Linking Sustainable Product Attributes and Consumer Decision Making: Insights from a Systematic Review

Recent decades have witnessed considerable research advances on the relationship between sustainable product attributes and consumer decision-making. However, despite the substantial body of research, findings remain fragmented and sometimes even contradictory. This study provides a state-of-the-art overview of extant research, uncovers knowledge gaps and develops recommendations for future research. Specifically, it presents a systematic review of research into relationships between sustainable product attributes and consumer decision-making over the past decade (2008–2018). In general, this review finds that most papers assume linear and rational consumer decision-making process, focus on environmental sustainability, and mostly examine food products; social sustainability is comparatively neglected, as is work that addresses cultural contexts, particularly differences between emerging and developed countries.