Cultivating sustainability consciousness through mindfulness: An application of theory of mindful-consumption

Abstract

Achieving sustainable development is a significant hurdle that societies around the world face in the present era. The on-going global discourse on sustainability revolves around the dual objective of developing sustainability consciousness while fostering social and economic progress. However, despite its relevance to humankind, little is known about the mechanisms and boundary conditions that explain what influences an individual's sustainability consciousness. To fill this void, we borrow from the theory of mindful-consumption and explain why and how mindfulness impacts sustainability consciousness. Besides, given that material wealth is experiencing an unprecedented boom, we examine the moderating role of materialism on the aforesaid relationship. Demographic factors such as age (Gen Y vs Gen Z) and gender (male vs female) were also employed as moderators in the study. A sample of 726 was collected through a survey instrument and analysed using SMART PLS to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings reveal that there is a significant positive relationship between mindfulness and sustainability consciousness with materialism acting as a significant moderator. The model relationships did not vary across the two generational cohorts (Gen Y and Gen Z) significantly. The results further revealed that the impact of materialism was stronger for females than males, depicting gender to be a significant moderator on the proposed relationships. The current work is among the very few studies that empirically validate the influences of mindfulness on the entire gamut of sustainability (including environmental, economic, and social aspects); and has major implications for academicians, practitioners, and policy makers passionate about sustainability.