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Although research in marketing and consumer behavior has tried to portray sustainable consumers in many different ways, a clear, consistent, and granular identification of these consumers is still not available due to the complexity of sustainable consumption. This study adopts personas as a way to better explain and understand the holistic nature and complexity of sustainable consumer behavior in terms of its various stages (i.e. acquisition, usage, and postuse) within four key behavioral functions of mobility, housing, clothing, and food. Different sustainability related functions of personas are seen to be fundamental lifestyle components and could be fulfilled by a variety of sustainable actions. This exploratory study uses a qualitative methodology, involving data collection through multiple in-depth interviews across several countries. The results reveal three different consumer archetypes with distinct sustainable consumption strategies: holistic sustainable consumers, transitional sustainable consumers, and restricted sustainable consumers. Managerial and theoretical implications provide practical recommendations for marketing managers and public policy planners, as well as directions for continued research in this area.

Carbon labels are considered a fundamental tool for reducing emissions associated with grocery products. Although the prior literature has shown that both limited motivation and understanding of carbon labels explain the effectiveness of carbon labels, knowledge regarding how to improve the label design to increase noticeability is limited. Given the limited motivation of mainstream consumers to use carbon labels, this exploratory paper proposes that the label design should trigger bottom-up (or sensory-driven) attention mechanisms. Using grounded theory for the data collection and analysis of six focus groups, this study tests six features (i.e., location, size, color, icons, a colored background or border, and textual anchors) and identifies four design criteria (i.e., vividness, incongruity, simplicity, and clarity) that may increase label noticeability. The main conclusion of this qualitative study is that carbon labels are noticed when they are perceived as a cue of hazard. Based on this finding, we propose that carbon labels could be designed as warning labels, therefore, the insights already proven in the warning label literature should be applied to carbon label design to increase its noticeability and use.