Skip to main content

Consumption and Biodiversity Conservation: Insights from Behavioral Science Using the MINDSPACE Approach

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Life on Land

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

Definitions

Consumption is defined as purchase and use of all goods and services by individuals, households, and social groups.

MINDSPACE is a mnemonic that is used to set out nine robust influences on human behavior (messenger, incentives, norms, defaults, salience, priming, affect, commitment, ego).

Nudges are easy and cheap changes to some aspect of the choice architecture to alter human behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives.

Introduction

Human behavior is the key driver of all major threats to all life on land and biodiversity from habitat loss to climate change. Consumption of all goods and services requires the transformation of many natural resources via use as sources and sinks, which in turn impacts biodiversity. Individual’s lifestyle choices, in areas like food, energy, and water, can have indirect impacts by reducing emissions and demand-side pressures for wildlife and land. Individuals and...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ganga Shreedhar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Shreedhar, G. (2020). Consumption and Biodiversity Conservation: Insights from Behavioral Science Using the MINDSPACE Approach. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Life on Land. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71065-5_145-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71065-5_145-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71065-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71065-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics