New Patterns in Consumer Behavior

Dear Colleagues,

A wide variety of factors at psychological, social, and economic levels can lead consumers towards (or against) sustainable choices/behaviors. Recent events that took place at an international level—for example, global economic crisis, marketing globalization, digitalization, and climate change concerns—have determined many changes in consumer attitudes, aspirations, and purchasing patterns. Such changes include, but are not limited to, new consumption strategies, decline of hyperconsumerism in favor of a new frugality, sustainable and ethical consumption (organic, fair trade, or second-hand products), increasing interest in ‘free-from’ and functional food, new relationships with brands, etc. Such changes in consumption patterns might not be merely temporary but could leave a more permanent footprint on the psychology of consumers.

As each feature of the new socio-economic situation has led the vast majority of consumers to look for new landmarks, understanding new patterns in consumer behavior is important because it can significantly help businesses and professionals to fulfill consumers’ needs and meet their expectations. Besides helping businesses to attain their long-term goals, such understanding can also help minimize consumer disorientation and increase their general wellbeing.

This Special Issue will collect a selection of papers presenting original and innovative contributions to the study of new patterns in consumer behavior, focusing on both theoretical and pragmatic implications of the occurring changes.

Prof. Edoardo Lozza
Dr. Cinzia Castiglioni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.