Reappraising consumption nudging—on liberty in the age of climate catastrophe

Modern democracies are experiencing a fierce societal and political debate on the climate crisis. Urgent environmental policies are often thwarted by political forces which claim that climate action will erode liberty. Here, we reappraise the issue of consumption nudging (CN), i.e., market practices to promote consumption which act without the full understanding of consumers. In doing so, we argue, CN exacerbates the climate crisis by covertly undermining consumer autonomy and liberty. Our analysis suggests that the effects of pervasive and incessant CN, both for individuals and society, continue to be widely underestimated. The reason is that CN by disparate actors acts synergistically and cumulatively, to influence not only individual behavior, beliefs and preferences, but also social and cultural dynamics—all in a way that systematically evades conscious scrutiny. It thereby creates unsustainable path-dependencies making outcomes appear to be the result of free choices, while they actually subvert the liberty of both present and future generations.