dc.contributor.author	Gossen, Maike
dc.contributor.author	Jäger, Sebastian
dc.contributor.author	Hoffmann, Marja Lena
dc.contributor.author	Bießmann, Felix
dc.contributor.author	Korenke, Ruben
dc.contributor.author	Santarius, Tilman
dc.date.accessioned	2022-11-08T10:54:08Z
dc.date.available	2022-11-08T10:54:08Z
dc.date.issued	2022-06-10
dc.date.updated	2022-09-04T19:50:59Z
dc.description.abstract	A transition toward a sustainable way of living is more pressing than ever. One link to achieving this transition is to increase the currently low level of sustainable consumption, and sustainability labeling has been shown to directly influence sustainable purchasing decisions. E-commerce retailers have recently picked up on a means to inform online shoppers about sustainable alternatives by introducing on their websites third-party and private sustainability labels as nudging instruments. However, despite its increasing relevance in practice, research lacks evidence about the availability and credibility of sustainability labeling in online retail. Our study is guided by the question of how online retailers use sustainability labels to communicate information on the sustainability of products to consumers. Our empirical research is based on a large-scale dataset containing sustainability information of nearly 17,000 fashion products of the leading online retailers in Germany Zalando and Otto. The results show that a large number of fashion products are tagged as sustainable, with two-thirds carrying a private label and one-third a third-party verified label. Only 14% of the tagged products, however, present credible third-party verified sustainability labels. This low percentage makes it challenging for consumers to comprehend to what degree a product is sustainable. The wide distribution of private labels indicates that most of the available sustainability information in the selected online shops addresses only single sustainability issues, preventing comparability. Furthermore, label heterogeneity can add to the confusion and uncertainty among consumers. Our practical recommendations support political initiatives that tackle the risk of greenwashing resulting from uncertified and weak sustainability information.
dc.description.sponsorship	BMUV, 67KI2022A, Verbund - KI: GCA - Green Consumption Assistant für nachhaltigen Konsum - Entwicklung, Anwendung, Evaluation
dc.description.sponsorship	DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2021 - 2022 / Technische Universität Berlin	en
dc.identifier.eissn	2673-4524
dc.identifier.uri	https://depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/17639
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-16423
dc.language.iso	en
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject.ddc	338 Produktion	de
dc.subject.ddc	577 Ökologie	de
dc.subject.other	sustainable consumption
dc.subject.other	digital nudging
dc.subject.other	sustainability labels
dc.subject.other	E-commerce
dc.subject.other	large-scale data
dc.title	Nudging Sustainable Consumption: A Large-Scale Data Analysis of Sustainability Labels for Fashion in German Online Retail
dc.type	Article
dc.type.version	publishedVersion
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.articlenumber	922984
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.doi	10.3389/frsus.2022.922984
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.journaltitle	Frontiers in Sustainability
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.originalpublishername	Frontiers
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.originalpublisherplace	Lausanne
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.volume	3
tub.accessrights.dnb	free
tub.affiliation	Verbundforschung::Einstein-Zentren::Einstein Center Digital Future (ECDF)
tub.affiliation	Fak. 1 Geistes- und Bildungswissenschaften::Inst. Berufliche Bildung und Arbeitslehre::FG Sozial-ökologische Transformation
tub.publisher.universityorinstitution	Technische Universität Berlin

Nudging Sustainable Consumption: A Large-Scale Data Analysis of Sustainability Labels for Fashion in German Online Retail

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