Sufficiency digest #16
25 September 2025
➰️
CONCEPTS
Chen, S. (2025). Sufficiency—Book chapter. In N. Rapport (Ed.), Anthropology’s Philosophy(pp. 337–346). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-83819-4_40
Sufficiency’—not too little and not too much. In ancient Chinese philosophy, sufficiency emphasizes the contentment to be attained through a moderation of desires, a prioritization of virtues over material wealth, and a cultivation of harmonious relationships for personal and societal well-being. As conceived within contemporary ecological philosophy, sufficiency is both a fundamental objective and a practical approach for achieving reduced consumption while attaining contentment through having ‘enough’. In this essay life is breathed into the concept by way of an autoethnographic illustration that weaves threads of ancient Chinese and contemporary ecological philosophy into the fabric of everyday food practices in China.
Blackburn, R., Leviston, Z., & Walker, I. (2025). The environmental impact and wellbeing benefits of minimalism. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 102618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102618
Here we investigate minimalism, a low-consumption lifestyle which involves voluntarily reducing material consumption as a possible scalable pathway for consumption reduction. As minimalists aim to own few possessions, they might have a low carbon footprint, but this is yet to be established. This study investigates the environmental impact of minimalism, measured via an ecological footprint calculator in an online survey (N=444). We also investigate wellbeing (measured using life satisfaction and the PANAS), and its association with minimalism.
Bärnthaler, R., Barlow, N., Novy, A., Aigner, E. (2025). Conceptualizing transformative climate action: Insights from sufficiency research. Climate Policy, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2025.2494782
This synthesis article conceptualizes transformative climate actions (TCAs) by reviewing social-science-based climate and transformation research, with a particular focus on (Western) sufficiency literature. It identifies six key characteristics of TCAs. In developing these six characteristics, the article bridges conceptual debates with real-world policymaking, highlighting key climate policy challenges while demonstrating how integrating these characteristics can drive deep societal transformations and support policymakers in designing holistic strategies for effective climate action.
Sanchez-Solis, C., Balderrama, S., Crevani, G., Stevanato, N., & Quoilin, S. (2025). Bridging the energy gap: A Global South perspective on achieving universal access through energy sufficiency. Energy for Sustainable Development, 88, 101793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2025.101793
Existing research on Energy Sufficiency has largely focused on its role in reducing excessive consumption in high-income countries, with limited attention to its implications for energy access in the Global South. This paper addresses this gap by reframing Energy Sufficiency not only as a strategy to curb over-consumption but also as a framework to ensure universal access to electricity. Using a bottom-up modeling approach, the study presents a method to estimate sufficiency thresholds for rural communities in five case studies across developing countries with a focus on electricity-based energy services.
Sufficiency’—not too little and not too much. In ancient Chinese philosophy, sufficiency emphasizes the contentment to be attained through a moderation of desires, a prioritization of virtues over material wealth, and a cultivation of harmonious relationships for personal and societal well-being. As conceived within contemporary ecological philosophy, sufficiency is both a fundamental objective and a practical approach for achieving reduced consumption while attaining contentment through having ‘enough’. In this essay life is breathed into the concept by way of an autoethnographic illustration that weaves threads of ancient Chinese and contemporary ecological philosophy into the fabric of everyday food practices in China.
Blackburn, R., Leviston, Z., & Walker, I. (2025). The environmental impact and wellbeing benefits of minimalism. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 102618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102618
Here we investigate minimalism, a low-consumption lifestyle which involves voluntarily reducing material consumption as a possible scalable pathway for consumption reduction. As minimalists aim to own few possessions, they might have a low carbon footprint, but this is yet to be established. This study investigates the environmental impact of minimalism, measured via an ecological footprint calculator in an online survey (N=444). We also investigate wellbeing (measured using life satisfaction and the PANAS), and its association with minimalism.
Bärnthaler, R., Barlow, N., Novy, A., Aigner, E. (2025). Conceptualizing transformative climate action: Insights from sufficiency research. Climate Policy, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2025.2494782
This synthesis article conceptualizes transformative climate actions (TCAs) by reviewing social-science-based climate and transformation research, with a particular focus on (Western) sufficiency literature. It identifies six key characteristics of TCAs. In developing these six characteristics, the article bridges conceptual debates with real-world policymaking, highlighting key climate policy challenges while demonstrating how integrating these characteristics can drive deep societal transformations and support policymakers in designing holistic strategies for effective climate action.
Sanchez-Solis, C., Balderrama, S., Crevani, G., Stevanato, N., & Quoilin, S. (2025). Bridging the energy gap: A Global South perspective on achieving universal access through energy sufficiency. Energy for Sustainable Development, 88, 101793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2025.101793
Existing research on Energy Sufficiency has largely focused on its role in reducing excessive consumption in high-income countries, with limited attention to its implications for energy access in the Global South. This paper addresses this gap by reframing Energy Sufficiency not only as a strategy to curb over-consumption but also as a framework to ensure universal access to electricity. Using a bottom-up modeling approach, the study presents a method to estimate sufficiency thresholds for rural communities in five case studies across developing countries with a focus on electricity-based energy services.
🏛️
POLICIES & INTERVENTIONS
Almeida, L. (2025). Energy: From Efficiency to Sufficiency. CIB Conferences, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.7771/3067-4883.2105
This paper explores energy sufficiency as complementary to efficiency and its integration within Net Zero. Considering the societal approach and interaction between humans and machines, such as the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), this paper also includes a short reflection on paralleling sufficiency with the fifth Industrial Revolution. There is a need to incorporate the concept of sufficiency in a broader sense, from supply to demand. Sufficiency as a reemerging concept still requires policies on energy systems and societies.
Golinucci, N., Rocco, M. V., Prina, M. G., Beltrami, F., Rinaldi, L., Schau, E. M., & Sparber, W. (2025). The role of sufficiency measures in a decarbonizing Europe. Ecological Economics, 235, 108645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108645
This study introduces a multi-regional, multi-sectoral model, based on an input-output framework, to quantify the decarbonization impacts of sufficiency measures on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and employment under European Union (EU) specific scenarios through 2050. The model evaluates six sufficiency measures: reductions in air travel, personal living space, and vehicle size; increased product and space sharing; greater cycling adoption; and a shift towards plant-based diets. Combined, these measures may reduce EU annual GHG emissions by up to 13 %, yielding global cumulative savings of 13.8 Gt CO₂eq by 2050, while having moderate first-order effects on GDP and employment.
Schunz, S. (2025). Was there a notion of ‘enough’ in the European Green Deal? Sufficiency in the European Union’s sustainability discourse. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-10-2024-1103
This study uses discourse analysis to examine how sufficiency is represented across major strategic policy initiatives emerging from the EGD during the period 2019–2024. This study finds that, despite the discursive window of opportunity provided by the EGD, notions of sufficiency remain weak and underspecified at the EU level, essentially taking the form of informational tools to spur citizens’ sustainable behaviour. The puzzling finding that sufficiency-oriented tools remain underused despite the EGD’s vow to comprehensively address “this generation’s defining task” of climate and environmental challenges requires further academic and normative scrutiny.
Roux, N., Coenen, J., Fleischmann, B., Cotta, B., Dorninger, C., Erb, K.-H., Haberl, H., Kaufmann, L., Mayer, A., & Newig, J. (2025). Integrating sufficiency in the trade and biodiversity agenda of the European Union. One Earth, 8(7), 101347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101347
We argue that the EU’s biodiversity and trade liberalization agendas contradict each other from a sufficiency perspective. Here, we highlight how sufficiency-oriented trade measures—such as quotas and tariffs on critical commodities and sufficiency provisions in trade agreements—could reconcile these agendas. Integrating sufficiency in trade policy could substantially reduce global pressures on biosphere integrity and help the EU effectively meet its biodiversity objectives.
Molnár, M., & Dalhammar, C. (2025). Sufficiency in European Product Policies: Status Quo and Future Potentials. Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025), 6. https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10352
Given the pressing need to address resource overconsumption and its environmental impacts, it is essential to explore how sufficiency can be incorporated into product policies. This paper analyses the current state of sufficiency-oriented measures in European product policies, taking consumer electronics and electrical devices as a case study, and proposes supplementary instruments that can advance sustainability targets.
Nuorivaara, E., & Ahvenharju, S. (2025). Acceptability of sufficiency consumption policies by Finnish households. Buildings & Cities, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.573
This research examines the acceptability of sufficiency consumption policies among Finnish households and how Finnish households experience sufficiency as a guiding principle specifically for sustainable energy consumption. The results show that the principle of sufficiency was generally well-received by the households and the policies were generally found acceptable under certain conditions. Exceptions were the two hardest policies: higher income tax and restricting the size of living space.
Wieland, T., & Thiel, F. (2025). Increasing individual-level climate mitigation action: The role of behavioral dimensions and inequality perceptions. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 382. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04712-3
This study conducts a factorial survey experiment, analyzing the willingness to adapt climate-friendly behavior in lifestyle dimensions with high emission reduction potential in a representative sample of the adult population of Germany. Moreover, we are employing novel approaches to motivate behavioral change through the lens of perceived inequality in climate change, priming our respondents about economic, generational, or global inequality. Our results identify lifestyle dimensions where behavioral resistance is most pronounced, particularly in meat consumption and car use, and show which dimensions have higher potential for adaptation (e.g. reducing air travel).
Shakiba, G. (2025). Learning sufficiency through play—A participatory playground transformation with children in Gothenburg [Master’s thesis]. https://odr.chalmers.se/items/39f80009-f94d-4af3-9849-6173fb72c36c
Experiential learning, which emphasizes direct interaction, experimentation, and reflection, provides an effective way for children to internalize sufficiency as a lived practice rather than abstract knowledge. Play, as a powerful learning tool for children, makes it a meaningful approach to engage them in understanding sufficiency. Thus, This thesis explores how the transformation of playgrounds can help children learn sufficiency through experiential learning.
This paper explores energy sufficiency as complementary to efficiency and its integration within Net Zero. Considering the societal approach and interaction between humans and machines, such as the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), this paper also includes a short reflection on paralleling sufficiency with the fifth Industrial Revolution. There is a need to incorporate the concept of sufficiency in a broader sense, from supply to demand. Sufficiency as a reemerging concept still requires policies on energy systems and societies.
Golinucci, N., Rocco, M. V., Prina, M. G., Beltrami, F., Rinaldi, L., Schau, E. M., & Sparber, W. (2025). The role of sufficiency measures in a decarbonizing Europe. Ecological Economics, 235, 108645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108645
This study introduces a multi-regional, multi-sectoral model, based on an input-output framework, to quantify the decarbonization impacts of sufficiency measures on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and employment under European Union (EU) specific scenarios through 2050. The model evaluates six sufficiency measures: reductions in air travel, personal living space, and vehicle size; increased product and space sharing; greater cycling adoption; and a shift towards plant-based diets. Combined, these measures may reduce EU annual GHG emissions by up to 13 %, yielding global cumulative savings of 13.8 Gt CO₂eq by 2050, while having moderate first-order effects on GDP and employment.
Schunz, S. (2025). Was there a notion of ‘enough’ in the European Green Deal? Sufficiency in the European Union’s sustainability discourse. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-10-2024-1103
This study uses discourse analysis to examine how sufficiency is represented across major strategic policy initiatives emerging from the EGD during the period 2019–2024. This study finds that, despite the discursive window of opportunity provided by the EGD, notions of sufficiency remain weak and underspecified at the EU level, essentially taking the form of informational tools to spur citizens’ sustainable behaviour. The puzzling finding that sufficiency-oriented tools remain underused despite the EGD’s vow to comprehensively address “this generation’s defining task” of climate and environmental challenges requires further academic and normative scrutiny.
Roux, N., Coenen, J., Fleischmann, B., Cotta, B., Dorninger, C., Erb, K.-H., Haberl, H., Kaufmann, L., Mayer, A., & Newig, J. (2025). Integrating sufficiency in the trade and biodiversity agenda of the European Union. One Earth, 8(7), 101347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101347
We argue that the EU’s biodiversity and trade liberalization agendas contradict each other from a sufficiency perspective. Here, we highlight how sufficiency-oriented trade measures—such as quotas and tariffs on critical commodities and sufficiency provisions in trade agreements—could reconcile these agendas. Integrating sufficiency in trade policy could substantially reduce global pressures on biosphere integrity and help the EU effectively meet its biodiversity objectives.
Molnár, M., & Dalhammar, C. (2025). Sufficiency in European Product Policies: Status Quo and Future Potentials. Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025), 6. https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10352
Given the pressing need to address resource overconsumption and its environmental impacts, it is essential to explore how sufficiency can be incorporated into product policies. This paper analyses the current state of sufficiency-oriented measures in European product policies, taking consumer electronics and electrical devices as a case study, and proposes supplementary instruments that can advance sustainability targets.
Nuorivaara, E., & Ahvenharju, S. (2025). Acceptability of sufficiency consumption policies by Finnish households. Buildings & Cities, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.573
This research examines the acceptability of sufficiency consumption policies among Finnish households and how Finnish households experience sufficiency as a guiding principle specifically for sustainable energy consumption. The results show that the principle of sufficiency was generally well-received by the households and the policies were generally found acceptable under certain conditions. Exceptions were the two hardest policies: higher income tax and restricting the size of living space.
Wieland, T., & Thiel, F. (2025). Increasing individual-level climate mitigation action: The role of behavioral dimensions and inequality perceptions. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 382. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04712-3
This study conducts a factorial survey experiment, analyzing the willingness to adapt climate-friendly behavior in lifestyle dimensions with high emission reduction potential in a representative sample of the adult population of Germany. Moreover, we are employing novel approaches to motivate behavioral change through the lens of perceived inequality in climate change, priming our respondents about economic, generational, or global inequality. Our results identify lifestyle dimensions where behavioral resistance is most pronounced, particularly in meat consumption and car use, and show which dimensions have higher potential for adaptation (e.g. reducing air travel).
Shakiba, G. (2025). Learning sufficiency through play—A participatory playground transformation with children in Gothenburg [Master’s thesis]. https://odr.chalmers.se/items/39f80009-f94d-4af3-9849-6173fb72c36c
Experiential learning, which emphasizes direct interaction, experimentation, and reflection, provides an effective way for children to internalize sufficiency as a lived practice rather than abstract knowledge. Play, as a powerful learning tool for children, makes it a meaningful approach to engage them in understanding sufficiency. Thus, This thesis explores how the transformation of playgrounds can help children learn sufficiency through experiential learning.
📉
MODELLING & IMPACTS
Beltrami, F., Schau, E. M., Prina, M. G., & Sparber, W. (2025). A Composite Indicator for Assessing Upscaled Energy Sufficiency and Sustainable Prosperity in the European Union. Journal of Sustainable Development Indicators, 1(1), 1–37. https://doi.org/10.13044/j.sdi.d2.0558
The reliance on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of economic success has been criticized for neglecting environmental and social dimensions of well-being. To address this limitation, this paper develops an adapted version of the Sustainable Prosperity Index (SPI), inspired by Jackson and Victor (2020) and applied to the European Union (EU). Using a composite indicator approach, we construct the SPI by integrating economic, environmental, and social indicators, with a specific focus on energy sufficiency within four key high-energy consumption domains: food, transport, housing, and consumer goods.
Guan, Y., Shan, Y., Hang, Y., Nie, Q., Liu, Y., & Hubacek, K. (2025). Unlocking global carbon reduction potential by embracing low-carbon lifestyles. Nature Communications, 16(1), 4599. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59269-1
Here, we quantify the greenhouse gas emissions reduction potential of 21 low-carbon expenditures using a global multi-regional input-output model linked with detailed household expenditure data. Targeting households exceeding the global per-capita average required to stay below 2 degrees, our model captures changes in direct energy use, household consumption and upstream intermediate industrial inputs. We find that implementing a combination of low-carbon expenditures among the top 23.7% emitters reduces global carbon footprints by 10.4 gigatons CO2e (i.e., 40.1% of the household consumption-based emissions of the 116 countries analysed in this study or 31.7% of the global total in 2017).
Cap, S., Li, S., De Koning, A., Karjalainen, A., Lettenmeier, M., Coscieme, L., Tukker, A., & Scherer, L. (2025). Carbon footprint reduction potential of consumption changes in five European countries in 2015, 2030, and 2050. Sustainable Production and Consumption, S2352550925001745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2025.08.018
This study quantifies the avoided greenhouse gas emissions from 47 consumption changes across five diverse European countries. We assess how socioeconomic and technological changes influence emissions reduction potentials by comparing such potentials in a baseline year (2015) with those in 2030 and 2050 under a sustainable development scenario. Our findings highlight that the most effective mitigation options involve reducing conventional vehicle use, decarbonizing household heating, and shifting to predominantly plant-based diets.
Andreou, A., Fragkos, P., Filippidou, F., Zisarou, E., Avgerinopoulos, G., Pietzcker, R., Hasse, R., & Rosemann, R. (2025). Evaluating the impact of lifestyle changes: A scenario-based analysis for Europe’s residential buildings sector. Environmental Research Communications, 7(3), 035013. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adb9d8
Evidence suggests that lifestyle changes are a crucial aspect in the design of decarbonisation strategies towards the achievement of Paris Agreement’s goals. However, most mitigation scenarios developed with Integrated Assessment and Energy System Models often lack a reliable representation of lifestyle changes, therefore modelled pathways overlook the intricate interplay between the impacts of behavioural change and climate policy instruments. This study addresses this critical gap by introducing methodological improvements in leading sectoral energy models (PRIMES-BuiMo, EDGE-Buildings) to simulate more accurately the effect of potential lifestyle transformations in households.
HANUT, M. (2025). Exploring sufficiency scenarios pathways towards 2050 for Belgium, using EnergyScope Pathway [Master in Mechanical Engineering]. École polytechnique de Louvain.
This study aims to explore a scenario that integrates sufficiency. To do so, two pathways are analysed: the reference and the CLEVER one, which incorporates sufficiency.
The reliance on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of economic success has been criticized for neglecting environmental and social dimensions of well-being. To address this limitation, this paper develops an adapted version of the Sustainable Prosperity Index (SPI), inspired by Jackson and Victor (2020) and applied to the European Union (EU). Using a composite indicator approach, we construct the SPI by integrating economic, environmental, and social indicators, with a specific focus on energy sufficiency within four key high-energy consumption domains: food, transport, housing, and consumer goods.
Guan, Y., Shan, Y., Hang, Y., Nie, Q., Liu, Y., & Hubacek, K. (2025). Unlocking global carbon reduction potential by embracing low-carbon lifestyles. Nature Communications, 16(1), 4599. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59269-1
Here, we quantify the greenhouse gas emissions reduction potential of 21 low-carbon expenditures using a global multi-regional input-output model linked with detailed household expenditure data. Targeting households exceeding the global per-capita average required to stay below 2 degrees, our model captures changes in direct energy use, household consumption and upstream intermediate industrial inputs. We find that implementing a combination of low-carbon expenditures among the top 23.7% emitters reduces global carbon footprints by 10.4 gigatons CO2e (i.e., 40.1% of the household consumption-based emissions of the 116 countries analysed in this study or 31.7% of the global total in 2017).
Cap, S., Li, S., De Koning, A., Karjalainen, A., Lettenmeier, M., Coscieme, L., Tukker, A., & Scherer, L. (2025). Carbon footprint reduction potential of consumption changes in five European countries in 2015, 2030, and 2050. Sustainable Production and Consumption, S2352550925001745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2025.08.018
This study quantifies the avoided greenhouse gas emissions from 47 consumption changes across five diverse European countries. We assess how socioeconomic and technological changes influence emissions reduction potentials by comparing such potentials in a baseline year (2015) with those in 2030 and 2050 under a sustainable development scenario. Our findings highlight that the most effective mitigation options involve reducing conventional vehicle use, decarbonizing household heating, and shifting to predominantly plant-based diets.
Andreou, A., Fragkos, P., Filippidou, F., Zisarou, E., Avgerinopoulos, G., Pietzcker, R., Hasse, R., & Rosemann, R. (2025). Evaluating the impact of lifestyle changes: A scenario-based analysis for Europe’s residential buildings sector. Environmental Research Communications, 7(3), 035013. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adb9d8
Evidence suggests that lifestyle changes are a crucial aspect in the design of decarbonisation strategies towards the achievement of Paris Agreement’s goals. However, most mitigation scenarios developed with Integrated Assessment and Energy System Models often lack a reliable representation of lifestyle changes, therefore modelled pathways overlook the intricate interplay between the impacts of behavioural change and climate policy instruments. This study addresses this critical gap by introducing methodological improvements in leading sectoral energy models (PRIMES-BuiMo, EDGE-Buildings) to simulate more accurately the effect of potential lifestyle transformations in households.
HANUT, M. (2025). Exploring sufficiency scenarios pathways towards 2050 for Belgium, using EnergyScope Pathway [Master in Mechanical Engineering]. École polytechnique de Louvain.
This study aims to explore a scenario that integrates sufficiency. To do so, two pathways are analysed: the reference and the CLEVER one, which incorporates sufficiency.
🛒
CONSUMPTION PATTERNS
Callmer, Å., & Boström, M. (2025). Normalising what’s outside the norm? The social life of consumption reduction. Consumption and Society, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1332/27528499Y2025D000000058
A better understanding of the factors at play in the normalisation of sustainable lifestyle choices is essential to achieve a large-scale transition to sufficiency-oriented lifestyles and societies. Aiming to contribute to this understanding, this article builds on literature on normativity and normalisation related to consumption and analyses interview material from a study with 25 Swedish individuals who aim to reduce their consumption. The analysis identifies both contextual and processual factors that dynamically interact in the process of normalising reduced consumption. The results show that renegotiating meanings and developing new competences and skills are important parts of normalising more sufficiency-oriented ways of consuming.
Moynat, O. (2025). Planned, unplanned and planning sufficiency: Uncovering the nexus between consumption reduction and wellbeing for imagining energy futures in Switzerland. https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:184940
The research on which this PhD thesis is based engages with social practice theory to describe everyday consumption in the present and the future, in relation to fundamental human needs satisfaction as way for accounting for wellbeing, a normative outcome of how practices are organized. To better understand how consumption reduction can be discussed in relation to needs satisfaction, this work proposes to discuss how change can come about in relation to planned sufficiency, unplanned sufficiency, and planning sufficiency.
Oliu-Barton, M., Pommeret, A., Robinet, A., Schubert, K., & Viennot, M. (2024). Chosen Energy Sufficiency: Preference Shocks and Behavioural Biases. Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, 543, 21–37. https://doi.org/10.24187/ecostat.2024.543.2117
There is a lot of expectation surrounding energy sufficiency as part of the energy transition. It may result from an increase in energy prices, but it could also be a conscious choice. In this case, it would be the consequence of an adjustment in preferences or a reduction in behavioural biases. Changes in preferences can be modelled as an adjustment to the relative weights attributed by individuals to durable goods, energy or even non-durable goods. Here, we show that the macroeconomic impacts differ largely based on the type of adjustment, which we can use to guide public policy decisions.
Duncan, S., Hjelmskog, A., & Papies, E. K. (2025). “I can’t compromise the quality of my life I’m sorry”: Privileged individuals in the United Kingdom show little willingness to change high-carbon lifestyles. Energy Research & Social Science, 126, 104114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104114
Changing high‑carbon lifestyles of individuals with high socioeconomic status (SES) is an important step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring social justice within climate change mitigation. However, shifting high‑carbon lifestyles may present a challenge, especially when many high‑carbon behaviours (such as frequent flying and car ownership) are used to signal status within individuals’ social networks. Here, we report the findings of a pre-registered online mixed-methods study in the UK (N = 511) that examined the associations of descriptive norms about high‑carbon behaviours with policy support and with the likelihood to voluntarily reduce these behaviours for climate change mitigation. Overall, our findings suggest that individuals with high SES are unlikely to reduce lifestyle-related emissions, or support policy to this effect, when it requires them to make direct changes to high‑carbon behaviours.
Pathak, M., Creutzig, F., & Gupta, D. (2025). What Has Been Done to Reduce Luxury Consumption? A Global Review. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-111523-102010
As the window for opportunity to limit warming to 1.5°C closes, addressing luxury emissions may represent a high-impact mitigation strategy for two reasons: They represent a substantive proportion of emissions, and they serve as an aspirational model for other consumption classes, thus amplifying their destructive effect on emissions and the planet. However, there is limited understanding of the patterns of luxury consumption and thus the policies and regulations that can directly target these behaviors.
Betts-Davies, S., Owen, A., Barrett, J., Brockway, P., & Norman, J. (2025). Quantifying the energy and emissions implications of consumption redistribution in the UK through sustainable consumption corridors. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 16499. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-01495-0
Energy sufficiency has received attention as a solution to these crises, but there has been limited exploration of the impact sufficiency principles could have on energy and GHG emissions. Addressing this gap, we utilise a consumption-corridor approach to develop three redistributive scenarios of final consumption for the UK. Each scenario ensures all households meet essential needs and facilitates social participation, whilst varying the level of consumption redistribution. We find that reductions in consumption inequality can support reductions in GHG emissions and energy use, but only if the consumption of higher-income consumers is limited to near equality in expenditure.
Suter, M., Rabaa, S., & Essl, A. (2025). The benefits of less: The effect of sufficiency gain framing on sufficiency behavior. Ecological Economics, 231, 108561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108561
In an online experiment with participants from the United States (n = 1317), we examine the effect of providing information about different sufficiency benefits to nature, society, or the individual on sufficiency behavior. Sufficiency behavior was measured by participants’ decision between an Amazon voucher and donating to an organization that fosters sufficiency projects. Informing about individual sufficiency benefits, such as more free time and better mental health, may be fruitful in promoting sufficiency behavior.
A better understanding of the factors at play in the normalisation of sustainable lifestyle choices is essential to achieve a large-scale transition to sufficiency-oriented lifestyles and societies. Aiming to contribute to this understanding, this article builds on literature on normativity and normalisation related to consumption and analyses interview material from a study with 25 Swedish individuals who aim to reduce their consumption. The analysis identifies both contextual and processual factors that dynamically interact in the process of normalising reduced consumption. The results show that renegotiating meanings and developing new competences and skills are important parts of normalising more sufficiency-oriented ways of consuming.
Moynat, O. (2025). Planned, unplanned and planning sufficiency: Uncovering the nexus between consumption reduction and wellbeing for imagining energy futures in Switzerland. https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:184940
The research on which this PhD thesis is based engages with social practice theory to describe everyday consumption in the present and the future, in relation to fundamental human needs satisfaction as way for accounting for wellbeing, a normative outcome of how practices are organized. To better understand how consumption reduction can be discussed in relation to needs satisfaction, this work proposes to discuss how change can come about in relation to planned sufficiency, unplanned sufficiency, and planning sufficiency.
Oliu-Barton, M., Pommeret, A., Robinet, A., Schubert, K., & Viennot, M. (2024). Chosen Energy Sufficiency: Preference Shocks and Behavioural Biases. Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, 543, 21–37. https://doi.org/10.24187/ecostat.2024.543.2117
There is a lot of expectation surrounding energy sufficiency as part of the energy transition. It may result from an increase in energy prices, but it could also be a conscious choice. In this case, it would be the consequence of an adjustment in preferences or a reduction in behavioural biases. Changes in preferences can be modelled as an adjustment to the relative weights attributed by individuals to durable goods, energy or even non-durable goods. Here, we show that the macroeconomic impacts differ largely based on the type of adjustment, which we can use to guide public policy decisions.
Duncan, S., Hjelmskog, A., & Papies, E. K. (2025). “I can’t compromise the quality of my life I’m sorry”: Privileged individuals in the United Kingdom show little willingness to change high-carbon lifestyles. Energy Research & Social Science, 126, 104114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104114
Changing high‑carbon lifestyles of individuals with high socioeconomic status (SES) is an important step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring social justice within climate change mitigation. However, shifting high‑carbon lifestyles may present a challenge, especially when many high‑carbon behaviours (such as frequent flying and car ownership) are used to signal status within individuals’ social networks. Here, we report the findings of a pre-registered online mixed-methods study in the UK (N = 511) that examined the associations of descriptive norms about high‑carbon behaviours with policy support and with the likelihood to voluntarily reduce these behaviours for climate change mitigation. Overall, our findings suggest that individuals with high SES are unlikely to reduce lifestyle-related emissions, or support policy to this effect, when it requires them to make direct changes to high‑carbon behaviours.
Pathak, M., Creutzig, F., & Gupta, D. (2025). What Has Been Done to Reduce Luxury Consumption? A Global Review. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-111523-102010
As the window for opportunity to limit warming to 1.5°C closes, addressing luxury emissions may represent a high-impact mitigation strategy for two reasons: They represent a substantive proportion of emissions, and they serve as an aspirational model for other consumption classes, thus amplifying their destructive effect on emissions and the planet. However, there is limited understanding of the patterns of luxury consumption and thus the policies and regulations that can directly target these behaviors.
Betts-Davies, S., Owen, A., Barrett, J., Brockway, P., & Norman, J. (2025). Quantifying the energy and emissions implications of consumption redistribution in the UK through sustainable consumption corridors. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 16499. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-01495-0
Energy sufficiency has received attention as a solution to these crises, but there has been limited exploration of the impact sufficiency principles could have on energy and GHG emissions. Addressing this gap, we utilise a consumption-corridor approach to develop three redistributive scenarios of final consumption for the UK. Each scenario ensures all households meet essential needs and facilitates social participation, whilst varying the level of consumption redistribution. We find that reductions in consumption inequality can support reductions in GHG emissions and energy use, but only if the consumption of higher-income consumers is limited to near equality in expenditure.
Suter, M., Rabaa, S., & Essl, A. (2025). The benefits of less: The effect of sufficiency gain framing on sufficiency behavior. Ecological Economics, 231, 108561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108561
In an online experiment with participants from the United States (n = 1317), we examine the effect of providing information about different sufficiency benefits to nature, society, or the individual on sufficiency behavior. Sufficiency behavior was measured by participants’ decision between an Amazon voucher and donating to an organization that fosters sufficiency projects. Informing about individual sufficiency benefits, such as more free time and better mental health, may be fruitful in promoting sufficiency behavior.
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BUSINESSES
Bocken, N. M. P., Niessen, L., Gossen, M., Das, A., & Zielińska, M. (2025). Marketing in the anthropocene: A future agenda for research and practice. AMS Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-025-00300-5
In this study, we investigate the following questions: What role should marketing play in the era of the Anthropocene? What concepts, outcomes, tools and theories does marketing offer to support a transition towards Marketing in the Anthropocene? We conduct a scoping literature review based on different research directions and propose a conceptualization for “Marketing in the Anthropocene” as an inspirational, forward-looking concept, tool and practice for marketers and marketing researchers. We highlight relevant marketing tools and theories and provide guiding questions for future research and practice.
Karman A. (2025). Evaluating Sufficiency Practices for Sustainable Competitiveness Using Grey-AHP Analysis. (2025). In A. Karman, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (pp. 318–326). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-97567-7_25
This study explores the role of sufficiency practices in fostering sustainable competitiveness at the company level. Utilising the Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process (Grey-AHP), we assess and prioritise sufficiency practices that contribute to economic and market capability, resource capability, social ability and technological ability. A sample of 37 companies implementing CE principles was analysed to identify key sufficiency practices and their impact on competitiveness dimensions.
Chinwego, C., Garcia, R., Sehar, D. M., MacGregor, E., Tate, S., Savage, K., Zuber, T., Sseruwagi, B., Dietrich, D., Opoku, E., Smith, D., Powell, A., & Mishra, B. (2025). Sufficiency-driven business models for rare earth recycling: Integrating stakeholder collaboration and customer discovery for sustainable innovation. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 14(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-025-00480-1
This paper explores the development of a collaborative and customer-centric business model for sustainable innovation in rare earth magnet recycling. This study highlights the importance of developing business models that prioritize resource sufficiency, economic viability and environmental conservation. Through detailed case studies as part of the NSF I-Corps program, this paper presents evidence from over 130 stakeholder interviews, completed with individuals from rare earth magnet companies, rare earth magnet recycling companies, National laboratories, metal alloy companies, and metal recycling companies.
Corbier, D., Pettifor, H., Agnew, M., & Nagashima, M. (2025). Shaping sustainable consumption practices: Changing consumers’ habits through lifestyle changes and Extended Producer Responsibility schemes. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 217, 108214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108214
This paper studies Japan’s consumer-side circular economy strategies, particularly focusing on the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems. The current low rates of EPR fees limit their effectiveness in promoting sustainable consumption and production practices. The study investigates how increasing EPR fees might alter Japanese household sufficiency behaviors under different lifestyle change assumptions.
In this study, we investigate the following questions: What role should marketing play in the era of the Anthropocene? What concepts, outcomes, tools and theories does marketing offer to support a transition towards Marketing in the Anthropocene? We conduct a scoping literature review based on different research directions and propose a conceptualization for “Marketing in the Anthropocene” as an inspirational, forward-looking concept, tool and practice for marketers and marketing researchers. We highlight relevant marketing tools and theories and provide guiding questions for future research and practice.
Karman A. (2025). Evaluating Sufficiency Practices for Sustainable Competitiveness Using Grey-AHP Analysis. (2025). In A. Karman, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (pp. 318–326). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-97567-7_25
This study explores the role of sufficiency practices in fostering sustainable competitiveness at the company level. Utilising the Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process (Grey-AHP), we assess and prioritise sufficiency practices that contribute to economic and market capability, resource capability, social ability and technological ability. A sample of 37 companies implementing CE principles was analysed to identify key sufficiency practices and their impact on competitiveness dimensions.
Chinwego, C., Garcia, R., Sehar, D. M., MacGregor, E., Tate, S., Savage, K., Zuber, T., Sseruwagi, B., Dietrich, D., Opoku, E., Smith, D., Powell, A., & Mishra, B. (2025). Sufficiency-driven business models for rare earth recycling: Integrating stakeholder collaboration and customer discovery for sustainable innovation. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 14(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-025-00480-1
This paper explores the development of a collaborative and customer-centric business model for sustainable innovation in rare earth magnet recycling. This study highlights the importance of developing business models that prioritize resource sufficiency, economic viability and environmental conservation. Through detailed case studies as part of the NSF I-Corps program, this paper presents evidence from over 130 stakeholder interviews, completed with individuals from rare earth magnet companies, rare earth magnet recycling companies, National laboratories, metal alloy companies, and metal recycling companies.
Corbier, D., Pettifor, H., Agnew, M., & Nagashima, M. (2025). Shaping sustainable consumption practices: Changing consumers’ habits through lifestyle changes and Extended Producer Responsibility schemes. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 217, 108214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108214
This paper studies Japan’s consumer-side circular economy strategies, particularly focusing on the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems. The current low rates of EPR fees limit their effectiveness in promoting sustainable consumption and production practices. The study investigates how increasing EPR fees might alter Japanese household sufficiency behaviors under different lifestyle change assumptions.
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FASHION
Garcia-Ortega, B., Galan-Cubillo, J., Morozova, D., & Llorens-Montes, F. J. (2025). Decoding business strategies toward sufficient consumption in the fashion industry. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-04-2024-0132
The purpose of this study is to investigate corporate strategies promoting sufficiency-oriented consumption (sufficient consumption) across various fashion segments, analysing strategies adopted, identifying patterns, assessing communication consistency across channels, detecting potential anti-consumerist washing practices, a form of greenwashing and offering managerial lessons.
Vermeyen, V., Duyvejonck, M., & Germeys, F. (2025). From excess to essential: Exploring the Potential of Adopting Smaller Wardrobes. Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025), 6. https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10360
This study maps the current size of individuals’ wardrobes, the fraction actively used, and the fraction individuals deemed essential to meet their needs. This study highlights the considerable variation in how individuals meet their clothing needs and what they deem essential. Our findings provide an initial range for the minimum number of garments required to meet clothing needs and offer valuable insights for establishing sufficiency thresholds in apparel consumption.
Magnier, L., Kobus, C., & Tunn, V. (2025). Perceptions of sacrifice in the pursuit of sufficient consumption. Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025), 6. https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10412
This study investigates the role of perceived sacrifice in the adoption of behaviours of sufficiency in clothing consumption. With the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and consumption to stay within planetary boundaries, this research explores how consumers perceive and are willing to make sacrifices for sustainable consumption. The paper examines seven types of perceived sacrifices—functional, emotional, social, epistemic, conditional, financial, and time/effort—and their impact on the intention to adopt sufficiency behaviours such as reducing purchases, extending clothing longevity, shifting to second-hand items, and sharing clothes.
Granato, G., & Mugge, R. (2025). Leveraging social norms for sustainable behaviour: How the exposure to static-and-dynamic-norm communications encourage sustainable behaviour towards reduction of fashion consumption. Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025), 6. https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10293
Through two lab experiments, this research investigates how static-and-dynamic-norm communications influence sustainable behaviour towards a reduction of fast fashion consumption. Our findings show that consumers exposed to the combination of unsustainable static and unsustainable dynamic norm purchased significantly fewer fashion items compared to other experimental conditions. This effect is driven by social moral cleansing, as consumers, confronted with widespread unsustainable behaviour of others, felt a highlighted motivation to clean and compensate for the normalized bad behaviour of others by behaving more sustainably in return.
The purpose of this study is to investigate corporate strategies promoting sufficiency-oriented consumption (sufficient consumption) across various fashion segments, analysing strategies adopted, identifying patterns, assessing communication consistency across channels, detecting potential anti-consumerist washing practices, a form of greenwashing and offering managerial lessons.
Vermeyen, V., Duyvejonck, M., & Germeys, F. (2025). From excess to essential: Exploring the Potential of Adopting Smaller Wardrobes. Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025), 6. https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10360
This study maps the current size of individuals’ wardrobes, the fraction actively used, and the fraction individuals deemed essential to meet their needs. This study highlights the considerable variation in how individuals meet their clothing needs and what they deem essential. Our findings provide an initial range for the minimum number of garments required to meet clothing needs and offer valuable insights for establishing sufficiency thresholds in apparel consumption.
Magnier, L., Kobus, C., & Tunn, V. (2025). Perceptions of sacrifice in the pursuit of sufficient consumption. Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025), 6. https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10412
This study investigates the role of perceived sacrifice in the adoption of behaviours of sufficiency in clothing consumption. With the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and consumption to stay within planetary boundaries, this research explores how consumers perceive and are willing to make sacrifices for sustainable consumption. The paper examines seven types of perceived sacrifices—functional, emotional, social, epistemic, conditional, financial, and time/effort—and their impact on the intention to adopt sufficiency behaviours such as reducing purchases, extending clothing longevity, shifting to second-hand items, and sharing clothes.
Granato, G., & Mugge, R. (2025). Leveraging social norms for sustainable behaviour: How the exposure to static-and-dynamic-norm communications encourage sustainable behaviour towards reduction of fashion consumption. Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025), 6. https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10293
Through two lab experiments, this research investigates how static-and-dynamic-norm communications influence sustainable behaviour towards a reduction of fast fashion consumption. Our findings show that consumers exposed to the combination of unsustainable static and unsustainable dynamic norm purchased significantly fewer fashion items compared to other experimental conditions. This effect is driven by social moral cleansing, as consumers, confronted with widespread unsustainable behaviour of others, felt a highlighted motivation to clean and compensate for the normalized bad behaviour of others by behaving more sustainably in return.
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BUILDINGS
Arceo, A., Touchie, M., O’Brien, W., Hong, T., Malik, J., Mayer, M., Peters, T., Saxe, S., Tamas, R., Villeneuve, H., & Schmaltz, B. (2025). Ten Questions Concerning Housing Sufficiency. Building and Environment, 112941. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112941
Housing sufficiency is an emerging concept in the provision of environmentally sustainable housing. It aims for demand-side strategies that reduce excessive, aggregate consumption levels to promote efficient resource utilization and sustainability in the construction sector while providing everyone with a decent standard of housing. However, it is challenging to implement as it interferes with housing-related social and cultural norms. This paper poses and answers ten questions that highlight the challenges, opportunities, and examples of sufficiency strategies in the context of housing provision and the environmental crisis.
Lage, J. (2025). How to reduce? Legitimacy of housing sufficiency policies in the case of occupancy requirements in Switzerland. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 21(1), 2463190. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2025.2463190
Policies promoting more equitable living space distribution are rare and often seen as illegitimate interventions into the private sphere. Occupancy requirements in Switzerland present a unique exception, typically mandating that the minimum number of residents must equal the number of rooms minus one. Based on 24 qualitative interviews with residents and administrative staff, this article examines the reasons underlying the support of cooperative members for implementing occupancy requirements. One key finding is that the policy is perceived as just and needs-oriented and, therefore, as legitimate.
Eriksson, L. (2025). The evaluation of sufficiency strategies in the building sector using life cycle assessment [Master’s Thesis]. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12380/309306
There are currently few examples of sufficiency in LCA, and none are related to the building sector. For sufficiency to be successful in the building sector, the effect of the strategies needs to be quantifiable by LCA, as this is a prevalent method within sustainability and building performance analysis. This thesis explores how LCA can be applied to estimate the effect of sufficiency strategies within housing. The study implements the idea of Sufficiency LCA, using a sufficiency functional unit along with the conventional functional unit, evaluating possible measurements and the effect of strategies.
Bruhn, S., Sacchi, R., Horup, L., Zindel, A., & Birkved, M. (2025). Historical and future LCA insights on tiny houses vs conventional housing typologies in Denmark. Energy and Buildings, 346, 116172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.116172
This study evaluates the historical and prospective life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of tiny houses, apartments, and single-family homes in Denmark using temporally adjusted (prospective and historical) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The analysis also considers the evolution of heating technologies, revealing a slowing rate of improvement, which underscores the urgency for complementary solutions. If supported by green technologies such as district heating and ground-source heat pumps, tiny houses could achieve approximately half the GHG emissions of apartments by 2050.
Housing sufficiency is an emerging concept in the provision of environmentally sustainable housing. It aims for demand-side strategies that reduce excessive, aggregate consumption levels to promote efficient resource utilization and sustainability in the construction sector while providing everyone with a decent standard of housing. However, it is challenging to implement as it interferes with housing-related social and cultural norms. This paper poses and answers ten questions that highlight the challenges, opportunities, and examples of sufficiency strategies in the context of housing provision and the environmental crisis.
Lage, J. (2025). How to reduce? Legitimacy of housing sufficiency policies in the case of occupancy requirements in Switzerland. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 21(1), 2463190. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2025.2463190
Policies promoting more equitable living space distribution are rare and often seen as illegitimate interventions into the private sphere. Occupancy requirements in Switzerland present a unique exception, typically mandating that the minimum number of residents must equal the number of rooms minus one. Based on 24 qualitative interviews with residents and administrative staff, this article examines the reasons underlying the support of cooperative members for implementing occupancy requirements. One key finding is that the policy is perceived as just and needs-oriented and, therefore, as legitimate.
Eriksson, L. (2025). The evaluation of sufficiency strategies in the building sector using life cycle assessment [Master’s Thesis]. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12380/309306
There are currently few examples of sufficiency in LCA, and none are related to the building sector. For sufficiency to be successful in the building sector, the effect of the strategies needs to be quantifiable by LCA, as this is a prevalent method within sustainability and building performance analysis. This thesis explores how LCA can be applied to estimate the effect of sufficiency strategies within housing. The study implements the idea of Sufficiency LCA, using a sufficiency functional unit along with the conventional functional unit, evaluating possible measurements and the effect of strategies.
Bruhn, S., Sacchi, R., Horup, L., Zindel, A., & Birkved, M. (2025). Historical and future LCA insights on tiny houses vs conventional housing typologies in Denmark. Energy and Buildings, 346, 116172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.116172
This study evaluates the historical and prospective life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of tiny houses, apartments, and single-family homes in Denmark using temporally adjusted (prospective and historical) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The analysis also considers the evolution of heating technologies, revealing a slowing rate of improvement, which underscores the urgency for complementary solutions. If supported by green technologies such as district heating and ground-source heat pumps, tiny houses could achieve approximately half the GHG emissions of apartments by 2050.
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MOBILITY
Rau, H., & Mögele, M. (2025). A new direction for mobility? Integrating immobility into sustainable consumption corridors. Consumption and Society, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1332/27528499Y2025D000000050
This article fuses insights from social-scientific mobility studies regarding the centrality of diverse mobilities in late modern societies with a focus on the strong sustainability potential of socially negotiated limits to mobility promoted in sustainable consumption research. It thus explicitly moves away from a sole focus on ‘greening’ mobility and towards measures to reduce the need for mobility, including emerging forms of immobility.
Hörnstein, M. C. (n.d.). Effects of sufficiency-promoting campaigns on the intention to avoid leisure air travel [Bachelor thesis].
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of a sufficiency-promoting campaign on participants’ intention to reduce or avoid leisure air travel following the Theory of Planned Behavior. A quantitative online experiment was conducted with participants acquired in convenience sampling (N = 240) from which half were randomly selected to be exposed to a fictional campaign promoting sufficiency in lei-sure air travel. Findings – Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that the attitude towards reducing leisure air travel was significantly different between the groups. This thesis suggests that sufficiency-promoting campaigns can be useful to create positive attitudes towards reducing leisure air travel.
This article fuses insights from social-scientific mobility studies regarding the centrality of diverse mobilities in late modern societies with a focus on the strong sustainability potential of socially negotiated limits to mobility promoted in sustainable consumption research. It thus explicitly moves away from a sole focus on ‘greening’ mobility and towards measures to reduce the need for mobility, including emerging forms of immobility.
Hörnstein, M. C. (n.d.). Effects of sufficiency-promoting campaigns on the intention to avoid leisure air travel [Bachelor thesis].
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of a sufficiency-promoting campaign on participants’ intention to reduce or avoid leisure air travel following the Theory of Planned Behavior. A quantitative online experiment was conducted with participants acquired in convenience sampling (N = 240) from which half were randomly selected to be exposed to a fictional campaign promoting sufficiency in lei-sure air travel. Findings – Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that the attitude towards reducing leisure air travel was significantly different between the groups. This thesis suggests that sufficiency-promoting campaigns can be useful to create positive attitudes towards reducing leisure air travel.
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FOOD
Nikou, S., Magnier, L., & Sinnige, H. S. (2025). Sufficiency in the kitchen: Intention to reuse food leftovers and associated design strategies. Food Quality and Preference, 131, 105571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105571
By framing leftover reuse as a sufficiency-driven behavior, this study positions it as a key strategy for reducing food waste and fostering responsible consumption. Following a mixed method approach consisting of qualitative interviews, a survey and creative sessions with designers, this research explores the psychological factors that influence individuals' intentions to reuse food leftovers and provides practical design strategies to encourage leftover reuse.
Sjölander, E. (2025). Exploring the Potential of Sufficiency for Sustainable Protein Consumption: A Comparative Semi-Systematic Literature Review [Master’s Degree]. https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/search/publication/9202590
The aim of this thesis was to explore similarities and differences between predictors of voluntarily reducing material consumption and predictors of voluntary changes toward sustainable protein consumption. A final sample of 22 articles were analysed and the findings show that while most of the identified predictors apply to both reduced material consumption and changed protein consumption, the most influential predictors of each behaviour change differed.
By framing leftover reuse as a sufficiency-driven behavior, this study positions it as a key strategy for reducing food waste and fostering responsible consumption. Following a mixed method approach consisting of qualitative interviews, a survey and creative sessions with designers, this research explores the psychological factors that influence individuals' intentions to reuse food leftovers and provides practical design strategies to encourage leftover reuse.
Sjölander, E. (2025). Exploring the Potential of Sufficiency for Sustainable Protein Consumption: A Comparative Semi-Systematic Literature Review [Master’s Degree]. https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/search/publication/9202590
The aim of this thesis was to explore similarities and differences between predictors of voluntarily reducing material consumption and predictors of voluntary changes toward sustainable protein consumption. A final sample of 22 articles were analysed and the findings show that while most of the identified predictors apply to both reduced material consumption and changed protein consumption, the most influential predictors of each behaviour change differed.