Authors: Dr. P. Ruby Leela, Dr. S. Maria Nisha
Abstract: Sustainable consumption has become an important dimension of contemporary business because consumer choices influence resource use, waste generation, production practices and the wider transition towards a low-carbon economy. This paper examines consumer perception and attitude towards sustainable products and discusses the implications for green business and climate action. The paper adopts a descriptive, secondary-data and review-based research design. Published empirical studies on Indian consumers, together with the Sustainable Development Goals framework, are reviewed and thematically interpreted. The literature indicates that environmental concern, eco-literacy, green awareness, interpersonal influence, environmental advertising and perceived credibility of sustainability information can shape consumers’ perceptions and purchasing behaviour. At the same time, price, availability, information gaps, uncertainty about product claims and the well-known attitude–behaviour gap can prevent favourable attitudes from becoming consistent purchasing behaviour. The review further indicates that businesses can strengthen sustainable consumption by providing credible environmental information, improving product availability, adopting transparent green marketing and integrating sustainability into product and value-chain decisions. The paper concludes that consumer participation is an important complement to policy and technological interventions for achieving responsible consumption and supporting climate action.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22640787
