Consumer Behavior, Sustainable Marketing and Consumption Upgrading

Dear Colleagues,

Contemporary marketplaces are being transformed by rapid technological innovation, evolving societal values, and rising expectations of corporate responsibility. Consumers now move through environments saturated with brands, including digital platforms and data-driven touchpoints, making decisions that are simultaneously emotional and rational, individual and social, and short-term and long-term. At the same time, concerns about overconsumption, consumer wastage, and environmental degradation raise urgent questions about how marketing can support sustainable lifestyles and long-term well-being rather than merely drive short-term transactions.

In this special Topic, we collate cutting-edge research on consumer behavior, branding strategy, sustainable and responsible marketing, and marketing intelligence in the digital era. We especially welcome work that leverages psychological insights to illuminate how consumers make decisions; experience and share consumption; build relationships with brands; and respond to societal, environmental, and technological changes in the marketplace.

Reflecting the diverse and multidisciplinary nature of consumer research, in this special Topic we invite the submission of articles that advance theory and conceptualization from multiple disciplinary perspectives (e.g., psychology, marketing, economics, sociology, and anthropology), adopt a wide range of methodological approaches (e.g., experiments, qualitative studies, surveys, field studies, empirical modeling, multi-method designs, and machine learning/AI), and examine consumer and consumption phenomena with clear implications for managers, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Example topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following:

1. Framing, nudges, and choice architecture in shaping consumer decisions;
2. Aiding consumer decision-making to optimize long-term well-being;
3. New benefits and tools for enhancing experiential and joint consumption;
4. Engaging consumers from the start through co-creation;
5. Gamification and impacts on consumer decision-making;
6. Personalization via individualized marketing;
7. Sustainability as a way to ensure a rich life experience for future generations;
8. The effectiveness of sustainability campaigns in altering consumer behavior;
9. Consumer responses to green marketing efforts;
10. Post-consumption disposal and recycling activities;
11. Brand scandals, sustainability perceptions, and consumer loyalty;
12. Consumer responses to sustainability communication and green branding in global markets;
13. Strategies for integrating sustainability into brand identity;
14. Social media and influencer marketing in sustainable consumption;
15. Brand advocacy and loyalty;
16. Brand influences on culture and cultural values;
17. Brands as partners in curating optimal consumer lifestyles;
18. Impacts of brand safety incidents on consumer purchase behavior;
19. Social causes and consumers boycotting brands;
20. Consumers’ brand admiration through social media influencers；
21. Influencers’ credibility and consumer well-being;
22. How artificial intelligence shapes consumer journeys and upgrades consumption;
23. Using virtual reality and/or AI to demonstrate science in action;
24. Deployment of augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, and voice assistants in enhancing consumer quality of life;
25. Influence of technology on increasing consumption.

Prof. Dr. Jin Sun
Prof. Dr. Haichuan Zhao
Dr. Zixi Jiang
Topic Editors