Individual consumption, understood as all actions of procurement, use and disposal of things and services that serve to satisfy needs in different areas of life (Fischer et al., 2011), constitute a main contributor to the current environmental and socio-economic jeopardies of human society and hence represent a major challenge in the pursuit of sustainable development (SD) (Alfredsson et al., 2018). Scholars argue that “any transition toward sustainability can only be effective if [complemented by] far-reaching lifestyle changes” (Wiedmann et al., 2020).
In pursuit of identifying effective leverage points for changing individual consumer behavior, consumer research therefore aims to identify factors influencing consumer choices. In this regard, the role of emotions for understanding (un-)sustainable consumption has recently received increasing attention (Soscia, 2013; Hamann et al., 2016; Power et al., 2017). As to date, however, there is no systematic overview systematically differentiating the various ways in which emotions interplay with consumer behavior.
SuCo2 is looking for a BA/MA candidate contributing to closing this gap. More precisely, the candidate is asked to conduct a systematic literature review identifying and analyzing peer-reviewed journal articles on the interplay between consumer behavior and emotions.
The proposed study offers the interested BA/MA candidate a stock of references to inform the research. Furthermore, the candidate will have access to the infrastructure of the working group. Given the current need for research on the topic, the publication of the work is possible under condition of good performance. The thesis is preferably written in English.
If you are interested, please get in touch with Pascal Frank.
suco2.com 