, 2018). We expected that par-

ticipants with high self-transcendence values (biospheric and altruistic values) would show

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more sufficiency behaviour, and the opposite for high self-enhancement values (hedonistic and

egoistic values).

H6. Individuals with high self-transcendence values show more sufficiency behaviour,

whereas individuals with high self-enhancement values show less sufficiency behaviour.

Due to the novelty of sufficiency-promoting communication, there is still little practical expe-

rience and empirical evidence on its effects on the image and value of the company. In past

research, sufficiency- promoting communication itself was found to contribute to a positive

attitude towards the company (Armstrong Soule & Reich, 2015; Gossen & Frick, 2018;

Ramirez et al., 2017). Therefore, we expect that the attitude towards sufficiency-promoting

communication and towards the sender are more positive than in the other conditions.

H7a, H7b. Sufficiency-promoting communication leads to a more positive attitude to-

wards the communication and sender than neutral communication (a) and consumption-

promoting communication (b).

Method

Study 2 was conducted as an online laboratory experiment, allowing for a representative sample

and full randomisation. The participants were randomly assigned to one of six conditions in a

3 × 2 design, with the three communication conditions (neutral, sufficiency-promoting and con-

sumption-promoting), each paired with only the fictional company’s communication (Insta-

gram posts) or the communication plus peer endorsement (Instagram posts with likes and com-

ments).

Pre-study for the design of experimental material

In order to identify the most effective manipulation for the actual laboratory experiment, we

conducted a pre-study. Initially, seven posts were designed (in each of the three versions neu-

tral, sufficiency- promoting and consumption-promoting, but not including peer endorsement).

In three surveys with mixed posts, N = 105 could rate the posts on two dimensions. First, par-

ticipants’ attitude towards the communication was assessed, and second, the participants rated

the post on a consumption promotion scale from 1 = ‘the post is intended to make me consume

less’, to 3 = ‘neither’, to 5 = ‘the post is intended to make me consume more’. Based on these

indicators, four posts were selected for the experiment. They were selected on the basis of the

sufficiency-promoting version scoring as low as possible, the consumption-promoting version

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scoring as high as possible and the neutral version scoring in the middle range of the consump-

tion promotion scale. At the same time, the posts with an overall positive attitude were chosen.

The consumption promotion in the sufficiency- promoting condition was perceived as M(SD)

= 1.99(0.96), so on the side of ‘intended to make me consume less’, the mean in the consump-

tion-promoting condition was M(SD) = 4.16(0.82), ‘intended to make me consume more’, and

in the neutral condition it was M(SD) = 3.40(0.76). The sufficiency-promoting communication

included both messages directed towards normative motives (as proposed by Joanes et al.,

2020) and hedonic motives (egoistic appeals, as proposed by Herziger et al., 2020) to engage

in sufficiency behaviour. The messages thus included both ecological and personal advantages

of sufficiency.

Sample

The data was collected by a market research institute within its online access panel, recruiting

participants from Germany. As an inclusion criterion, participants were screened for Social

Media use (Facebook, Instagram or Twitter). Only participants who used it at least once a week

were included. To provide representativeness, a socio-demographic distribution was chosen

that is representative for the part of the German population who actively participate on Social

Media. Therefore, participants were screened on the criteria of age (three age groups between

16 and 69 years), gender (two groups), education level (three levels) and income (two levels).

The planned sample was N = 1100, as power analysis using G*Power proposes a sample size

of 1093 participants for a medium effect size of 0.15, given α = 0.05 and Power = 0.95. N =

2286 people accessed the survey, N = 815 were excluded as they did not use Social Media

regularly, N = 222 because they did not pass a control question (‘please click 2 here’), N = 13

due to a break of more than 15 min within the questionnaire (as the priming effect of seeing the

posts would fade over time), and N = 259 participants did not pass the manipulation check

explained below. From the remaining N = 977 participants, N = 96 did not want to participate

in the coupon raffle. The groups in the six conditions did not differ significantly in age, F(5) =

1.02, p = .41, gender, χ2(15) = 13.00, p = .60, income, F (5) = 0.76, p = .58, education level,

χ2(10) = 10.44, p = .40, or the time spent online, F (5) = 1.36, p = .24. The final sample of N =

881 is described in Table 4.

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Table 4. Sample description

Laboratory experiment

German Population

Full sample

N = 881

(Destatis, 2018)

Age M (SD)

33.7 (13.4)

44.3

Education level*

52.2% secondary

30.4% secondary

26.1% undergrad.

23.1% undergrad.

18.9% graduate

31.9% graduate

Income M(SD)

1500 - 2000 €

1’957 € (in 2013)

Gender*

51.2% female

50.7% female

48.6% male

49.3% male

Online h/day M(SD)

3.82 (2.08)

3.27

Notes. Percentages not adding up to 100% are due to participants choosing “other” or “no

indication”.

Material

The manipulation comprises six communication conditions, each consisting of four Instagram

posts of a fictional online clothing shop. Over the conditions, each post had an identical design,

using the same picture and text design, and in the peer endorsement condition, also the same

number of likes and comments. For an example of a post in the three communication versions

see Fig. 6. For full manipulation display, see supplementary material.

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Figure 6. Manipulation from left to right: (1) Sufficiency-promoting communication: ‘Torn

jeans? It’s easy to repair them.’, (2) Neutral communication: ‘Jeans - they always fit.’, (3)

Consumption-promoting communication ‘Torn jeans? Buy a new pair.’.

Procedure

After entering the survey, a screening question covered the Social Media use in terms of fre-

quency and general internet use in terms of time expenditure. Next, participants were asked for

their age, education level, income level and gender, in order to screen for quotas that ensure a

representative sample for the German population actively participating on Social Media in all

six conditions. This was followed by random assignment to one of the six communication con-

ditions and a presentation of the intervention, consisting of four Instagram posts (for an example

see Fig. 6). Participants were asked to look at the posts for a given time and like and comment

on them. Each post was shown for at least 8 s, and the median time that participants spent

looking at each of the four posts was between 15 and 21 s. After manipulation, dependent var-

iables were assessed (see next chapter).

Measures

All measures can be found in Appendix A. If not otherwise specified, items were assessed on a

5-point Likert scale, with the option ‘I don’t know’, which was defined as a missing variable in

subsequent analyses.

Sufficiency behaviour in the domain of clothing was measured by a coupon choice. In a coupon

raffle for 10 vouchers at 10 Euros each, participants could choose between four coupons: two

options for pop- ular retail shops representing a consumption-oriented choice, and two options

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representing sufficiency behaviour, namely a voucher for a second-hand online shop, or a do-

nation of the given amount to a NGO that campaigns for sustainable clothing consumption. The

option ‘I do not want to take part in this raffle’ was defined as a missing variable. To determine

sufficiency behaviour as a dichotomous variable, voucher choices for the charity donation and

second-hand online shop were coded as 1 = yes, and the regular online-shop vouchers were

coded as 0 = no.

Aspiration level of clothing see study 1.

Personal norm for sufficiency see study 1.

Social norm for sufficiency was assessed using a set of eight items, on the descriptive social

norm of the peer group for sufficiency (e.g. reduced consumption, repair, sharing), that varied

slightly from study 1, this time defined as ‘Instagram users’, α = 0.82.

Attitude towards sufficiency-promoting communication was measured with five new items

assessing how users liked the posts (α = 0.77), e.g. ‘The Social Media presence of the clothing

company is appealing’.

Attitude towards the sender measured how participants perceived the online shop due to its

communication. The scale ‘motives of the sender’ was used (Armstrong Soule & Reich,

2015). In it, the altruistic dimension, and reversed strategic and exploitive motives were inte-

grated (α = 0.77). Each dimension consists of three items. ‘Tries to address new customers’ or

‘does not really care for the environment’ are examples for motives of the sender.

Universal values was assessed using a short version of Schwartz’s value scale (Steg et al.,

2012) to measure altruistic and biospheric values in the category of self-transcendence, α =

0.88, and egoistic and hedonistic values in the category of self-enhancement, α = 0.77, with

eight items ranging from − 1 ‘opposed to my values’, 0 ‘unimportant’ to 7 ‘guiding principle’.

Manipulation check. To check whether participants received and understood the communica-

tion content, they were shown one of the four Social Media posts in all three communication

versions (i.e., neutral, consumption-promoting, sufficiency-promoting), as well as the option

‘I did not see any of these posts’ and were instructed to pick which one of them was presented

to them.

Socio-demographics. We assessed the socio-demographic variables gender, age, education

level, income level and time spent online.

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Statistical analysis

To test the hypotheses of sufficiency-promoting communication or consumption-promoting

communication (H1), their interaction with peer endorsement on sufficiency behaviour (H5),

as well as the covariates of universal values (H6), stepwise hierarchical logistic regression was

applied, as this allowed us to measure both the direct effect of sufficiency communication, as

well as how this effect changes when other predictors are included and allowed to interact with

the manipulation (Field, 2009). The impact on the attitude towards the message and the sender

(H7) was computed with variance analysis (ANOVAs). These analyses are computed in SPSS

25. Mediation analyses, including sufficiency-promoting communication (H2a-H4a) and con-

sumption-promoting communication (H2b-H4b), were tested against the neutral condition in

two separate models, each with a mediation analysis applying diagonal weighed least squared

estimator (DWLS) in R lavaan (Rosseel, 2012; Steinmetz, 2015).

Results

Outcome and mediator variables are shown in Table 5. Sufficiency behaviour as coupon choice

was rather rare, with 18.3% of participants choosing to donate their prize to an NGO for sus-

tainable clothing, and 9.2% choosing the coupon for an online peer-to-peer second-hand mar-

ketplace, whereas the other 72.5% chose one of the two clothing shop coupons.

The influence of communication condition, peer endorsement and values as covariates on suf-

ficiency behaviour was assessed by hierarchical logistic regression (Table 6). Hypothesis 1a

was confirmed at Step 1, not including covariates. If participants were presented the suffi-

ciency-promoting communication, they were 1.51 [95% CI 1.06–2.14] times as likely to choose

the sufficiency coupon as participants in the neutral condition. Further analyses revealed that

this effect was explained by participants with high self-transcendence values, shown in the in-

teraction effect of self-transcendence and sufficiency promotion (Step 3). Additionally, high

self-enhancement values decreased sufficiency behaviour. The participants who saw consump-

tion-promoting communication did not choose the sufficiency option less often than those in

the neutral condition (H1b). The stepwise procedure produced the best model fit (χ2(6) = 35.52,

p < .001) for the model seen in Table 6 that excluded peer endorsement (Block χ2 (1) = 0.18, p

= .67), the interaction effect between communication conditions and peer endorsement (H5,

Block χ2 = 0.49, p = .78), and the interaction effect between communication conditions and

self-enhancement (Block χ2 (2) = 1.11, p = .57), which had no effect on sufficiency behaviour.

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Table 5. Descriptive variables

Consumption promotion

Neutral condition

Sufficiency promotion

Peer endorsement:

without

with

without

with

without

with

N = 129

N = 145

N = 154

N = 146

N = 162

N = 145

Sufficiency behaviour*

24.03%

20.00%

25.97%

25.34%

33.95%

34.48%

Ideal level of consumption

38.48

36.8

36.46

33.84

33.44

29.58

43.02

35.02

22.64

26.19

23.26

27.26

Sufficient level of consumption

9.51

12.27

10.10

14.62

8.88

12.05

11.91

13.84

5.75

10.53

6.52

9.14

Aspiration level

24.00

22.18

23.28

21.57

21.16

18.97

27.47

21.9

14.20

16.55

14.89

16.42

Personal norm

3.21

1.12

3.19

1.13

3.17

1.04

2.99

1.11

3.33

1.03

3.45

1.04

Social norm**

2.21

0.72

2.16

0.56

2.21

0.64

2.23

0.68

2.24

0.74

2.30

0.81

Attitude towards communication

3.14

0.82

3.32

0.84

3.24

0.86

3.16

0.83

3.77

0.81

3.73

0.78

Attitude towards sender

2.49

0.48

2.52

0.48

2.66

0.49

2.69

0.45

3.25

0.59

3.23

0.64

Self-transcendence

5.18

1.21

5.13

1.09

5.32

1.15

5.2

1.05

5.23

1.23

5.08

1.10

Self-enhancement

3.68

1.11

3.57

1.08

3.52

1.19

3.5

1.12

3.37

1.16

3.57

1.01

Notes. * Dichotomous variable: percentage of participants showing sufficiency behaviour.

** N in the above order: 121, 134, 140, 136, 150, 135 (due to option: ‘I don’t know’).

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Table 6. Hierarchical logistic regression model predicting sufficiency behaviour (

Wald

odds

ratio

Lower

95% CI

Upper 95

% CI

Step 1

Communication condition

11.62

.003

Sufficiency promotion

0.41

0.18

5.24

.022

1.51*

1.06

2.14

Consumption promotion

-0.21

0.20

1.12

.290

0.81

0.55

1.19

Step 2

Communication condition

10.75

.005

Sufficiency promotion

0.42

0.18

5.49

.019

1.53

1.07

2.18

Consumption promotion

-0.16

0.20

0.69

.408

0.85

0.57

1.25

Self-transcendence

0.18

0.07

6.86

.009

1.20

1.05

1.37

Self-enhancement

-0.21

0.07

8.80

.003

0.81

0.71

0.93

Step 3

Communication condition

4.68

.097

Sufficiency promotion

-1.94

0.90

4.64

.031

0.14

0.02

0.84

Consumption promotion

-0.82

0.94

0.76

.385

0.44

0.07

2.79

Self-transcendence

-0.03

0.12

0.05

.823

0.97

0.77

1.23

Self-enhancement

-0.20

0.07

7.81

.005

0.82*

0.72

0.94

Interaction communication * self-transcend-

ence

7.64

.022

Sufficiency * self-tran-

scendence

0.45

0.17

7.16

.007

1.56*

1.13

2.16

Consumption * self-tran-

scendence

0.12

0.18

0.48

.490

1.13

0.80

1.60

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The mediation model of sufficiency-promoting communication compared to the neutral condi-

tion on sufficiency behaviour (H2a – H4a), revealed that effects from sufficiency-promoting

communication on sufficiency behaviour were mediated by a lower aspiration level for clothing

(Table 7, Fig. 3). Sufficiency communication also influenced the personal norm for sufficiency

(path a2, β = .13), but this did not translate into more sufficiency behaviour (path b, n.s.). The

personal norm and aspiration levels were negatively correlated, β = .43. No mediation effect

could be found for the social norm of other Social Media users. Since logistic regression anal-

ysis had shown that consumption-promoting communication had no significant effect on suffi-

ciency behaviour, the mediation model for consumption-promoting communication was

equally non-significant (H2-4b), and can be found in Appendix B.

Table 7. Mediation model of sufficiency-promoting communication (following Fig. 1).

Path

0.05

0.06

.04

0.82

.415

0.27

0.09

.13*

3.08

.002

-9.60

1.71

-.25*

-5.63

<.001

-0.10

0.08

-.07

-1.26

.207

0.11

0.06

.11

1.84

.066

-0.01

0.00

-.24*

-3.86

<.001

0.13

0.11

.07

1.17

.241

Indirect Mediation effects

Social norm

0.00

0.01

.00

-0.69

.493

Personal Norm

0.03

0.02

.01

1.59

.112

Aspiration level

0.12

0.04

.06*

3.13

.002

Total effect

0.28

0.11

.14*

2.49

.013

Covariates

Social norm – personal norm

0.05

0.03

.06

1.62

.106

Social norm – aspiration

-1.19

0.63

-.09

-1.90

.058

Personal norm - aspiration

-8.55

1.01

-.43*

-8.44

<.001

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Finally, we addressed the attitude towards sufficiency-promoting communication and its

sender. As hypothesised (H7), there was a significant main effect of the communication condi-

tion on the attitude towards the communication F(2) = 42.20, p < .001, partial ε2 = .09. Contrasts

revealed that the attitude towards the sender of sufficiency- promoting communication was

more positive than to senders of both neutral communication, b(SE) = 0.57 (0.10), t = 5.91, p <

.001, partial ε2 = .04 and consumption-promoting communication, b(SE) = 0.41 (0.10), t = 4.21,

p < .001, partial ε2 = .02. Peer endorsement F(1) = 0.12, p = .724, and its interaction with

communication, F(2) = 2.15, p = .112, did not have a significant effect. Accordingly, there was

a significant main effect of the communication on the attitude towards the sender, F (2) =

154.92, p < .001, partial ε2 = .26. Contrasts revealed that the attitude towards the sender in the

sufficiency-promoting condition was more positive than both the neutral condition, b(SE) =

0.54 (0.06), t = 8.64, p < .001, partial ε2 = .08 and consumption-promoting condition, b (SE) =

0.71 (0.06), t = 11.44, p < .001, partial ε2 = .13. However, in this model too, neither peer en-

dorsement F(1) = 0.14, p = .709, nor its interaction with communication, F(2) = 0.21, p = .812,

had a significant effect.

Discussion

Compared to the other conditions, sufficiency-promoting Social Media communication led to

more sufficiency behaviour and a better attitude towards the communication content and to-

wards the company. Including values into the regression model revealed that sufficiency com-

munication was mainly effective for participants scoring high on self-transcendence values.

Mediation analyses further showed that, as a short-term effect, a higher aspiration level medi-

ates the relationship between sufficiency-promoting communication and sufficiency coupon

choice. Promoting sufficiency had a positive effect on the personal norm for sufficiency, yet

this effect seemed to be too weak to translate into actual behaviour (this is also given for Study

1). This result is in line with an earlier study that found this lack of connection between personal

norm and behaviour (Frick et al., 2021). An alternative explanation would be that the effect of

personal norm is mediated through a lower aspiration level. Consumption-promoting commu-

nication, however, did not lead to less sufficiency behaviour compared to the neutral condition.

This finding contrasts with past research showing the consumption-increasing effects of adver-

tisement (e.g., Hoch et al., 2016; Kasser & Kanner, 2004). Possibly, the neutral condition of the

fictional company’s communication was not perceived as completely neutral but may be per-

ceived as advertising of some sort since individuals expect companies’ primary marketing goals

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to be consumption promotion (Stoeckl & Luedicke, 2015). Another possibility to explain this

lack of difference is that, as consumption-promoting communication predominates in online

environments, a habituation effect might be occurring whereby one consumption-promoting

post does not make a difference, but sufficiency-promoting communication attracts more atten-

tion due to its novel character (Gossen et al., 2019).

Compared to the other conditions, sufficiency-promoting communication also positively af-

fected attitudes towards the communication and sender whereas consumption-promoting com-

munication did not cause a change in these attitudes. This finding is in line with previous re-

search on institutional sufficiency-promoting marketing, which found that a message amplify-

ing sufficiency behaviour boosts favourable attitudes towards green demarketing advertising

(Reich & Armstrong Soule, 2016) and enhances customers’ perceptions of the firm (Ramirez

et al., 2017). Consumption-promoting communication may not have an effect compared to a

neutral condition due the fact that advertising is so common that it is not actively processed.

This effect may also have influenced perceptions of the fictional company in our laboratory

experiment.

Peer endorsement did not moderate the relationship between communication and any of the

dependent variables. One reason for this might be that the fictional posts and comments were

perceived as ‘fake’. For that matter, also the laboratory setting of the study lacks external va-

lidity because the posts were isolated and not presented in a newsfeed along with other posts,

as is common on Instagram. This isolation resulted in less distraction than in a real-world set-

ting. Most previous studies that have found effects of social norms included social information

from real peers that participants actually knew. The study at hand, conversely, showed com-

ments and likes of other Social Media users that participants did not personally know. Social

norms of the more distant peer group of Social Media users are thus not as effective as social

norms transported by close peers.

General discussion

We find that sufficiency-promoting communication in Social Media can be effective for en-

hancing sufficiency behaviour and attitudes in the short term. Table 8 provides an overview of

hypotheses and respective results.

Table 8. Overview of hypotheses and results

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Study 1

Study 2

H1a

Sufficiency-promoting communication increases suffi-

ciency behaviour compared to a neutral communica-

tion condition.

Yes

H2a

The perceived descriptive social norm mediates the

positive impact of sufficiency-promoting communica-

tion on sufficiency behaviour.

No (only

path a)

H3a

The personal norm for sufficiency mediates the posi-

tive impact of sufficiency-promoting communication

on sufficiency behaviour.

Only

path a

H4a

A decrease of the aspiration level for clothing mediates

the positive impact of sufficiency-promoting commu-

nication on sufficiency behaviour.

No (only

path b)

Yes

H5a

Peer endorsement moderates the positive impact of

sufficiency-promoting communication on sufficiency

behaviour.

H1b-5b

Effects for consumption-promoting communication

Individuals with high self-transcendence values show

more sufficiency behaviour whereas individuals with

high self-enhancement values show less sufficiency

behaviour

Yes

H7a, b

Sufficiency-promoting communication leads to a more

positive attitude towards the communication and

sender than neutral communication (a) and consump-

tion-promoting communication (b).

Yes

In the field experiment, all participants reduced their level of clothing consumption regardless

of whether or not they had seen the intervention. Therefore, either the engagement with the

questionnaire itself (especially among individuals with a high interest in sustainability) could

have evoked behaviour change towards sufficiency or participants were in different consump-

tion cycle stages. Despite these shortcomings, the study shows the practical limitations of Social

Media when it comes to behaviour change. Compensating the methodological weaknesses of

the field experiment, the laboratory experiment showed significant short-term effects of suffi-

ciency-promoting communication on sufficiency behaviour and attitudes towards the commu-

nication and its sender. With the sufficiency-promoting communication, participants were 1.5

times more likely to choose a sufficiency-oriented coupon and rated the communication and its

sender more positively than under the neutral condition. Interestingly, this effect was apparent

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mainly for participants with high self-transcendence values, meaning that the intervention was

most effective for target groups already engaged in the topic.

The effects of universal self-transcendence and self-enhancement values (e.g., Geiger & Keller,

2018) could be replicated for sufficiency behaviour in the clothing domain: whereas a strong

emphasis on self-enhancement consistently decreased sufficiency choice, self-transcendence

interacted with the sufficiency communication. Although the effect size was relatively small, it

is still worth noting that the short-term effect of sufficiency-promoting communication was as

influential as self-transcendence or self-enhancement. From this finding, we draw two conclu-

sions. First, the short-term effects may best unleash their potential when the intervention is

timed shortly before a relevant consumption decision (e.g., before customers of an online shop

move to the cashier). As a practical implication, sufficiency-promoting communication would

be valuable as a sufficiency nudge (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008). Second, as we only found short-

term effects; long-term effects remain to be tested in future research. Although, in our study,

single Social Media posts were too weak as an intervention (as was also found by Young et al.,

2017), it remains to be explored in greater depth whether, for example, a more repeated expo-

sure to sufficiency cues from several sources or incorporating social norms from direct peers

(as in Bond et al., 2012) has an effect.

The laboratory Study 2 showed a mediation effect: Sufficiency-promoting communication

changes the self-reported aspiration level in the short-term, which then influences sufficiency

behaviour. In the field experiment, the relationship between the aspiration and consumption

level was also present. Yet, no changes could be detected for the mediator social norm for suf-

ficiency in either study, and only a tendency for the personal norm as a mediator for sufficiency

was found in Study 2. The interventions in both studies included sufficiency-promoting mes-

sages addressing normative motives (Joanes et al., 2020) and hedonistic motives (Herziger et

al., 2020). Apparently, these messages had an effect only in the laboratory setting. The suffi-

ciency-promoting communication may have activated normative motives, as suggested in pre-

vious research, which found that activating normative goals weakens hedonistic consumption

motives (Maio et al., 2009). Also, finding the aspiration level to be a strong mediator shows

how environmental psychology could enable more knowledge on behavioural determinants to

be gained by examining factors of unsustainable behaviour (Thøgersen, 2014). Whereas nor-

mative determinants and intentions in favour of pro-environmental behaviour have been thor-

oughly studied (e.g., Schwartz, 1977; Stern et al., 1999), gain and hedonistic motives that hinder

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pro-environmental behaviour are less often included in empirical studies (Thøgersen, 2014, but

see; Frick et al., 2021). As well as strengthening personal norms and pro-environmental values,

attenuating hedonistic motives, such as aspiration levels, materialism, or fashion consciousness,

may be a viable strategy to increase well-being and foster a sufficiency-oriented lifestyle (e.g.,

Geiger & Keller, 2018; Steg et al., 2012).

Peer endorsement from users of the respective Social Media platform did not influence suffi-

ciency behaviour. The perceived norms within this group did not have a significant effect on

sufficiency behaviour. We conclude that it might be necessary to readjust expectations on how

Social Media may be able to change behaviour through social norms (e. g., Ballew et al., 2015;

Goldsmith & Goldsmith, 2011). Prior research showed that peer action on Social Media can

influence behaviour (e.g., Bond et al., 2012) and that social norms are most effective when the

influencing individuals are personally known in real life (Abrahamse & Steg, 2013). Perceiving

peer endorsement from one’s own social network has been found to be more influential than

that from unknown people (Senbel et al., 2014). In our study, peer customers or Social Media

users did not fulfil that condition.

Nonetheless, companies can benefit from their communicational efforts to support sufficiency

behaviour. Our research showed that attitudes towards the communication and its sender are

positive after receiving a sufficiency-promoting intervention. This finding supports the results

of other studies that emphasise the beneficial effects of sufficiency-promoting marketing on the

reputation and credibility of the respective company (Ramirez et al., 2017; Reich & Armstrong

Soule; 2016).

Strengths and limitations of the studies

The combination of a field experiment with a laboratory experiment presents a strength of our

study. Whereas the field experiment provides valuable practical and exploratory insights, the

laboratory experiment allowed us to adopt best-practice strategies such as full randomisation

and ethical approval. The studies both have behavioural outcome variables, which have been

called for to enhance environmental psychology studies (Kormos & Gifford, 2014): In Study 2,

actual consumption decisions, also known as revealed preferences, could be measured by a real-

world coupon raffle. Such money-allocation tasks are commonly used behavioural measures

(Lange & Dewitte, 2019). The consumption level in Study 1, although it is self-reported behav-

iour, has the advantage of being measured differently to Likert-scale measures, with a specific

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time-frame and frequency (as opposed to an unspecific frequency measure such as “often”,

Lange & Dewitte, 2019). Recalling the number of clothing items acquired is prone to memory

bias, yet this affects both times of measurement equally, holding a possible bias constant.

Both studies, however, also had their restrictions. We encountered a number of practicability

issues of the transdisciplinary approach, where we conducted the whole research process of the

field experiment together with an existing online shop. These issues included the selective con-

venience sample, the quasi-experimental assignment to conditions, poor control over the com-

munication during the intervention, and the limited number of research questions that could be

asked. At the same time, we gained practical and methodological insights on the design, dis-

semination, and evaluation of sufficiency-promoting communication, which we find have prac-

tical implications and are valuable for the research community. Overall, it still must be consid-

ered that the methodological challenges of the field study limit the explanatory power of the

intervention. Since the laboratory experiment presented Social Media posts outside the usual

context of an Instagram newsfeed, it may lack realism. Further, given the hypothetical nature

of the company, it is not completely clear whether individuals would react in accordance with

our findings in situations with real brands, which bring a plethora of brand associations and

histories. From a methodological perspective, improvements in designing and implementing

future studies are also advisable, e.g., the assignment to experimental or control group should

be randomized, instead of self-assessed by the respondents. Since we suggest that the behav-

ioural changes found in our field study result from a mere-measurement effect, this assumption

should be tested in future research.

Another challenge was the operationalisation of the concept behind sufficiency behaviour. In

the field experiment, we equated clothing sufficiency behaviour with the reported number of

purchased items. Thus, we applied a broad understanding of the concept, which included re-

duced clothing consumption but also alternative forms of consumption that help to decrease

purchases of new products (e.g., sharing or second-hand purchases). Yet in the laboratory set-

ting, a behavioural measurement fit for short-term effects had to be found. It was important that

the dependent variable measures actual behaviour and not just intentions or attitudes. To address

this, we used a coupon choice, with the downside that ‘consumption reduction’ could not be

promoted as an option. Thus, participants could opt for donating to a clothing-related NGO or

choose a voucher for a second-hand marketplace. This indicator of sufficiency behaviour was

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adapted from theory (e.g., Jenny, 2016; Kleinhückelkotten & Neitzke, 2019). However, the

sufficiency vouchers could have been chosen for other reasons.

In contrast to second-hand vouchers or donating to a NGO for sustainability, the option of not

participating in the raffle had no biospheric cues (see Appendix A). As data security concerns

could also have impeded people from choosing any voucher at all, we decided not to define this

choice as a sufficiency behaviour. Apart from that reason, there is no indication that other,

unrelated reasons such as novelty or attractiveness would not be randomly distributed between

experimental and control groups. Therefore, they were not expected to alter results but could

increase measurement error and thus, statistical power. Future research may further refine this

measurement.

Future research

Implications for future research firstly relate to the question of how sufficiency-promoting com-

munication has to be designed to have long-term effects on sufficiency behaviour. Because the

Social Media posts were presented in the context of a laboratory experiment, the effect should

be replicated in another study, for example by integrating the communication posts in partici-

pants’ newsfeeds. Due to the fictional sender and the related limitations, it would add support

to test findings when existing companies and real Social Media communication are used. Future

research should also consider the timing and nature of the sufficiency-promoting message, for

instance whether more concrete communication (i.e., fast fashion and textile waste) would be

more effective than more abstract ones (i.e., overconsumption and sustainability) (Peifer et al.,

2020). Also, the laboratory experiment revealed that both the personal norm as a normative

motive and aspiration level as a hedonic motive influence sufficiency behaviour. Thus, future

environmental psychology research should examine not only pro-environmental motives but

also motives that might pose a barrier towards sustainable consumption. Our research showed

that peer endorsement through comments and likes of other Social Media users not personally

known to participants does not influence sufficiency behaviour. To find out more on this issue,

future research could compare in a real-world scenario the social norms of known peers with

those of unknown people. Another research direction would be to investigate from the perspec-

tive of environmental psychology other influential factors that may moderate the effects of suf-

ficiency-promoting communication.

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Our findings imply that, especially in a real-world setting, single-post interventions may be too

weak to change behaviour, yet further studies are needed to find out more about the possible

long-term effects of Social Media communication and peer endorsement, especially in relation

to how well-known peers are to the participants. It would be of great interest to reinvestigate

the effects of Social Media interventions with field experiments including a representative sam-

ple, randomized group allocation, and a more intense intervention with communication clearly

asking participants both to reduce consumption and to do so repeatedly. Also, the laboratory

testing of other peer groups that may transfer pro-environmental social norms offers an inter-

esting path for future research.

Examining other sufficiency fields prevalent in online environments, for example plant-based

nutrition or the avoidance of air travel, could be promising, as could studying the effectiveness

of a message depending on the sender of the communication. Although we could not find reac-

tance to possible greenwashing in the sample with a fictional company, differences could be

tested between actual companies with varying sustainability reputations, and also non-govern-

mental or governmental organisations.

Finally, our research did not investigate marketing techniques such as personalisation based on

the evaluation of personal data from Social Media, user profiles, or community forums. The

increasing importance of micro-targeting, on- and offline tracking, big data evaluations, and

personalised advertising compared to traditional advertising formats might cause their im-

portance for sufficiency-promoting communication to grow as well. As Study 2 showed suffi-

ciency-promoting communication to be most effective for people already interested in the topic,

personalisation may target these groups. At the same time, people with low pro-environmental

values may show even less sufficiency over time if they are only confronted with conventional

marketing content. Either way, further research is needed in this area.

Conclusion

Our research demonstrated that sufficiency-promoting communication in Social Media can be

successful in increasing sufficiency behaviour in the short-term. Companies can also benefit

from their sufficiency efforts since customers’ attitudes towards Social Media communication

and its sender are mostly positive. For establishing social norms for sufficiency, our attempts

to boost the effect through the endorsement of distant peer groups, such as fellow customers or

Social Media users, proved to be non-effective. This lack of effectivity possibly dampens the

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often-articulated hope that Social Media is a tool for behaviour change. With this research, we

contribute to a better understanding of the opportunities and pitfalls of sufficiency-promoting

communication. Finding positive short-term effects of sufficiency promotion raises hopes:

Companies are able to be actors of change. And online communication fostering sufficiency

can help in understanding that, in affluent societies, consumption reduction is better for people

and the planet.

Funding information

German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Grant/Award Number: 01UU1607B.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Vivian Frick: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources,

Writing – original draft, Visualization.

Maike Gossen: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Writing – original

draft.

Tilman Santarius: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Writing – review

& editing, Supervision.

Sonja Geiger: Conceptualization, Resources, Writing – review & editing, Project administra-

tion.

Appendix A

Items of Study 1

Sufficiency behaviour, consumption level (T1, T3):

We would like to know in which way you acquired clothing for yourself during the last four

weeks.

Please estimate the amount of clothes for each. All wearable textiles should be included, e.g.

shirts, pullovers, pants, jackets, underwear or socks (1 pair counts as 1 piece of clothing).

0 cloth-

ing items

6 or more

clothing

items

Local shop

☐

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(e.g. department store, chain

store)

Online shop

(e.g. Zalando, Tchibo,

Otto, Avocadostore, other

shops or online brands)

☐

Social norm for sufficiency (T1, T2):

Customers of the online shop…

… buy new clothes regularly. (recoded)

… only buy clothes if they really need them.

… try to keep the number of new purchases of clothing low.

… repair their clothes or have them repaired when they are torn, instead of buying new ones.

… treat their clothes with care, so that they last longer.

Personal norm for sufficiency (T1, T2):

I feel obliged to only buy new clothes when I really need them.

My own values tell me that it is wrong to buy unnecessary clothing.

It would give me a bad conscience to buy a new piece of clothing, despite having enough

clothes in my cupboard already.

Aspiration level (T1, T2):

Given limitless availability of money and time, how many pieces of clothing (outerwear)

would you ideally like to buy annually? [Commentary: Please only indicate the number of

outerwear, such as trousers, T-shirts or jackets, not including socks or underwear]

☐ no clothing items

☐ 1-5

☐ 6-10

☐ … in steps of 5

☐ 55-60

☐ more than 60

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And how many pieces of clothing would you need to buy annually for your well-being not to

be restricted?

Here, we would like you to give an estimation on how many pieces of clothing (outerwear)

you would need to buy in order for your well-being not to be restricted.

[Commentary: Please only indicate the number of outerwear, such as trousers, T-shirts or

jackets, not including socks or underwear]

☐ 1-5

☐ 6-10

☐ … in steps of 5

☐ 55-60

☐ more than 60

☐ clothing is not relevant for my well-being

☐ I would prefer not to buy any clothes at all

Environmental awareness (T1, Geiger 2019):

I am happy about initiatives which promote sustainable ways of living (e.g. ecovillages,

slowfood-movement).

It makes me angry when I see that Germany misses its goals for climate protection.

More environmental protection means improved quality of life and health for everyone.

There are natural limits of growth which our industrialised world has already reached.

Every individual has a responsibility for ensuring a habitable environment for subsequent

generations.

We have to find ways to live well independently of economic growth.

I buy ecologically cultivated foods.

When shopping, I choose products with eco-labels (e.g. blauer Engel, EU organic label or EU

eco-label).

For my daily travel, I use the bike, public transport or I walk.

Cued recall of intervention (T1):

Did you perceive the communication on the topic „Less is more“?

Please tick the box, if you saw the following:

[Screenshots of Social Media posts and newsletter]

☐ No ☐ Yes, once ☐ Yes, twice ☐ Yes, more than twice

Additional items in Study 2

Sufficiency behaviour:

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Within this survey a raffle of 10 vouchers worth 10 EUR each will be held.

If you win in the raffle, which of the following vouchers worth 10 Euros each would you like

to receive. The raffle will take place within the next 4 weeks.

☐ 10 EUR donation to getchanged.net

You will not receive a voucher personally; instead the amount will be donated to Get

Changed - The Fair Fashion Network. This non-profit organization promotes fair and

ecological clothing production.

☐ 10 EUR voucher from H&M

H&M is a clothing store where you can find a wide range of fashionable clothing

online or in a branch near you.

☐ 10 EUR voucher from C&A

C&A is a clothing store where you can find a wide range of fashionable clothing

online or in a branch near you.

☐ 10 EUR voucher from kleiderkreisel.de

At Kleiderkreisel.de you can buy second-hand clothes from other users and you can

also resell your own used clothes.

☐ I don’t want to participate in this raffle

Social norm for sufficiency:

Most Instagram users…

... buy new clothes regularly.(recoded)

…. Wear clothes of the newest fashion. (recoded)

… search for clothing online or in stores for fun. (recoded)

… only buy clothes if they really need them.

… treat their clothes with care, so they will be longlasting.

… repair their clothes or have them repaired when they are torn.

… pay attention to longevity when buying clothes.

… buy clothes second-hand instead of new.

Attitude towards communication:

… appeals to me.

… is annoying. (recoded)

… is attractive.

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… is easy to understand.

… is informative.

Attitude towards the sender used (Armstrong Soule & Reich, 2015):

What do you think of the organisation „Clothing Company“ on the basis of their instagram

appearance? The organisation…

… is trying to increase their profit. (-)

… is trying to win new clients. (-)

... is trying to please existing customers. (-)

… feels morally obliged to help the environment.

… is trying to give something back to the community.

… honestly cares for the well-being of the environment.

… is trying to present their products as more attractive, in order to set higher prices. (-)

… is using the green trend to increase takings. (-)

… does not really care about the environment. (-)

The full survey of study 2 can be found in the supplementary material. The universal values

scale can be found with Steg et al. (2012).

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Appendix B

Table 9. Mediation for consumption-promoting communication



Path

-0.03

0.06

-0.62

-.03

.538

0.08

0.09

0.84

.04

.399

-0.14

1.86

-0.08

.00

.938

-0.02

0.10

-0.15

-.01

.879

0.09

0.07

1.32

.10

.187

-0.01

0.00

-2.34

-.16*

.019

-0.16

0.12

-1.32

-.08

.187

Indirect mediation effects

Social norm

0.00

0.15

<.01

.882

Personal norm

0.01

0.71

<.01

.479

Aspiration level

0.00

0.01

0.08

<.01

.938

total

-0.15

0.12

-1.23

-.07

.217

Covariates

Social norm - personal norm

0.08

0.03

2.63

.11

.008

Social norm - aspiration level

-1.37

0.64

-2.14

-.10

.032

Personal norm - aspiration le-

vel

-10.65

1.35

-7.88

-.46

<.001

Appendix C. Supplementary data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101595.

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