Consumer behavior on sustainable products: a systematic review of literature

Abstract

This paper aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature on consumer behavior about sustainable products, in order to identify the factors that interfere in consumer behavior, as well as define sustainability attributes and the perception of the consumer about sustainability. More than 4600 texts were identified from a review, conducted in 22 academic and practitioners’ bases. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 219 papers were selected and 95 of these were entirely analyzed. As a result, we identified eleven factors of influence on sustainability practices in the consumer behavior of sustainable products (environment, age, educational level, economic class, gender, conscience, self-image concern, emotion, legislation, access to information, trust and habit) and seven about consumer attributes and perception about sustainability (eco-friendly, origin assurance, consumer health, fair trade, animal testing, recyclables, and natural ingredients).

Keywords

• consumo sustentável
• comportamento do consumidor
• sustentabilidade
• atributo