Sustainable Product Innovation and Consumer Communication

Sustainable product innovation and effective consumer communication are vital for promoting sustainability through responsible consumption. This research reviews sustainable product innovation, focusing on sustainable development, environmental and socio-economic impacts, and communication methods such as ecolabelling and sustainability benchmarking. The findings indicate that current research prioritizes environmental and economic aspects over social considerations, and the link between product development and services needs further exploration. Greater emphasis is required on systematic innovation that considers the product life cycle from the early stages of development. A framework for sustainable product development and services (SPDS) has been proposed to address these gaps. The study also highlights challenges in communicating products' environmental and socio-economic performance to consumers and identifies barriers in establishing benchmarks. Examples of overcoming these challenges include the “eco-cost” method, which engages both B2B and B2C customers to promote sustainable consumption.