The Making of a Culture of Responsible Consumption and Production: The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Human Subjects in the Transition Towards a Circular Economy

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Sustainability will explore the co-creative role of consumers and producers (human subjects) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in shaping a culture of responsible consumption and production (RCP). This issue is relevant to research on sustainability because users’ lifestyles and practices play a key role in the transition towards a sustainable economy and society. The implementation of sustainable business model archetypes, e.g., platform (sharing) models and product as a service models, involves major roles for AI. This Special Issue will draw on multiple and interlinked cultural frameworks to conceptualize RCP. For example, Practice Theory investigates how RCP practices are generated, carried, and reproduced by human subjects and AI agents. Consumer Culture Theory researches the roles that consumer identities play in the performance of RCP and consumers’ trust and compliance with AI processes. Other frameworks investigate how consumer behavior is shaped by AI in embracing RCP. This Special Issue will contribute to the existing literature on consumption culture and practices and the tensions created by the co-creation of value via RPC through AI–human subject interaction.

The practices of sustainable consumption and production encompass the purchase and use of products and services designed to have a lesser impact on the natural environment and manufactured in respect of social value. However, there are further practices involved. For example, the modality of accessing products and services for consumption may not involve the acquisition of ownership (Catulli et al., 2016, Catulli et al., 2017). This style of consumption is underpinned by diverse business models, such as product-as-a-service and platform-based models (Bocken et al., 2018). In addition, consumers may add their own practices, involving reducing personal consumption, such as buying fewer products, traveling less or using sustainable transport, or washing clothes in cold water. Emerging research focuses on the role that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital technologies may play in supporting responsible consumption and production (Jude, 2024). For example, these technologies can help to predict the quality and availability of waste and surplus products, which can be valorized for reuse and, therefore, support the viability of circular business models (Sjödin et al., 2023). Smart metering and telemetry can support the responsible use of resources, e.g., using less energy in the homes.

For this Special Issue, we invite contributions that explore the roles that AI and digital technologies play in co-creating (or co-destroying) value via responsible consumption and production practices. Contributors are free to submit any perspective on how consumers and producers relate with and use these technologies. We are interested in diverse theoretical approaches and are open to contributions drawing on qualitative and/or quantitative data and theoretical or empirical research, but we are particularly interested in how consumers and producers collaborate with AI and digital technologies to achieve responsible consumption and production.

References

Bocken, N. M. P., Schuit, C. S. C. & Kraaijenhagen, C. 2018. Experimenting with a circular business model: Lessons from eight cases. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 28, 79-95.

Catulli, M., Cook, M. & Potter, S. 2016. PSS Users and Harley Davidson Riders; The importance of consumer identity in the diffusion of sustainable consumption solutions. Journal of Industrial Ecology.

Catulli, M., Cook, M. & Potter, S. 2017. Consuming use orientated product service systems: a Consumer Culture Theory perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 141, 1186-1193.

Jude, C.-R. 2024. The Road Towards Sustainability: Transforming Consumption Patterns with Artificial Intelligence. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 13.

Sjödin, D., Parida, V. & Kohtamäki, M. 2023. Artificial intelligence enabling circular business model innovation in digital servitization: Conceptualizing dynamic capabilities, AI capacities, business models and effects. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 197, 122903.

Dr. Maurizio Catulli
Dr. Xini Hu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• artificial intelligence
• circular economy
• culture
• practices
• responsible consumption and production
• sustainability