The second major objective of this review was to obtain a thematic perspective of the existing literature on how retailers fulfil their role in engaging consumers in sustainable consumption. The analysis and synthesis of the information available in the relevant articles were based on the following categories: retail context, retail marketing intervention (involvement of retailers in actions that aim at engaging consumers in sustainable consumption), retail marketing mechanisms (including the marketing strategies, techniques, tools, and channels used by retailers to engage consumers), and consumer engagement in sustainable consumption.
The results obtained from this thematic perspective are presented hereafter for each of the above-mentioned categories that were analysed.
3.2.1. Results: Retail Context
The thematic analysis and synthesis of the information presented in the reviewed articles uncovered several categories of factors that define the retail context: type of product, country where the research was carried out, consumer profile, retail format, size of the retailer or store, shopping environment, and environmental issues.
The contextual factors related to the type of product refer to food and non-food products, as well as to the ecological, green, and sustainable nature of the products. Examples of food products considered in the reviewed articles are grocery products [
59,
69,
70], coffee [
57], plant-based food [
71], carrot [
43], fish [
46], seafood [
55], poultry products [
45], and meat products [
45]. Examples of non-food products are sportswear [
72], fashion products [
44,
73], clothing [
39], fashion, beauty, and home décor [
74], laundry detergent, and sanitizing wipes [
75]. Researchers studied ecological, green, and sustainable products, such as ecological food products [
76], eco-friendly products [
77], grocery products with an eco-label [
49], eco-labelled food [
78], eco-fashion [
79], green food and groceries [
80], green fashion products [
52], green products [
81], sustainable seafood [
38], apples from the sustainable food categories [
40], sustainable household and personal care products [
58], environmentally sustainable apparel [
82], sustainability certified food products [
41], and local food products [
50].
One category of factors was related to the country where the research was carried out. The number of countries covered and the geographic areas differed between studies. Most articles were limited to one country. The rest of the articles considered/compared two or more countries: seven [
38], five [
54], four [
41,
73], and two countries [
46,
50,
55,
60].
The contextual factors related to the geographic areas are diverse, reflecting the European, American, and Asian markets. Most articles focus on European markets, especially the UK [
38,
39,
40,
41,
46,
53,
54,
55,
60,
70,
83,
84,
85] and Sweden [
41,
42,
43,
46,
47,
54,
59,
72,
74,
76,
77,
86]. Other European countries considered by the reviewed articles include Austria [
41], Belgium [
45,
73,
78], Denmark [
41,
54], France [
38,
49,
54], Finland [
87], Germany [
38,
54,
60,
73], Italy [
38,
50], Netherlands [
51,
73,
88], Norway [
38], Poland [
38], Spain [
38], and Switzerland [
69,
73]. American markets are represented only by the USA [
50,
55,
75,
81,
82,
89] and Canada [
71]. The Asian markets that were studied include Australia [
80,
90], Hong Kong [
79], Japan [
48], Korea [
44,
52], Taiwan [
57], and New Zealand [
58].
The contextual factors also belong to the category of “consumer profile”. The reviewed articles focused on either a large mass of consumers or only some groups and used different variables to define the profiles of consumers. Some of the articles reflected a large mass of consumers between 18 and 70 years old [
38], shoppers aged 16–78 [
43], consumers aged 18+ [
90], or consumers that shop in malls [
79]. Other articles considered specific groups of consumers, such as undergraduate students, university students [
49,
75], non-student adults from the Amazon Mechanical Turk [
75], young adult consumers of fashion products aged 23-30 [
44], women [
74], women aged 65+ [
82], consumers aged 20-49 [
52], and children aged 7-10 along with their parents [
51]. Membership to a loyalty program of a retailer was one of the variables defining the studied groups of consumers. Some researchers referred to loyalty card holders [
40], while others focused on specific subgroups of consumers from among the large mass of shoppers that use the loyalty cards of a major supermarket chain [
70] or on the long-term members of a loyalty reward program [
80].
The category “retail format” includes several types. Many reviewed articles referred to supermarkets [
43,
48,
88] and supermarket chains [
40,
41,
45,
46,
51,
53,
70,
71,
80]. A distinct approach focused on the supermarket of the future [
56]. Numerous articles focus on specialty retail formats such as coffee chain stores [
57], food retailers [
47], food retail chains [
54], grocery retailers [
69], specialist food retailers as alternative food networks [
87], ecological food stores [
76], fashion clothing retail stores [
79], and apparel retailers [
72]. Other retail formats addressed by the articles are department store [
74] and discount store [
46].
Another category of factors is related to the size of the retailer or store. The small retail size was exemplified by a butchery within a supermarket [
45], an experimental food market within a supermarket [
78], a specialist store in a shopping mall [
79], and a small specialized green-product supermarket chain selling food and groceries [
80]. Medium-sized supermarkets were also studied [
48]. Many articles referred to operators of larger sizes like a major grocery retailer [
64], the largest supermarket chain in the country [
70], large supermarket chains [
40,
41], major supermarket chains [
71], major retail chains with a significant market share [
86], major supermarket retailers [
46], food retail chains with the largest market share in terms of sales or number of stores [
54], chain of more than 70 department stores [
74], and the top 10 retailers in a country [
83].
The contextual factors related to the shopping environment referred to “brick-and-mortar” stores, online stores, and retail mock-up stores. Most research articles referred to an offline shopping environment, while other researchers focused on online retail [
49] or explored both offline and online retail environments [
58]. A retail mock-up store was, moreover, used for eye-tracking research [
77].
The contextual factors also encompass environmental issues. Such examples include the high levels of clothing disposal and rapidly diminishing landfill space [
79], as well as the fish species that are becoming endangered due to industrial-scale overfishing practices [
46,
89].
The categories of factors identified in the articles provide a diverse context for research that investigates how retailers fulfil their role in engaging consumers in sustainable consumption. However, the analysis revealed the tendency of researchers to investigate, to a greater extent, the contextual factors related to food products, European markets, supermarket formats, larger retail operators, and offline shopping environments.
3.2.2. Results: Marketing Interventions and Marketing Mechanisms for Consumer Engagement
Several types of marketing interventions were identified based on a thematic analysis and synthesis of the reviewed articles. Each type of marketing intervention consisted of a distinct action deployed by retailers to engage consumers in sustainable consumption. The main types of retail marketing interventions that were identified during the thematic analysis and synthesis were the following: providing sustainable choices for consumers; staging shopping experiences that enable consumers to make sustainable choices in store; editing choices in favour of sustainable consumption; reshaping norms to foster sustainable consumption; educating consumers about sustainable consumption; informing consumers about sustainability-related aspects; promoting sustainable shopping and consumption behaviour. Each type of marketing intervention was made possible via a marketing mechanism that consisted of specific strategies, techniques, tools, and channels. In this section, the types of marketing interventions and the corresponding marketing mechanisms for each marketing intervention are systematically presented.
Providing sustainable choices for consumers is a major type of retail marketing intervention to engage consumers in sustainable consumption. This marketing intervention consists of placing a range of goods and services, besides the conventional options, at the disposal of consumers to allow them to make sustainable choices. Several types of marketing mechanisms are able to support this type of marketing intervention through the following strategies: providing an assortment of products with different levels of sustainability; consistently ensuring the availability of sustainable products on store shelves; including self-made/private eco-brands of retailers in the store assortment; providing consumers with a range of sustainable services (e.g., recycling, reuse, repair, and rental) related to the tangible products.
Providing sustainable clothing options within the product assortment is a retail strategy aimed at encouraging more sustainable consumer behaviour [
39].
The availability of sustainable apples and product variety in a store, for example, could be part of the mechanism that provides sustainable choices [
40].
The strategy of offering an eco-friendly product assortment is also a way to increase the green premium applied by a retailer [
77].
The eco-brands of retailers are a relevant way to connect with consumers who are preoccupied with environmental problems. These brands focus on underserved consumer niches related to health, product safety or superior food taste. They may complement the overall supply when the eco-brands of the manufactures do not meet the existing market demand either in terms of third-party certified eco-products or in terms of affordability [
41].
The strategy of providing consumers with a range of sustainable services (e.g., recycling, reuse, repair, and rental) is relevant for sportswear-specialised retailers. By means of “re-projects”, such a retailer can encourage consumers to donate their worn-out polyester clothes to be recycled into new garments, thus extending the product’s life-cycle by means of repair services, to rent outdoor cloths instead of owning them, and to reuse products by buying second-hand items [
72].
Retailers can combine several tools and communication channels (such as in-store magazines, e-newsletters, Facebook, websites, product stickers, and in-store demonstrations) to convey waste reduction messages [
85].
Staging shopping experiences that enable consumers to make sustainable choices in store is another type of marketing intervention. This approach is represented by all the actions that create a shopping environment that is conducive to engaging consumers in sustainable choices. This marketing intervention relies on various types of marketing mechanisms, such as: a strategy to create a memorable shopping experience; techniques that create a store atmosphere and layouts that entice consumers to make sustainable product choices; merchandising techniques; the strategy of assigning sustainability ambassadors from one’s own staff; the strategy of providing customer support via shop assistants who are knowledgeable about sustainability topics; the strategy of answering the questions about sustainability raised by shoppers in store; the technique of providing positive feedback to the shoppers who have made sustainable product choices in store.
These types of marketing mechanisms are presented in many of the reviewed articles.
Retail stores apply various strategies to influence consumers to engage in sustainable consumption behaviour [
42], while adapting to the local understanding of sustainability and the local logic of sustainable consumption [
86].
A technique able to create a store atmosphere that influences consumers to choose sustainable product alternatives consists of playing a sound from nature (such as a bird song) in a food retail setting [
43].
The strategy of creating a memorable shopping experience must be centred on the consumer, especially in the case of sustainable fashion products [
44].
Arranging green shopping trails is another technique applied to create a store atmosphere and a store layout able to stimulate consumers’ sustainable choices. Such trails facilitate the identification of sustainable products by means of appropriate placement and signage in the store area [
74].
The merchandising techniques that aim to increase the visibility of sustainable products in the store influence the shopping experience and enhance buying intentions. Consumers are often influenced by changing the size of the display area dedicated to sustainable products. Thus, consumers will engage in sustainable choices without deliberate thought [
45]. In the case of plant-based protein items, common positioning is in the grocery aisles of supermarkets. Merchandising techniques used by stores to increase the value of plant-based protein item purchases include the following: augmentation of the number of product facings on shelves; locating plant-based meat substitutes away from meat to respond to the concerns of vegetarians and vegans; displaying plant-based protein items in the natural sections of the store, where price premiums are applied [
71].
The store-related attributes that facilitate sustainable choices include customer service, store displays and environments, a store’s ethical practices, and shop convenience [
79].
Another retail strategy involves assigning sustainability ambassadors from among the staff in each store of a retail chain. Such ambassadors receive special training in sustainability and are responsible for training and informing the other staff members about sustainability topics [
74].
A distinct strategy is based on shop assistants who are knowledgeable about sustainability topics and provide customer support consisting of specific sustainability information. These shop assistants are trained by special educational programs on sustainability issues and make use of IT systems for providing sustainability services to consumers [
74].
Another strategy consists of answering the questions raised by consumers in stores. Shop assistants and customer service personnel answer questions related to the sustainable product range supplied by the store, the material content of the sustainable products, and the conditions under which these products were manufactured [
74].
Another example of marketing mechanism is the provision of positive feedback to shoppers who make sustainable product choices in store. This technique aims to reassure shoppers and make them feel good about their choices “by putting green words in their bags” [
74].
Editing choices in favour of sustainable consumption is a marketing intervention that has a corrective influence on existing consumption patterns, driving consumers towards more sustainable purchasing decisions. In contrast with other types of marketing interventions, editing existing choices has a disruptive effect, not a stimulating impact, on the habitual behaviours of shoppers and users. In this respect, retailers use various mechanisms such as the strategy of limiting choices of unsustainable products by delisting some of these products from their retail assortment; the strategy of reducing packaging related to shopping to a “package-free” level; a psychological interventional approach to reduce resource consumption (e.g., the use of plastic bags).
The strategy of limiting consumers’ choices of unsustainable products could consist in providing alternative food choices alongside unsustainable products. For example, alternative fish species may be supplied alongside endangered cod species [
46]. This strategy can also take the form of selling only sustainable labelled seafood [
38]. Several food retailers have also stopped selling eel and giant tiger prawn [
47].
Removing packaging as an artefact of shopping requires retailers to apply a strategy to reinvent the consumer practice of purchasing in stores. Package-free shopping entails practice reframing, the reskilling of shoppers, and changing store layouts [
76].
The use of a psychological interventional approach to reduce resource consumption is based on a verbal prompt from the supermarket cashier that asks shoppers whether they want plastic bags [
48].
Reshaping norms to foster sustainable consumption is a type of marketing intervention that involves actions aimed at transforming the attitudes and behaviours of consumers towards sustainable consumption. The effects can become visible in the long-term and potentially in the medium-term. The types of marketing mechanisms that support this marketing intervention are the strategy of developing descriptive norms and the strategy of shaping new ideal norms.
To encourage pro-environmental behaviour (e.g., the purchasing of green products), retailers can use realistic descriptive norm information about a minority behaviour [
49]. The strategy of making reference to social norms in the marketing communication of retailers (e.g., “Join the millions of Italians that buy local” or “Join the Millions of Americans in Buying Local Produce”) is a way to instil such norms related to sustainable consumption [
50].
Retailers have a significant role in reshaping norms related to food consumption and in guiding that transformation process to new norms centred on transparency and the human scale, valuing food, enjoying real food as part of a good life, and intelligent and aware consumption. This role is founded on positive claims, reality tests (new interpretations of accepted norms), and denunciations [
87].
Educating consumers in sustainable consumption is a necessary marketing intervention in the present state of consumer awareness, attitudes, and behaviours related to sustainable consumption. This type of marketing intervention consists in developing new and relevant knowledge and attitudes related to sustainable consumption among consumers. Examples of marketing mechanisms applied in such a marketing intervention include the strategy to establish partnerships between businesses and non-governmental organisations to accomplish educational objectives; the strategy to increase consumer awareness of environmental educational programs via green campaigns; the technique of using verbal information cues.
A strategy based on a partnership between a company and a non-governmental organisation was implemented between a major supermarket chain in Europe and the World Wide Fund for Nature. Aiming to educate consumers on sustainability topics, these organisations collaborated in the project “Animal Cards”, through which shoppers were able to receive cards for every € 10 spent on groceries [
51].
Educational videos shown in store provide another tool to increase consumer awareness of environmental topics [
73].
Green campaigns based on environmental education programs (such as the “Environmental Camp for Children” and “Green Ladies and Gentlemen Campaign” for adults) can be run by a fashion retailer [
52].
Educational programs of retailers can also use verbal information cues to orient shopper behaviour towards green products [
81].
Informing consumers about sustainability-related aspects is a type of marketing intervention that develops the consumer’s awareness and knowledge of product sustainability and sustainable consumption. Examples of marketing mechanisms applied to implement this marketing intervention include the following strategies: informing consumers about product sustainability; developing and using own responsible-choice label; using eco-labels on products with brands owned by the retailer; using environmental labelling schemes; using third-party certification labels; voluntary disclosure of sustainability information by retailers; providing sustainability information on the packages of products with organic logos.
An example of a retail strategy of informing consumers is the provision of transparent information on labour standards and material sourcing for fashion products [
73]. Retailers also use brochures and magazines to provide consumers with information on food and climate [
54]. Using digital displays and interactive screens, retailers communicate information on the origin and sustainability of products [
56].
The strategy of retailers developing and using their own responsible-choice label allows consumers to identify products that meet the high environmental and social standards of the retailer [
74]. The use of eco-labels on products with brands owned by the retailer is a strategy to shift demand towards lower-carbon products [
70]. Researchers have studied the use of eco-labels for the promotion of the eco-friendly consumption of food [
78].
The strategy of using environmental labelling schemes indicates that retailers have begun to inform consumers via carbon footprinting and carbon labelling [
53]. For example, the green, yellow, and red colours of eco-labels indicate the sustainability and healthiness of fresh seafood products [
89]. Nevertheless, retailers must explain the meaning of seafood eco-labels to consumers [
55].
Retailers voluntarily disclose sustainability information using special labels with scale ratings that help consumers to assess the sustainability performance of the products [
75].
The strategy of providing sustainability information on the packages of products with an organic logo focuses on promoting food production methods that can contribute to more sustainable agriculture [
88].
Promoting sustainable shopping and consumption behaviour is a type of marketing intervention that encompasses a wide array of communication actions that encourage and motivate consumers to adopt positive attitudes towards sustainable consumption and engage in purchasing and consumption behaviours that support sustainability. Examples of the types of marketing mechanisms that contribute to this marketing intervention are the following: the strategy of positioning the retailer as a corporate brand focused on sustainability; the communication strategies and tools used to foster sustainable consumption behaviour; various types of marketing communication messages; the use of social media channels (e.g., Facebook and Instagram) for promotion.
The strategy of positioning the retailer as a corporate brand focused on sustainability consists of building an authentic image of an “eco-warrior” who is trustworthy and clearly committed to sustainability [
58].
Communication strategies that foster sustainable consumption behaviour rely on the influence of opinion leaders and influencers such as bloggers [
73]. One such public relations tool is the organisation of events for bloggers that cover sustainability topics [
73]. An online newsletter is another public relations tool used by retailers to inform consumers about an online store [
73].
Communication strategies using question-based verbal or written communication can be applied to influence consumer behaviour towards more environmentally friendly choices [
59].
The promotion of an ethical lifestyle linked to moral motivations or healthy food consumption differs among the types of marketing communication messages that foster responsible consumption [
73]. Emotions can play an important role in motivating people to change towards sustainable behaviour, but experts do not have a common viewpoint on the types of emotions (positive feelings of pride or negative feelings of guilt) that trigger responsible consumption [
73]. Storytelling is a modern approach that is more effective in attracting consumers than assigning guilt [
73]. Green claims (such as “ethical sourcing”, “energy and water savings”, and “cup recycling”) are used, for example, to influence consumers’ purchase intentions for coffee [
57]. The positioning of the self-produced eco-brands of retailers is based on the products’ relationship to market trends and lifestyles, as well as on the communication of personal benefits (e.g., health benefits) from the purchase of sustainable products [
41]. Examples of pro-environmental claims include organic claims and carbon-neutral claims [
60]. The range of advertising messages includes positive and negative appeals, with or without reference to the environment [
82]. The retailers can communicate information on the sustainability-related attributes of products to influence consumer willingness to make value-differentiated choices [
69]. Several retailers currently promote smarter food choices for the climate [
47].
Social media are communication channels that help retailers not only to promote messages on sustainable consumption but also to obtain feedback from consumers [
68]. Communication in social media is combined with retailer’s reward programmes to boost green retail sales [
79].
The present systematic literature review revealed that retailers can apply several types of marketing interventions to engage consumers in sustainable consumption. From a portfolio of goods, services, and brands to the shopping experience and from reshaping norms to educating and informing consumers, as well as promoting sustainable consumption, retailers are able to intervene using a relatively large range of marketing mechanisms.
3.2.3. Results: Consumer Engagement in Sustainable Consumption
The marketing intervention and marketing mechanisms applied by retailers can generate different types of consumer engagement in sustainable consumption. Nevertheless, research shows that sometimes retail marketing interventions and mechanisms do not succeed in engaging consumers.
The thematic analysis and synthesis of the reviewed articles identified the following types of consumer engagement: consumer awareness of sustainable products; green consciousness; consumer responsibility; consumer beliefs; consumer attitudes; psychological variables; purchasing intentions; consumer attention in store; willingness to buy and willingness to pay for green and organic products; choice of sustainable products in store; consumer purchase behaviour; sustainable consumption routines; packaging usage behaviour; consumer behaviour related to food waste.
One type of consumer engagement consists of
consumer awareness of sustainable products. Staged experiences enable fashion consumers to acquire practical knowledge about sustainable fashion. In this way, consumers become more open to adopt the use of sustainable fashion products [
44].
Researchers have identified consumer engagement under the form of
green consciousness. The more favourable consumers’ perceptions are of retailers’ green products and green campaign activities, the greener the persons’ consciousness and behaviour will become. Higher values perceived by consumers about products will thus have a more positive impact on encouraging consumers’ eco-friendly behaviour [
52]. In this way, retailers can influence consumers to be more environmentally conscious in their consumption. The influence of retailers mediates the relationship between concern for the environment and sustainable consumption [
90]. The sustainability information provided through the digital displays in a store influences consumers to think more about environmental concerns [
56].
Retail actions can augment
consumer responsibility related to sustainable consumption. In the fashion sector, retail intervention enhances the responsibility of consumers and makes them want to change their own shopping behaviour [
73].
On-package information can help to develop favourable
consumer beliefs. In the case of food products, information related to production standards on a package is favourably perceived by consumers. The combined presentation of both an organic logo and information has a greater effect on consumers’ beliefs about the product than an organic logo alone. Consumers consider such products to be more animal friendly, better for nature and the environment, and healthier than the ones with just the logo. However, a product with both a logo and details was considered to be more expensive, although the prices were actually similar [
88]. Providing more detailed attribute information improves consumers’ beliefs about the quality of a green product [
81].
Consumer engagement can have a positive influence on
consumer attitudes. Social norm messaging can, for example, positively influence consumers who are not inclined to purchase food locally. The effectiveness of messages increases with an unfavourable attitude towards local buying [
50]. Many consumers have a positive attitude towards the use of carbon labels on food products and consider them to be useful to compare the environmental credentials of different food products [
53].
Consumer engagement can be identified at the level of several
psychological variables. Green claims develop a green image for the retailer’s brand and have a positive impact on green psychological variables such as green trust, green satisfaction, green brand equity, and green purchase intentions. The claim of employing “ethical sourcing” has a greater impact on such variables than the claims of employing “energy and water savings” and “cup recycling” [
57].
Another type of consumer engagement relates to
purchasing intentions, which are positively influenced by the actions of retailers. There is research evidence that verbal information (in contrast to numerical information) has a positive influence on the purchase intentions for green products [
81]. Other findings revealed that both rational and emotional advertisements with environmental messages targeting elderly female consumers more strongly encouraged purchase intentions for environmentally sustainable apparel than advertisements with no environmental messages [
82].
Consumer engagement may take the form of
consumer attention in store, which can be positively influenced by retailers. Research findings show that the use of a green colour has a strong influence on a consumer’s visual attention because this colour tends to indicate organic and natural characteristics [
77].
Another type of consumer engagement refers to
the willingness to buy and willingness to pay for green and organic products. Playing nature sounds in a store has a direct and positive influence on the willingness to buy organic foods among groups of customers (men) that have relatively low initial intentions to buy [
43]. The amount of money a consumer would pay for a green product increases when more detailed information on that product is provided, thus reducing the barrier to purchase [
81]. The use of a retail mechanism to make consumers look longer at eco-friendly products positively influences the shopper to pay a higher green premium [
77].
Consumer engagement also refers to
the choice of sustainable products in store. Communication strategies that involve influencing consumers with a question increase the choices of environmentally friendly offerings compared with non-environmentally friendly alternatives. Verbal questions addressed by a store employee are more effective in influencing consumer behaviour than written forms of communication such as a written sign [
59]. Visual cues can also create a shift in consumer purchasing behaviour, leading to sustainable meat choices. The sales of these products increase when the size of the display area and the quantity of the displayed products are increased [
45]. The detailed information provided on a package also enables consumers to choose more in accordance with their personal values [
88]. The presentation of full information on all sustainability-related attributes of a product influences consumers to make price/benefit trade-offs, resulting in the selection of higher priced, more value-differentiated products. If a retailer provides sustainability-related information for some products and not for others, consumers will not purchase the non-sustainable option [
69].
The marketing interventions of retailers can lead to a major type of engagement that influences
consumer purchase behaviour. There is a positive relationship between social media posts (communicating messages relative to health, environmental benefits, and price) and green retail purchases made by longer-term members of loyalty reward programs. The impact of green product social media posts was shown to be stronger for customers who are long-term members of the loyalty rewards program of a given retailer [
79]. In comparison to a default label, the use of easy-to-interpret but comprehensive environmental information label increases the overall purchases of eco-friendly food products [
78]. Findings suggest that consumers’ likelihood to buy sustainable seafood increases when the meaning behind the certification of such products is explained. However, it is not clear if consumers resonate with eco-labels [
55]. The store-related attributes also positively influenced the eco-fashion consumption decisions of consumers. Nevertheless, the premium level of eco-fashion price negatively moderated this relationship [
79]. The availability and variety of sustainable apples in stores positively influenced purchasing behaviour [
40]. Reference to descriptive norms is also an effective incentive tool for the online shopping of green products. Consumers presented such norms were willing to add, on average, one eco-product to their grocery basket and spend 10% more money [
49].
Retailers positively influence consumption by consolidating
sustainable consumption routines. Easy-to-follow sustainable consumption cues provided by retailers (e.g., eco-labels and brands, product origin, various dietary ingredients, and seasonality), high visibility of products, and in-store marketing actions reinforce established sustainable consumption routines [
42].
Another type of consumer engagement is related to
packaging usage behaviour. The retailer’s intervention can lead to package-free shopping. However, this result is possible only by reinventing shopping practices [
76]. Moreover, the voice prompt of a cashier can lead to pro-environmental changes in behaviour, materialised as the decreased usage of plastic bags. This mechanism relies on discouraging unintentional usage and encouraging an intentional reduction in usage [
48].
Consumer behaviour related to food waste complements the list of consumer engagement types. Retailers can positively influence consumer behaviour towards food waste reduction. Combined communication channels and repeated messages over time have a significant effect in this respect [
85].
Besides the above-mentioned types of consumer engagement in sustainable consumption, there is evidence that retailers sometimes do not succeed in engaging consumers. Such examples of unfulfilled roles are reflected by the following outcomes: scepticism about a retailer’s intervention; sales decline; undermining sustainable consumption; negative impacts on perceptions, buying intentions, and purchasing behaviour.
There is also the problem of
scepticism among consumers. Some people expressed doubts that large mainstream retailers can be sustainable and “natural”. According to these individuals, green retailers are of a small scale [
74].
Retail interventions aiming to engage consumers in sustainable consumption sometimes led to the negative outcome of a
sales decline. Choice editing led to overall sales losses because shoppers were not provided with the desired level of access to low-price products [
46]. Research findings have shown that information provided about the sustainability and healthiness of fresh seafood products lead to an overall statistically significant decline in seafood sales, determined especially by a decline in the sales of “yellow”-labelled seafood products (yellow means a “good alternative”, as the species come from fisheries or farms with good quantities, but some environmental concerns still exist). No statistically significant difference in the sales of green (“best choice”) or red (“worst choice”) labelled seafood has been identified [
89].
Some types of mechanisms
undermined sustainable consumption. Cross-sector partnerships focused on educational programs had the potential to improve environmental awareness among consumers. However, programs based on “animal cards” encouraged card collection and product purchases, thus undermining responsible and sustainable consumption [
51].
The actions of retailers sometimes generated a
negative impact on perceptions, buying intentions, and purchasing behaviour. Few consumers thought that carbon footprint labels on products indicate better food quality. Moreover, most consumers agreed or strongly agreed that understanding carbon footprint information and comparing carbon footprints are difficult and confusing tasks [
53]. The effect of the presentation of a large number (e.g., six) of numerical cues negatively influenced purchase intentions [
81]. Price was shown to have a strong and negative influence on consumer’s purchase behaviour for sustainable apples [
40]. In another study, the strategy of a retailer to sell only sustainable seafood and increase prices by more than 8% made shoppers switch to another store [
38].
For each retail marketing intervention, the actual engagement of consumers in sustainable consumption depends on the choices made by the retailer in terms of marketing strategies, techniques, tools, and channels. The types of retail marketing intervention and mechanism must be applied after an evaluation of the potential results in terms of consumer engagement in sustainable consumption.