The role of supermarkets as key agents in systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production

• Applicants: Dr. Tilman Altenburg; Professorin Dr. Christa Liedtke
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research ; Economic Policy, Applied Economics
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 516747644

Supermarkets are among the most powerful actors in the shift towards Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SSCP). They impose standards on their suppliers and shape consumer behavior - for good or bad. Sustainability behavior of supermarket chains differs considerably across sustainability dimensions, business models and countries. The main research questions are: (a) How do supermarkets' sustainability profiles differ, (b) what determines the differences and (c) how can sustainable practices be scaled up? Sustainability decisions are not taken by corporate management in isolation. Rather, supermarkets are part of complex socio-technical systems, in which business practices co-evolve through non-linear interaction with the social systems in which they are embedded and the dynamic interplay between actors and structures. Here, consumers' purchasing decisions, NGO pressure, decisions by suppliers and service providers and changing narratives in business associations all influence corporate business practices. How these interact, and how transformative action can be taken to gear these systems towards sustainability, is currently a black box. Research is organised in WP aimed at (1) conceptualising supermarkets as part of socio-technical systems; (2) analyzing corporate sustainability profiles; (3) identifying exceptional sustainability innovations and their determinants; (4) conducting consumer surveys and behavioral experiments, co-designed with retail corporations; (5) assessing environmental effects through stakeholders engagement and life-cycle assessments; and (6) developing solutions to improve supermarkets? sustainability behavior. The consortium combines a diversity of disciplinary angles across social sciences, natural sciences and engineering as well as research methodologies (modelling, rigorous behavioral experiments, benchmarking, surveys, focus group discussions). It is transdisciplinary and transformative, including Universities, non-University research institutes and a diverse set of stakeholders.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Turkey, USA
• Partner Organisation: National Science Foundation (NSF); TÜBITAK The Scientific and Technology Research Council of Turkey
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Özgen Karaer, Ph.D.; Professor Thomas A. Reardon, Ph.D.