Sustainability cues in users’ perception and consumption: a product design-oriented systematic literature review

Abstract Despite the increasing environmental awareness, sustainable products are not routinely adopted, revealing a persistent attitude–behavior gap. While this gap has been widely studied through psychological and behavioral approaches, less attention has been given to how product design attributes shape users’ perceptions and influence their interaction with products. Therefore, this article aims to explore the literature on the role of design attributes in this context, analyzing how product design attributes and sustainability cues affect user experience and product-related decisions. Based on a systematic literature review process, 52 articles were extracted from the SCOPUS database. These articles were classified and analyzed according to their main objectives. Based on the findings, attribute centrality (i.e., whether a product feature is perceived as central or peripheral to the product’s identity) and product category (utilitarian or hedonic) are relevant to shape environmental attitudes and behavior. Specifically, sustainability cues tend to be perceived more negatively in utilitarian products, where functionality is prioritized, and more positively in hedonic products, where they may enhance emotional value, especially when perceived as central attributes. Therefore, these characteristics must be strategically integrated in product design to reduce the perceived trade-off between sustainability and performance. The review conclusions highlight the need for further investigation to identify how specific product design attributes resulting from the application of ecodesign principles trigger sustainability perception.