Digital platforms are increasingly influencing consumer decisions: they facilitate access to information, enable personalised offers and automate consumption processes. At the same time, targeted purchasing incentives can exacerbate challenges such as overconsumption.
Julia Reinhard, Stephan Ramesohl and Justus von Geibler from the Wuppertal Institute, together with Otmar Lell from ConPolicy, examine how digital platforms can be designed to be more sustainable and oriented towards the common good in their new article ‘Sustainable Consumption in the Platform Economy – Approaches to Sustainability and Consumer Protection by Design in Digital Consumption Processes’. The article has been published in the Springer reference work SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production.
The focus is on the concept of the circular customer journey. It combines digital consumer behaviour and environmentally relevant resource flows within a systemic approach. Along this customer journey, the authors identify regulatory levers to minimise risks and promote sustainable products and circular business models. Furthermore, innovative approaches to policy-making – including compact and collaborative governance formats – are presented, and recommendations are derived for a future-proof platform economy oriented towards the common good.
The publication is available here.
Further information on the project can be found here.