Consumerism has played an integral role in the evolution of industrialization, mass production, and consumerist values that marry progress and prosperity with compulsive acquisition.

Sheri R.

As stated by economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith in his book Wealth of Nations (1776, p. 329),
<blockquote>
&ldquo;consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production and the welfare of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
There are two simple reasons that explain the importance of consumers in economics and industry:
<ol>
<li>final consumption is the ultimate purpose of all economic activity and</li>
<li>production and distribution exist solely to increase the well-being of consumers.</li>
</ol>
From this perspective, consumers are a source of demand and are central to the instrument that makes the linear economic system run. In turn, production fills a void that it has created.
Consumerism has played an integral role in the evolution of industrialization, mass production, and consumerist values that marry progress and prosperity with compulsive acquisition. By design, U.S. consumers participate in an unsustainable system, a mass economy, where the ultimate measure of economic growth is gross national product (GNP), the sum total of goods and services produced in a year. The next 10 to 15 years present unprecedented opportunities in industry to shape sustainable practices across supply chains as 1.8 billion people are projected to join the global consuming class by 2025, a 75 percent increase over 2010.&nbsp;
<h2>Maslow's theory and consumption</h2>
The dynamics and influences that connect industrial systems and human behavior are difficult to understand, where &ldquo;increased consumption should satisfy consumers and lead to higher levels of well-being&rdquo; as described in Maslow&rsquo;s Theory of Self-Actualization.
The economic performance of industrial systems is assessed by the growth and level of real output per person. Reciprocally, employment is a vital means to realize the income necessary for consumption, both individually and in aggregate terms. Maslow contends that humans are interested in goals such as self-realization, sustainability, fairness, and freedom, yet these goals may be aligned or in conflict with their goals as consumers.
Consumption is not equal across parts of society. Research has proven that competitive consumption, also referred to as &lsquo;keeping up with the Jones&rsquo;, can actually&nbsp;intensify consumption. This challenges Maslow&rsquo;s theory that predicts that, as consumers acquire more income and opportunities to meet hierarchical needs, they intrinsically adopt transcendence and sustainable purchasing behaviors. Moreover, this presents a social dilemma where consumers face a conflict between maximizing personal gain and/or preserving resources of natural and industrial systems for a collective interest.&nbsp;
<h2>The heart of the problem: humans always defect (at least, many of us...)</h2>
The pay-off matrix offers a way to analyze human behavior in situations of interdependence and conflict. Interdependent positions can range from virtuously cooperative, wherein a gain for one is a gain for the others, to a win-lose competitive position. A decision to maximize individual gain is known as a&nbsp;defecting choice, described as "the free rider,&rdquo; with negative consequences to natural and industrial systems. Conversely, a win-win decision to maximize the gain of the collective is a&nbsp;cooperative choice&nbsp;where all parties optimize decisions for sustainable outcomes in systems dynamics.
It's critical to note that at any given decision point, individuals receive higher payoffs for making selfish choices than they do for making cooperative choices regardless of the choices made by those with whom they interact. The cost of the dilemma is that everyone involved receives a lower payoff by making a selfish choice and this is known as the tragedy of commons. &nbsp;
<h2>Why do humans defect when it comes to decision-making? (hint: hyperbolic discounting)</h2>
Behavioral research on individual decision-making in social contexts relies on game theory - cooperate and defect outcomes - and is a key focus of behavioral economics. Behavioral economics uses psychological experimentation to develop philosophies about human decision-making through modeling and including a range of biases that demonstrate what humans think and feel during consumption. According to behavioral economics, people are not always self-interested or defective, and can vary between benefit-maximizing and cost-minimizing. Human thinking is subject to change, influenced by the human desire for fairness and reciprocity, inadequate information, and feedback, and involves indecision in the context of decision-making.
Evolutionary psychologists challenge assumptions in rationality made by behavioral economists and propose that irrational judgment and mass consumption may be an adaptive response in our ancestral environment, attributed to the provenance of consumerism. For example, the use of heuristic shortcuts is an efficient means for humans to combine limited knowledge and processing capabilities to make decisions by sufficing and satisfying rather than optimizing. In this context, decisions are often simply good enough in light of the costs and constraints involved, similar to the concept of hyperbolic discounting, where little consideration is weighed in the future implications of the impact on ecosystems.&nbsp;
The most common objection to mass consumption is that people consume too much, not that they consume the wrong things for the wrong reasons (read that again).
<h2>How might we shift to consuming responsibly?&nbsp;​</h2>
It's not rocket science. Yet, if the answer is only consuming less and "sustainable stuff", why is it so hard to make the transition? The chilling reality is that mass consumerism is a disease. Research has shown that changes in consumption patterns do not necessarily yield reductions in consumption levels. People consume for different reasons, for example, psychological and emotional voids that are deeply rooted. Many consume by design, fueled by actors conspiring for decades to program society for more now, and more is never enough. Additionally, we still have a long journey to understand the total costs of ownership&nbsp;in the world we share, where&nbsp;incremental improvements are not the step-change improvements needed for systemic transformation.&nbsp;However, we are at an inflection point, an opportunity to consider the evolutionary changes in humans and society in periods of rapid growth and development like the present and determine how to optimize human consciousness. Essentially, how to promote consuming responsibly. Simply, we must start somewhere.
Vital elements of this transition are raising levels of education in sustainability, increasing the application of research, and evangelizing best practices in the industry. Additionally, the adoption of public policy and standards and developing applications leveraged by tech-infused embedded LCIA to understand the tradeoffs of decision-making across value networks and supply chains. How might we use technology and analytics to move from science-based targets to network-based reduction plans?
Right now at this very moment, changes in human behavior including broadening cultural worldviews and better understanding the power of sustainable purchasing decisions are the most actionable and accessible. Creating greater public awareness and commitment is essential for progress toward a sustainable future. The power of digital platforms, like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter can create awareness, just by resharing or tweeting this point of view. There is tremendous power in sustainability education and decision management. It can facilitate cooperative relationships among individuals in the social collective and can create new perceptions, values and camaraderie. It can create global stewards who understand how we are all connected. What we choose to consume, whether we choose to cooperate or defect, participate or sit on the sidelines, all comes down to...
Are you willing to change the status quo? Are you willing to start today?
illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability &amp; Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.

Optimizing the human consciousness to consume responsibly

Up to 85% of ESG-related impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, occur in the supply chain, requiring cooperation and collaboration to effect meaningful systems change at scale. With a shared sense of purpose, community prosperity and business performance can co-exist, but this requires disruption of the business-as-usual approach from design through operations across global supply chains.

As outlined on August 9, 2021, in the Sixth Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the latest advances in science reveal the scale and intensity of climate-related disruptions and the disproportionate impact climate change has on marginalized communities in the world we share. In fact, over 80% of the underlying Sustainable Development Goals’ 169 targets are impacted by the climate emergency including gender equality, decent work conditions, arable land, and reducing inequities to ensure social, fiscal, and wage protection. 40% of the world’s population works in a supply chain. So supply chains represent perhaps the biggest opportunity to affect the 2030 sustainability agenda as businesses adjust to a post-COVID world.
<blockquote>Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.</blockquote>
There are many lessons unearthed from the pandemic, including the inextricable link between operational performance and long-term value creation. Undoubtedly, two things stand out: the power of existential threats to impact our daily lives and the strength of collaboration when organizations around the world mobilize to solve complex problems. 
Moreover, up to 85% of ESG-related impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, occur in the supply chain, requiring cooperation and collaboration to effect meaningful systems change at scale. Not all profit is equal. Profits involving a social purpose are a higher form of capitalism, one that will allow our society to advance. With a shared sense of purpose, community prosperity and business performance can co-exist, but this requires disruption of the business-as-usual approach from design through operations across global supply chains.
Sustainability is a complex and often misunderstood web of interconnected systems and decisions. We see social unrest and corruption due to systemic inequities and want to make a change, but often lack transparency, an auditable chain of custody, and the ground truth to ensure a fair living wage and ethical trade. We see raging fires on one side of the globe and once in a lifetime erratic flood events occurring more frequently on another, but struggle to connect the impact of carbon emissions across supply chains in a holistic interconnected view that quantifies the human impact of climate change in communities we serve.
Sustainability isn’t someone else’s problem. Supply chains have been designed to iterate to the lowest cost, creating far-reaching networks entrenched with a web of assumptions whereby risks tied to non-financial performance have been externalized, leaving communities and trading partners paying the price for unsustainable behavior. Moreover, sustainable benefits realized through optimization and lean levers have been largely consequential and incremental, not intentional and inclusive. This is rapidly changing as businesses redefine the total costs of ownership and the gate of responsibility creates a renewed lens of value and stewardship: how we quantify a quadruple bottom line that not only transforms sustainable economies but also the lives of people who stand up to our global supply chains.
As paradigms shift and regulatory environments adapt, frameworks like TCFD and Lieferkettengesetz will become fundamental expectations in global trade. One thing is clear: sustainable supply chains can bridge the gap between ambition and acting for global change. Building resilient communities means holistic steering is needed as supply chain leaders navigate climate restoration, network stewardship, and building responsible, equitable supply chains.
1. Meaningful and measurable change requires visibility.
Supply chain organizations have become foundational to delivering new value using the SDGs as a roadmap for creating benefits and equity that leave no one behind. 80–90% of the data needed for SDG and ESG steering exists in supply chains. You can’t fix a problem if you can’t see it. Some problems are so ubiquitous and ingrained that they are assumed to be an inherent risk of business. A significant share of human rights violations occurs beyond the tier-1 aggregator in raw material extraction and agriculture, making due diligence and traceability challenging. Managing a multi-enterprise supply chain through a new lens of value means designing out network risk, marrying disclosure and self-audit with a sense for ground truth, and incorporating new environmental impact factors in supply chain buffers that promote anti-fragility. Tri-sector partnerships, designing for process harmonization, and the use of cognitive interventions can help organizations create reliability and trust from the field to the factory to a customer’s front door.
2. Instead of constantly looking back, lean into leading indicators.
An organization’s purpose, sustainability, and ethics have become measurable performance indicators, whereby carbon can be a leading indicator for operational excellence and demonstrable environmental gains. Businesses with lower emissions show leadership in designing for the environment, deliberate product design and raw material selection for zero-waste, process and operational efficiencies, and scope collaboration toward network-based SBTs. Additionally, diversity, representation, and supplier experience can be leading indicators for innovation, inclusion, and well-being. 
To effectively use this data, cross-industry, multi-enterprise ecosystems, and platforms require shared visibility, interoperability, and a verified chain of custody for data aggregation. Agile operating models can help organizations realize near-instant insights for transparency across an entire organization and its ecosystem.
3. Going far together means technology must document proof of stewardship and be a companion in decision orchestration.
A company’s ability to realize business objectives is tied to others realizing theirs in the communities they serve. Bridging the gap in insights across global supply chains means technology must become a conduit to document proof of performance, influencing changed behavior in decision orchestration at scale. An alignment of purpose, ethical supplier model, touchless operations, and digital networks are powerful differentiators. The biggest impact is upstream by connecting the 1st mile and last mile for sustainability in supply chains for CPG companies. By connecting disparate systems, data, processes, behaviors, and partners in an ecosystem, technology can facilitate multi-stakeholder cooperation in AI, data, and analytics to influence stewardship for end-to-end ethical behavior and risk insights. The automation of slow points in due diligence across direct and indirect operations, together with financial insights that extend through the value chain, allows decision-making based on immutability and trust. Measuring and disclosing social impact has never been more important. Technology helps organizations move from footprints to handprints. 
Trust, transparency, visibility, and collaboration are key to transitioning from a linear way of working to a sustainable, climate-restorative, and responsible world that puts equity – for all - at its center.
<blockquote>“To make life a little better for people less fortunate than you. That’s what I think a meaningful life is. One lives not just for oneself, but for one’s community.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsberg</blockquote>
illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability &amp; Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.
<h6>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@_miltiadis_?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Miltiadis Fragkidis</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/2zGTh-S5moM?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>​ </h6>

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Sheri R. Hinish

Sheri R. Hinish

Optimizing the human consciousness to consume responsibly

Humanizing the Climate Emergency and Equity for All with Sustainable Supply Chains

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