Sustainable Consumption and Brazilian Consumer Behaviour

Abstract

This chapter offers some reflections on the idea of sustainable consumption, considering the emotional, cultural and moral influences that affect consumer decision-making. We have chosen a model of sustainable consumption that avoids the usual strategy of transferring the regulatory responsibility of the State and other enterprises to individual consumers. As a result, we highlight aspects of the ‘culture of immediacy’ that guides modern society, especially in Brazil, notably the tendency to waste and the indifference to future needs. We focus on the individual’s strong need to justify the acquisition of goods. The biology of the human brain also affects consumption—namely, the tendency to overvalue immediate gains. Given this scenario, sustainable consumption requires more than individual behavioural change—information and education, and changes in product design are called for. Sustainable consumption thus combines consumer responsibility with an approach that calls on the State to regulate production and pursue legal action against infringements by producers that cause environmental destruction and offend the public morality.