Consumer acceptance of business practices for sustainability in the time of COVID
Experiences of a student sample
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14267/VEZTUD.2024.02.01Keywords:
corporate sustainability, business models for sustainability, sustainable consumption, rebound effectAbstract
The restrictions and lockdowns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the rise of sustainability-focused business practices. The aim of this study was twofold: to explore how consumer adoption of sustainable business practices changed during the pandemic, and to examine whether a rebound effect was to be expected once the pandemic was over. The authors used descriptive statistics, as well as factor and cluster analysis on a sample of 622 recipients to investigate the above areas. The results showed that consumers’ openness to the practices studied increased overall, apart from sharing solutions (accommodation, transport). However, there also seemed to be a rebound expected in the adoption of sustainable business practices after the pandemic, already partly observed, for example in terms of material consumption and missed trips.
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