Short summary sustainable consumer behaviour

Aviation enables connectivity. Connectivity benefits the economy. Aviation also enables travel for non-economic reasons, such as visiting family and friends abroad or traveling for vacation. The negative effects of aviation, and transportation in general, on the environment and climate have been high on the agenda in scientific and public debate for several decades. In the academic literature, various alternatives to steer sustainable consumer behaviour in the context of aviation have been examined, such as: voluntary or involuntary offsetting of emissions; voluntary or involuntary use of eco-labels and other measures, such as taxes.

During this seminar, dr. Marleen Onwezen, dr. Andreas Wittmer and dr. Stefan Baumeister discussed their academic research related to the question of which methods are effective in steering consumer behaviour towards greater sustainability, under what circumstances, and for which types of travellers this yields the greatest effect and what this effect is.