397. IJRM. Sustainability Consideration Gap.
February 5, 2026
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In this episode, Guilherme Ramos, assistant professor of marketing at Rochester Institute of Technology, and Larissa Elmor, PhD student at FGV Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, discuss their research published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing examining how often shoppers think about environmental sustainability when making purchases. Their study of nearly 8,000 consumers across Brazil, the UK, and the US challenges conventional industry reports about consumer attitudes.
The conversation explores several concepts about purchase behavior:
The attitude-behavior gap reveals a disconnect between what consumers say they value and what actually comes to mind when shopping
Cognitive accessibility describes how easily concepts come to mind, while contextual salience refers to environmental cues that trigger thinking about sustainability
Eco-labels increased consideration even without providing specific information, demonstrating how visual cues can activate dormant values at the point of purchase
Product category affects whether sustainability surfaces naturally, with cleaning products triggering more environmental thinking than clothing or non-perishable foods
A small segment of consistent environmental valuers exists, representing about 12% of consumers who regularly consider sustainability
The education, embedding, and evoking framework provides businesses with strategies to bridge the gap between consumer values and actual purchase decisions
Ramos and Elmor discuss practical implications for marketers deciding where to invest resources and whether sustainability messaging matters when most consumers aren't thinking about environmental impact during shopping trips. The research suggests businesses can increase sustainable consumption without waiting for demand to drive change organically.
Click here for the Research Article
The Up Next podcast’s access to this content is courtesy of the International Journal of Research in Marketing, an international, double-blind peer-reviewed journal for marketing academics and practitioners. IJRM aims to contribute to the marketing discipline by providing high-quality, original research which advances marketing knowledge and techniques. As marketers increasingly draw on diverse and sophisticated methods, IJRM‘s target audience is comprised of marketing scholars, practitioners (e.g., marketing research and consulting professionals) and policymakers.
IJRM aims to be at the forefront of the marketing field with a particular emphasis on bringing timely ideas to market. The journal embraces innovative research with the potential to spur future research and influence practice. Hence, it welcomes contributions in various aspects of marketing. The editors, while accepting a wide array of scholarly contributions from different disciplinary approaches, especially encourage research that is novel, visionary or path breaking.
Interviewees
Guilherme Ramos is currently an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Rochester Institute of Technology - Saunders College of Business. His primary research area is consumer psychology. Broadly speaking, he investigates how consumers and brands navigate pressing societal challenges, including political polarization, climate change, social inequality, and public health. His work has appeared in leading outlets, such as the Journal of Consumer Psychology, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, among others.
Prior to RIT, he was a postdoctoral research scholar at Vanderbilt University. He also holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Behavioral and Decision Sciences) from FGV/EBAPE in Brazil, with a visiting appointment at the Psychology Department of the University of Colorado Boulder.
Larissa Elmor is a PhD student in Business Administration (Behavioral and Decision Sciences) at FGV-EBAPE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She earned a M.Sc. in Business Administration (Behavioral and Decision Sciences) from the same institution. Her primary research area is consumer psychology, with particular emphasis on how consumers perceive and respond to sustainability-related issues. More broadly, she is interested in leveraging insights from the behavioral sciences to promote societal well-being, including reducing inequalities and fostering sustainable behavior. Her work has been published in leading marketing journals, including the Journal of Marketing and the International Journal of Research in Marketing.
Co-Authors
Yan Vieites is an Assistant Professor of Marketing and Coordinator of the Center for Behavioral Research at FGV-EBAPE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His primary research area is consumer psychology, with a particular focus on how social hierarchies and economic inequality shape consumer judgment and decision-making. More broadly, his research examines how insights from the behavioral sciences can be leveraged to better understand socially relevant issues and, ultimately, to improve social welfare. This line of work focuses especially on public health and sustainability. His research has been published in leading marketing journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Marketing.
Bernardo Andretti is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at NEOMA Business School. He earned a PhD in Business Administration (Behavioral and Decision Sciences) from FGV-EBAPE and completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Imperial Business School.
His research lies at the intersection of consumer psychology and major societal challenges. He focuses primarily on vulnerable consumers, examining how social hierarchies and economic inequality shape consumer perceptions, judgment, and decision-making. More broadly, his work integrates behavioral science with sustainability and public health, exploring how people make decisions in domains with important social consequences, and how marketing and behavioral tools can be leveraged to promote more sustainable and healthier choices
Eduardo Andrade is a Professor of Marketing, Head of Department, and the Academic Director of the MSc Programme on Climate Change, Management & Finance at the Imperial College London. His teaching and research focus on how our understanding of consumer psychology and behavioural sciences can help consumers, companies, and policymakers promote more environmentally sustainable and healthier consumption habits in the marketplace. Follow & Learn More
International Journal of Research in Marketing
Guilherme Ramos
Larissa Elmor
Yan Vieites
Bernardo Andretti
Eduardo Andrade