The coronavirus pandemic: A window of opportunity for sustainable consumption or a time of turning away?

• Published date: 01 March 2022
• Author: Alexandra Hüttel,Ingo Balderjahn
• Date: 01 March 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12419

SPECIAL ISSUE

The coronavirus pandemic: A window of

opportunity for sustainable consumption

or a time of turning away?

Alexandra Hüttel | Ingo Balderjahn

Department of Marketing, University of

Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

Correspondence

Alexandra Hüttel, Department of

Marketing, University of Potsdam,

August-Bebel-Str. 89, 14482 Potsdam,

Germany.

Email: alexandra.huettel@uni-

potsdam.de

Funding information

German Federal Ministry of Education

and Research (BMBF) within the

framework of the Strategy 'Research for

Sustainability' (FONA), Grant Number:

01UT1706B; Universitaet Potsdam;

Projekt DEAL

Abstract

As a means to preserve present and future generations'

living conditions, sustainable consumption presents a

route to the enhanced well-being of individuals. However,

the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic raises the ques-

tion of whether society is going to continue down a path

of increased awareness of sustainable consumption or

whether the pandemic will move people to focus more on

themselves. Based on data gathered before and near the

end of the first pandemic lockdown in Germany in spring

2020, this research demonstrates that ecological, social,

and voluntary simplicity consciousness deteriorated in the

minds of sustainability-conscious consumers, with notable

impacts on their willingness to spend sustainably and their

shopping affinity. Furthermore, we identify segments that

show particular vulnerability to the lockdown by reacting

with a decrease in their ecological consumption conscious-

ness. This study concludes with a discussion of the

pandemic's implications for the spread of sustainable con-

sumption styles and human well-being.

KEYWORDS

coronavirus pandemic, intervention study, sustainable

consumption, well-being

Received: 26 October 2020 Revised: 22 September 2021 Accepted: 13 October 2021

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12419

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Consumer Affairs published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Council on Consumer

Interests.

68 J Consum Aff. 2022;56:68–96.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca

1|INTRODUCTION

With the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) spreading across the globe from beginning of the year 2020,

there have been wide-ranging impacts on people's lives. The virus is associated with the acute respi-

ratory syndrome disease COVID-19, which sometimes has a severe to fatal disease progression. The

coronavirus pandemic has occurred on a global scale, has affected a large number of people, and has

led to economic pressure and turbulence. As an event compromising the lives of numerous people,

causing vast economic and social damage, and requiring coordinated government resources to man-

age, the coronavirus pandemic fulfills the characteristic of a natural disaster. However, a crisis of this

type may also give rise to opportunities for change. From J. F. Kennedy comes the following quote:

The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’One brush stroke

stands for danger, the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger, but

recognize the opportunity.

With this quote in mind, in this study, we explore whether the pandemic is more likely to pro-

mote sustainable consumption consciousness and behavior (the pandemic as “window of oppor-

tunity”) or whether it is more likely to discourage it (the pandemic as a “time of turning away”).

Sheth (2020) argues that consumption patterns can be greatly altered by disruptive changes in

living conditions (consumption context) resulting from natural disasters. Prior research shows

that emotional distress and possibly loss of possessions and jobs due to natural disasters can

impact individuals' consumption behaviors and lifestyles (e.g., Forbes, 2017; Kennett-Hensel

et al., 2012; Sneath et al., 2009; Sneath & Lacey, 2009). Based on a literature review of past cata-

strophic events (including economic contractions, natural disasters, and terrorism), Zwanka and

Buff (2020) conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic, like other natural disasters, is experienced by

people as a life-threatening situation. People fear for their health and lives, and they worry about

job and income losses. Therefore, according to Zwanka and Buff (2020), the pandemic has the

potential to trigger anxiety, stress and fear on a large scale. Initial empirical findings show that

people in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic have adjusted their consumption behavior to

these adverse conditions (Liu et al., 2021; Naeem, 2021; Profeta et al., 2021).

This study analyzes shifts in sustainable consumer behavior in response to the pandemic.

Clearly, if it can be assumed on the basis of scientific evidence that people will adapt their con-

sumption habits to the conditions of a disaster, then coronavirus pandemic-related changes in

sustainable consumption are also possible. With regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, early

survey-based studies also indicate changes in people's attitudes toward sustainable consumption

(Chae, 2021; Severo et al., 2021; Tchetchik et al., 2021). However, the results of these studies are

equivocal in terms of whether the pandemic has a positive or negative impact on sustainable

consumer behavior. Moreover, there is a lack of experimentally designed research that can dem-

onstrate a causal link between the pandemic and changes in sustainable consumption patterns.

Against this background, the main objective of this research is to analyze the causal impacts

of the pandemic on people's consciousness of sustainable consumption (CSC), their willingness

to spend money sustainably, and their shopping affinity within a one-group pretest-posttest

experimental design (APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2021) during the first wave of the pan-

demic in 2020 in Germany. The indirect causal effects capture the impact of the pandemic on

sustainable consumption, which manifests through changes in consumers' sustainable con-

sumption consciousness. For this analysis, we use the concept proposed by Balderjahn

et al. (2013) that distinguishes three dimensions of sustainable consumption consciousness: eco-

logical, social and voluntary simplicity (see Balderjahn et al., 2013).

HÜTTEL AND BALDERJAHN 69