Approaches for evaluating sustainable consumption

initiatives(Hubacek, Korytarova, Haas, Hertwich,

Ornetzeder, Weisz)December 2003

Evaluations of SusConInitiatives: An overview

1. Literature Review: evaluations of…Environmental effects

• Acceptance and motivation• Well being• Socio-economic context of consumption

2. Application: Car-free settlement Vienna-Floridsdorf

Different approaches and methods

Evaluation of the socio-economic context

How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.

Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA

Sustainable Consumption Initiatives

Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments

Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.

Evaluation of the socio-economic context

How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.

Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA

Sustainable Consumption Initiatives

Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments

Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.

Evaluation of environmental effects: Questions

How can consumption patterns be determined and their environmental impacts be quantified? What activities, goods and services cause the largest impacts and have the highest impact intensities? How do different households vary in their environmental impacts?

Evaluation of environmental effects: Methods

Material Flow Analysis (MFA)Input-output analysisLife cycle analysisHybrid models

Evaluation of environmental effects: Examples

Housing projects in Germanycombine MFA, LCA and IOCO2, SO2 and material requirementsSocio-economic effects of regional production

Evaluation of environmental effects: Examples

Goedkoop and Madsen (2002)

Evaluation of environmental effects: findings

Combinations of methodsAllows an evaluation of public policiesCompany decision supportAnd gives customers important information to assess and change purchase decisions

Evaluation of the socio-economic context

How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.

Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA

Sustainable Consumption Initiatives

Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments

Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.

2. Evaluation of acceptance (& motivation): Questions

What motivates people to shift to alternative baskets of goods?What sorts of information do consumers need in order to change their consumption patterns?Will these changes be of long-term character Are the examples acceptable and indeed popular, so that others might adopt them? What determines the acceptability of specific consumption patterns/lifestyles?

2. Evaluation of acceptance: Methods

Standardised questionnairesSemi-structured interviewsIn-depth interviews Focus groupsQualitative approaches

Insights from Studies on acceptance

Perspective Project: Towards energy-efficient lifestylesDutch households: decreased direct and indirect energy consumption by 40%in spite of increased income levelBy using energy diaries and feedback from advisor

Insights from Studies on acceptance cont…

Follow - up studies show that• without information and advice consumers

are not able to maintain adopted life styles• If there was no loss of comfort• Alternatives have to fit current trends• Positive: Financial incentives; awareness of

quality; health• Negative: nuisance; extra costs; availability

Evaluation of the socio-economic context

How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.

Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA

Sustainable Consumption Initiatives

Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments

Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.

Evaluation of well-being & consumption: Questions

How do bundle of attributes of certain goods influence the ‘happiness’ of the consumers? Does the consumer really need these products? What aspects of happiness are fulfilled through consumption?Which factors influence perceptions of

products?

Methods & studies on well-beingPsychology and Economics:

• Subjective well-being

• Studies on national/cultural differences and other factors

• Problem: context specific

• Objective well-being (e.g. Kahneman, 1999)

• Leyden approach – income (van Praag & Frijters, 1999)

• Time use and well-being (Hofstetter et al., yesterday)

Well-being: some findings

In search for a common frameworkSubjective well-being (SWB) differs across nationsIncome satisfaction is a relative concept‘Hedonic treadmill’Compensatory income

Evaluation of the socio-economic context

How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.

Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA

Sustainable Consumption Initiatives

Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments

Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.

Evaluation of Socio-Economic Context: Questions

How important are opportunities, infrastructure, and availability of services?How important are habits and habit formation?How do these factors influence consumption patters? How important are demographic and occupational factors?

4. Evaluation of socio-economic context: Methods

Standardised questionnairesSemi-structured interviewsMulti-agent modellingEconometric modelling

Studies on socio-economic context

the QWERTY keyboard (David, 1985)• Lock-in effects• Availability• Higher search costs

Haas (2003) : social metabolism of a village over 170 years (from agricultural to industrial society)• Co-evolution of production and consumption

with new technologies and institutions

Socio-economic context: some findings

Institutions set boundaries for individual choicesDiffusion of technology studiesNew modelling approaches

Different approaches and methods

Evaluation of the socio-economic context

How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.

Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA

Sustainable Consumption Initiatives

Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments

Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.

Case Study

Car-Free City: Vienna-Floridsdorf

Discussion

Example for other initiatives?Encouragement for changing consumption patterns?Implications for policy makers and city planners?

THANK YOU