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Sustainable product innovation and changing consumer behavior: Sustainability affordances as triggers of adoption and usage

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  • Jonatan Pinkse
  • René Bohnsack

Abstract

This conceptual paper argues that for sustainable product innovation to make a contribution to addressing sustainability issues, we need to understand not only why consumers adopt sustainable products but also what makes them use these in sustainable way. To explain how specific product features can change the ways in which consumers engage with sustainable products in the adoption and usage phase, we draw on affordance theory. Affordances refer to the potential for agentic action of users in relation to a technological object. We develop a conceptual framework that explains how sustainable product innovation can lead to the design of sustainability affordances that stimulate adoption and sustainable usage. The framework shows how three forms of agency—material, firm, and user agency—interact and together influence a product's sustainability affordances that drive adoption and a change in consumer behavior. The framework explains how trade‐offs between a product's environmental features and consumer expectations regarding desired functionalities and user experience can be overcome.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonatan Pinkse & René Bohnsack, 2021. "Sustainable product innovation and changing consumer behavior: Sustainability affordances as triggers of adoption and usage," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3120-3130, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:30:y:2021:i:7:p:3120-3130
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2793
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonatan Pinkse, 2023. "The green transition: Net Zero as an opportunity to improve productivity," Insight Papers 024, The Productivity Institute.
    2. Widodo Widodo & Mochamad Bruri Triyono & Putu Sudira & Farid Mutohhari, 2023. "Building Sustainable Creative Economy in Society through the Mediation Role of Innovation Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-14, July.
    3. Jeremy Galbreath & Chia‐Yang Chang & Daniel Tisch, 2023. "The impact of a proactive environmental strategy on environmentally sustainable practices in service firms: The moderating effect of information use value," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5420-5434, December.
    4. René Bohnsack & Christina M. Bidmon & Jonatan Pinkse, 2022. "Sustainability in the digital age: Intended and unintended consequences of digital technologies for sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 599-602, February.
    5. Jiatong Dai & Guanghua Sheng, 2022. "Advertising strategies and sustainable development: The effects of green advertising appeals and subjective busyness on green purchase intention," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3421-3436, November.
    6. Santa, Juana Castro & Drews, Stefan, 2023. "Heuristic processing of green advertising: Review and policy implications," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).

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