E-commerce sites can nudge shoppers toward sustainable products—if they get trust right
A new study shows that recommendation algorithms can effectively promote environmentally friendly purchases, but only when sustainability claims feel authentic and give consumers real choice. The findings suggest retailers and platforms have a lever to shift consumer behavior without sacrificing sales—if they're willing to redesign how recommendations are built and presented.
Originaltitel: Designing Sustainability-Aware Recommender Systems: An Affordance-Actualization Perspective On E-Commerce
Rekommendationssystem i e-handel påverkar konsumenternas val men är främst utformade för försäljning, inte miljöansvar. En ny studie från University West undersöker hur dessa system kan styra mot hållbar konsumtion. Forskarna intervjuade åtta svenska konsumenter om hur de uppfattar och agerar på hållbarhetsuppgifter i rekommendationerna. Resultatet visar att systemens effektivitet beror på transparens, autenticitet och överensstämmelse med personliga värderingar — inte bara pris och bekvämlighet. För köpare och e-handelschefer innebär detta att hållbarhet måste integreras som en grundläggande designprincip snarare än ett tillägg. Konsumenter agerar på hållbarhetsrekommendationer när de litar på källan och systemet respekterar deras autonomi. Leverantörer av rekommendationsteknik som bygger in denna transparens och värdejustering kan differentiera sig på marknaden, medan e-handlare möter växande kundkrav på miljöansvarstagande.
Recommender systems (RS) are central to shaping consumer choices in e-commerce but remain largely optimized for accuracy and sales rather than sustainability. This study examines how RS can motivate sustainable consumption and influence environmentally responsible behaviour. Drawing on Affordance-Actualization Theory (AAT), we conducted an interpretive qualitative study based on eight semi-structured interviews with Swedish consumers to explore how sustainability cues in RS are perceived, trusted, and acted upon. The findings show that while RS can encourage sustainable options, their effectiveness depends on transparency, authenticity, autonomy, and alignment with personal values, alongside price and convenience. The study contributes to AAT by refining and elaborating how affordances are actualized in practice, highlighting partial and unsuccessful actualization, the mediating role of trust and authenticity, and the temporal dynamics of this process. It also provides empirical insights from a critical case setting and translates them into design recommendations for sustainability-aware RS. More broadly, it contributes to IS debates on digital sustainability by framing sustainability as a core IS design principle.