Unsustainable consumption: conclusions

Telling people to stop consuming will not work. More realistic, then, to encourage a more self-aware consumer and more ‘reflexive’ consumption practices encouraging consumers to think about themselves as part of a broader system. The literature presents us with two possible models, to which we add a third: (1) Transition through regulation, based on public consensus; (2) Radical transition through niche accumulation and system collapse, or; (3) Transition through a reconfiguration phase of consuming fewer, higher quality products and services, combined with a subsequent and gradual culture change. Option one, while promising, is only feasible to a limited extent and only in certain social and political environments. Option two presents the most radical approach, but leaves most consumers at the mercy of a system collapse at some point in the future. It is therefore proposed that - following Geels et al. (2015) - a third option is introduced, involving a continuation of consumer culture, but at a much-reduced level, through a shift from consuming quantity to consuming quality.