The Nature of Sustainable Consumption and How to Achieve it. Results from the Focal Topic "From Knowledge to Action – New Paths towards Sustainable Consumption"

Is the online trade with second-hand products changing individual consumer behaviour? What is the sustainability potential of this activity? How can daily energy-consuming routines at the workplace be changed? Do major changes in the course of people's lives represent opportunities to modify their consumer behaviour towards greater sustainability? These are only some of the research questions studied in the focal topic "From Knowledge to Action - New Paths towards Sustainable Consumption" which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the "Social-ecological Research Programme" (SÖF). This book gives an insight into the research results of the ten project groups. Their diversity highlights that there is much more to "sustainable consumption" than the simple purchase of organic or fair trade products.In addition, overarching conceptual and normative issues were treated across the project groups of the focal topic. Developed collaboratively and moderated by the accompanying research project, the results of the synthesis process are also presented here, as for example how the sustainability of individual consumer behaviour can be evaluated,or which theories of action are particularly useful for specific consumer behaviour phenomena.

Comparing different boosters of planning interventions on changes in fat consumption in overweight and obese individuals: A randomized controlled trial

Single planning interventions have been found to promote short-term dietary change. Repeated planning interventions may foster long-term effects on behavior change. It remains unknown whether there is a critical number of boosters to establish long-term maintenance of behavioral changes. This study aimed at investigating what social-cognitive variables mediate the effects of the interventions on dietary behavior change. Overall, 373 participants (n = 270 women, 72.4%; age M = 52.42, SD = 12.79) were randomly allocated to one of five groups: a control group, a single planning group, and three groups with 3, 6, or 9 weeks' repeated planning interventions. Follow-ups took place 4, 6, and 12 months after baseline. Change in fat consumption was not promoted by any of the interventions. In terms of social-cognitive variables, intentions, self-efficacy and coping planning displayed a time × group interaction, with the 9 weeks' planning group showing the most beneficial effects. Effect sizes, however, were very small. None of the tested planning interventions successfully promoted change in fat consumption across the 12 month period. This, however, could not be explained by problems with adherence to the intervention protocol. Potential explanations for this unexpected result are discussed.

Alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk among Hispanic and non-Hispanic women in New Mexico

Breast cancer incidence and mortality rates for Hispanic women are lower than for non-Hispanic white (NHW) women, but recently rates have increased more rapidly among Hispanic women. Many studies have shown a consistent increased breast cancer risk associated with modest or high alcohol intake, but few included Hispanic women. Alcohol consumption and risk of breast cancer was investigated in a New Mexico statewide population-based case-control study. The New Mexico Tumor Registry ascertained women, newly diagnosed with breast cancer (1992–1994) aged 30–74 years. Controls were identified by random digit dialing and were frequency-matched for ethnicity, age-group, and health planning district. In-person interviews of 712 cases and 844 controls were conducted. Data were collected for breast cancer risk factors, including alcohol intake. Recent alcohol intake data was collected for a four-week period, six months prior to interview. Past alcohol intake included information on alcohol consumption at ages 25, 35, and 50. History of alcohol consumption was reported by 81% of cases and 85% of controls. Of these women, 42% of cases and 48% of controls reported recent alcohol intake. Results for past alcohol intake did not show any trend with breast cancer risk, and were nonsignificant. Multivariate-adjusted odds ratios for recent alcohol intake and breast cancer suggested an increased risk at the highest level for both ethnic groups, but estimates were unstable and statistically nonsignificant. Low level of recent alcohol intake (<148 grams/week) was associated with a reduced risk for NHW women (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.49 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.35–0.69). This pattern was independent of hormone-receptor status. The reduced breast cancer risk for low alcohol intake was present for premenopausal (OR = 0.29, 95% CI 0.15–0.56) and postmenopausal NHW women (OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.35–0.90). The possibility of an increased risk associated with high alcohol intake could not be adequately addressed, because there were few drinkers with more than light to moderate intake, especially among Hispanic women. An alcohol-estrogen link is hypothesized to be the mechanism responsible for increased breast cancer risk, but has not been consistently substantiated. More studies are needed of the underlying mechanism for an association between alcohol intake and breast cancer. ^

Progress in Monitoring alcohol consumption and alcohhol abuse by phosphatidylethanol

For early diagnosis and therapy of alcohol-related disorders, alcohol biomarkers are highly valuable. Concerning specificity, indirect markers can be influenced by nonethanol-related factors, whereas direct markers are only formed after ethanol consumption. Sensitivity of the direct markers depends on cutoffs of analytical methods, material for analysis and plays an important role for their utilization in different fields of application. Until recently, the biomarker phosphatidylethanol has been used to differentiate between social drinking and alcohol abuse. After method optimization, the detection limit could be lowered and phosphatidylethanol became sensitive enough to even detect the consumption of low amounts of alcohol. This perspective gives a summary of most common alcohol biomarkers and summarizes new developments for monitoring alcohol consumption habits.

Consumption and food production in crisis time: Swiss consumption co-operations as farmers at the End of World War I

During the last two years of World War I food supply in Switzerland declined and caused shortcomings in consume, leading to social distress and conflict. Mainly two important factors caused these problems: First, Switzerland was highly dependent on food imports and during the war traditional supply lines faded. Second, weather extremes in the years 1916–1917 caused crop failure all over Europe and North America, which intensified the decline of food trade between the nations. In 1918 a conflict between classic urban consumers, such as workers, and famers erupted due to the food shortcomings and led to a lasting discord between urban and agrarian regions in Switzerland. But there was not only disharmony and conflict between the urban and agrarian regions. As a matter of fact several agents (urban and agrarian) interested in presenting adequate coping strategies to overcome the food shortages developed ideas of alternative ways of food production and supply since 1917. The aim of the paper is to outline these strategies that were undertaken to create a new era of food production that was not solely dependent on the agrarian sector or the import-trade. Actual growing of vegetables in estate areas is an important, but just one, factor of establishing a new system of food production, distribution and consume. The market-leading grocery stores in Switzerland nowadays (Coop and Migros) started their business during that time as co-operatives establishing new forms of distribution and food-production. So the interest of the paper is not only in actual «urban farming», but it wants to share some light on how swiss urban and agrarian spheres overlapped their functions in order to create a modern system of agro food-chains at the beginning of the interwar period.

Ethical Consumption and Social Context: Experimental Evidence from Germany and the United States

This research examines the role of social context in ethical consumption, specifically, the extent to which anonymity and social control influence individuals' decisions to purchase organic and Fair Trade coffee. Our research design overcomes biases of prior research by combining framing and discrete choice experiments in a survey. We systematically vary coffee growing method (organic or not), import status (Fair Trade or not), flavor, and price across four social contexts that vary in degree of anonymity and normative social control. The social contexts are buying coffee online, in a large grocery store, in a small neighborhood shop, and for a meeting of a human rights group. Subjects comprise 1,103 German and American undergraduate students. We find that social context indeed influences subjects' ethical consumer decisions, especially in situations with low anonymity and high social control. In addition, gender, coffee buying, and subjective social norms trigger heterogeneity regarding stated ethical consumption and the effects of social context. These results suggest previous research has underestimated the relevance of social context for ethical consumption and overestimated altruistic motives of ethical consumers. Our study demonstrates the great potential of discrete choice experiments for the study of social action and decision making processes in sociology.

Oxygen consumption while standing iwth and unstable shoe design

This study explored the effects of unstable shoe design on oxygen consumption. Methods. Oxygen consumption (VO2) and heart rate (HR) were measured in 16 individuals while barefoot, wearing unstable shoes (Masai Barefoot Technology) and wearing conventional sport shoes while standing and walking on a treadmill and for 5 individuals while walking around a 400 m track. Results. When wearing the MBT shoes, a significant (p < 0.01) increase of 9.3 ± 5.2% in VO2 was measured while standing quietly for 6 min. No differences in VO2 and HR were observed between the MBT shoes or weight-adjusted conventional shoes (to match the weight of the MBT shoes) while walking on a treadmill. However, significant increases (p < 0.01) in VO2 (4.4 ± 8.2%) and HR (3.6 ± 7.3%) were observed for the MBT shoes compared with being barefoot. No significant differences in VO2 and HR were recorded while walking around a 400 m track either with MBT shoes, weight-adjusted conventional shoes or barefoot. Nonetheless, a comparison of the MBT shoes with barefoot revealed a tendency for VO2 to be higher when wearing the MBT shoes (7.1 ± 6.5%, p < 0.1) although HR was not significantly affected. Conclusions. The unstable shoe design predominantly effects oxygen consumption while standing, most likely due to increased muscle activity of the lower extremities.