Speaker
Description
The United Nations developed a list of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Of these seventeen goals, the twelfth outlines the importance of responsible consumption and production. Unsustainable patterns of consumption and production have been cited as root causes of the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution which, combined with the resulting degradation of the environment, pose a threat to the well-being of the entire global population. Although recent global trends have shown that notable growing consumer demand for sustainable products has led to an increase in business engagement with sustainable production and other ESG practices, this trend does not affect post-communist nations (like Bulgaria) at the same rate. Furthermore, global research has shown that many other factors have an effect on one’s propensity to consume sustainably, including income, education, social influence, and, most notably, gender. Although a vast body of existing literature notes that some consumers are less likely to engage in sustainable consumption, with men (vs. women) being more resistant, this so-called eco gender gap in sustainable consumption behaviors is noticeably under-researched in post-communist countries, including Bulgaria.
This research begins by outlining previous literature on the gender differences in sustainable consumption behaviors and discusses how these behaviors often align with social roles for women and men (Altruism, Masculinity, and Sustainability Self Efficacy). The research then examines the degree to which these aspects inform the underlying motivations and influences on sustainable consumption behaviors in Bulgaria, with a focus on the male sustainable consumption perspective. Finally, the research concludes with an examination of how an understanding of these processes can promote solutions to the eco-gender gap, by informing a list of effective marketing tactics which promote sustainable consumption in men.
| Title | Exploring the factors underlying the gender gap in consumption of sustainable products in Bulgaria: How do we engage male consumers in sustainable consumption? |
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