Eco-labels, conspicuous conservation and moral licensing: An indirect behavioural rebound effect

Sustainable consumption is a growing niche with an increasing number of initiatives aimed at lowering domestic environmental consumption footprints. Third-party assured product eco-labelling has emerged as a key governance mechanism to promote sustainable consumption. However, does the purchasing of eco-labelled products really support a transition towards more sustainable consumption? In this paper, we explore eco-labelling through the lens of the rebound literature. While theorizing of the rebound effect originated in energy economics and has long been centred on eco-efficiency, we extend its rationale to products that are associated with a price premium in return for added environmental quality attributes. Reporting on two inter-related studies into the link between purchasing of environmentally friendly products and different types of environmental resource consumption, we find that eco-labelled products flourish in more affluent economies that are characterized by higher levels of overall resource consumption; and that willingness to consume environmentally friendly products is positively related to higher individual carbon, water and material footprints. Hence, we argue that eco-labelling in its current form is inextricably linked to higher – rather than lower – levels of resource consumption. Consequently, the governance mechanism that underpins eco-labelling is associated with an indirect behavioural consumer rebound effect.