How Value-Sensitive Design Can Empower Sustainable Consumption
Abstract
In a so-called overpopulated world, sustainable consumption is of existential importance.However, the expanding spectrum of product choices and their production complexity challenge consumers to make informed and value-sensitive decisions. Recent approaches based on (personalized) psychological manipulation are often intransparent, potentially privacy-invasive and inconsistent with (informational) self-determination. In contrast, responsible consumption based on informed choices currently requires reasoning to an extent that tends to overwhelm human cognitive capacity. As a result, a collective shift towards sustainable consumption remains a grand challenge. Here we demonstrate a novel personal shopping assistant implemented as a smart phone app that supports a value-sensitive design and leverages sustainability awareness, using experts' knowledge and "wisdom of the crowd" for transparent product information and explainable product ratings. Real-world field experiments in two supermarkets confirm higher sustainability awareness and a bottom-up behavioral shift towards more sustainable consumption. These results encourage novel business models for retailers and producers, ethically aligned with consumer preferences and with higher sustainability.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2004.09180,
title = {How Value-Sensitive Design Can Empower Sustainable Consumption},
author = {Thomas Asikis and Johannes Klinglmayr and Dirk Helbing and Evangelos Pournaras},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.09180},
year = {2020}
}