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Research on Consumer Behaviour and Sustainable Marketing Strategy

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 5503

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Keleti Karoly Faculty of Business and Management, Obuda University, 1084 Budapest, Hungary
Interests: digitalisation; consumer behaviour
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Professor, Keleti Karoly Faculty of Business and Management, Obuda University, 1084 Budapest, Hungary
Interests: management; consumer behaviour; human resource

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Guest Editor
Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics and Informatics, J. Selye University, 94501 Komárno, Slovakia
Interests: human resources management; small and medium enterprises; labour market policy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Consumer behaviour, as part of human behaviour, is a complex and complicated process, and it is the reason its study has been a major focus of marketing for decades. The customer, the consumer, has always been at the heart of marketing. Knowing what your prospective potential customers expect and what their preferences are is essential to a successful marketing strategy. Knowledge of consumer behaviour and the process of purchase decisions is essential in marketing practice since the starting point for marketing concepts is a customer-oriented mindset. In order to create an attractive and appealing offer for the customer, the consumer, it is important to understand how they make their decision and the processes and mechanisms behind their decisions. However, consumer habits are changing dynamically: a multitude of consumer trends affect consumers, influencing their choices, behaviour, and values. Today, when personalisation is one of the most important pillars of marketing, there is no question that it is necessary to understand the needs and expectations of our consumers, our target groups, and to constantly monitor changes in individual preferences.

This Special Issue emphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of consumer behaviour, focusing on case studies and research results that contribute to the understanding of consumer behaviour and the process of purchasing decisions. In line with the philosophy of the Sustainability Journal, this Special Issue also strives to present primary data and current and relevant research results related to the topic in a multidisciplinary and practical way. This Special Issue is designed to analyse the impact of these consumer trends, providing a practical overview of the changes and challenges in consumer and customer behaviour, to help professionals in education and practice.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Consumer behaviour research;
  • Analysis of consumer decision making;
  • Analysis of consumer preferences;
  • Analysis of target-group-specific marketing strategies;
  • Practical aspects of the marketing planning process;
  • Generational marketing;
  • Consumer trends;
  • Analysis of environmentally conscious and ethical consumer behaviour.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Mónika Garai-Fodor
Dr. Peter Karacsony
Dr. Renáta Machová
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

Keywords

  • consumer trends
  • generation marketing
  • sustainable marketing strategy

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 1833 KiB  
Article
Unsustainable Consumption: A Systemic Exploration of Everyday Behaviours
by Alexandra Ganglmair-Wooliscroft and Ben Wooliscroft
Sustainability 2025, 17(3), 894; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17030894 - 23 Jan 2025
Viewed by 2188
Abstract
Overwhelming evidence suggests that we need to consume less and/or differently. Academic research and the popular media provide recommendations on what consumers should or should not do to live more sustainably. However, for the majority of consumers, the uptake of sustainable behaviours is [...] Read more.
Overwhelming evidence suggests that we need to consume less and/or differently. Academic research and the popular media provide recommendations on what consumers should or should not do to live more sustainably. However, for the majority of consumers, the uptake of sustainable behaviours is low. Sustainable consumption finds itself in constant tension with mainstream ‘normal’ (unsustainable) behaviours. We not only need to understand more about sustainable consumption behaviours already undertaken (often by only a few consumers), but we also need a clearer picture of unsustainable consumption—the current behaviour that needs to be changed. We take a systemic approach to unsustainable consumption and, after an extensive literature review, develop a hierarchy of 25 unsustainable consumption behaviours that span multiple categories of everyday life, including the ‘big three’ (household energy use, food consumption, and personal transportation), recycling, cosmetics, and clothing purchases. Our results support that—for a broad sample of average consumers (n = 850)—unsustainable behaviours are cumulative and follow the same patterns. In everyday life, unsustainable behaviours of different categories are interspersed, supporting the need to explore multiple behaviours at the same time if systematic changes away from unsustainable consumption behaviours are required. It follows that we know in which order to address unsustainable consumption choices to move society towards more sustainable consumption norms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Consumer Behaviour and Sustainable Marketing Strategy)
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14 pages, 783 KiB  
Article
Integrating TRA and SET to Influence Food Waste Reduction in Buffet-Style Restaurants: A Gender-Specific Approach
by Qianni Zhu and Pei Liu
Sustainability 2024, 16(20), 8999; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16208999 - 17 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2519
Abstract
As one of the major greenhouse gas emission contributors, the food service industry, particularly buffet-style restaurants, is responsible for reducing food waste. This study explores the factors that shape consumer behavior toward food waste reduction in buffet-style restaurants based on the Theory of [...] Read more.
As one of the major greenhouse gas emission contributors, the food service industry, particularly buffet-style restaurants, is responsible for reducing food waste. This study explores the factors that shape consumer behavior toward food waste reduction in buffet-style restaurants based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Social Exchange theory (SET), as well as analyzing the gender differences in these determinants, offering practical insights for the restaurant industry. This study also uses structural equation modeling and group analysis to examine a total of 547 valid responses gathered through an online survey, including 286 male (52.3%) and 258 female (47.2%) respondents. The findings underscore the attitudes, subjective norms, and establishment policies that emerge as critical drivers of consumer behavior in buffet-style dining settings. Notably, significant gender differences are observed in attitudes and establishment policies. In light of these results, we recommend strategies that include enhancing consumer attitudes and implementing penalty policies within restaurant operations. Restaurants could display visual signs and images related to reducing food waste, provide detailed portion size information, and apply monetary fines for excess waste to reduce consumers’ food waste intentions. These strategies are particularly effective for male consumers, who are more influenced by these factors compared to female consumers. This research contributes valuable guidance for the industry’s efforts to address food waste concerns, emphasizing gender differences and promoting environmentally responsible behavior among consumers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Consumer Behaviour and Sustainable Marketing Strategy)
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