The Future of Sustainable Consumption after the Pandemic, Optimism or Pessimism?

The COVID-19 pandemic caused not only a temporal disruption in consumption habits but may have also triggered permanent changes in sustainable consumption. It was observed that during lockdowns, forced changes in consumption generated both positive and negative impacts on green-house emissions (e.g., less air travel but more plastic packaging). Furthermore, the consumer had to adjust their consumption decisions according to external circumstances in an unprecedented way. How much sustainable consumption will change in the long run? This chapter approaches that question from two possible angles based on consumer behavior theory. 1) We argue that changes in sustainable consumption may occur in both positive and negative directions depending on the way the disruption acted upon the interaction of drivers of behavioral change (social influence, habit discontinuation, individuality, emotions/beliefs, and tangibility) with consumption categories. 2) We argue that the influence of the disruption on sustainable consumption may accelerate the transition toward a post-consumerist society. We examine the potential validity of our propositions by reviewing empirical studies that captured sustainable consumption during the pandemic. The still scarce data indicate that in spite of both positive and negative short-term effects on sustainable consumption, there are reasons for optimism in accordance with our theories.