Precursors and impact of mindful consumption

Mindful consumption, defined by Milne et al. (2020, p. 4) as “the application of mindfulness to inform the choices consumers make,” has been proposed as an approach that might bring about this change. Undertaking mindfulness and religious practices have often been associated with mindful consumption (Bahl et al., 2016; Harris, 2011; Lim, 2017). Yet, to date, the relationships among mindfulness, religious faith, and mindful consumption remain largely conceptual or descriptive. While some marketers do encourage mindful consumption (e.g., Levi’s Buy better, Wear longer” or Patagonia’s “don’t buy this jacket” advertisements), most marketers do not, thereby resulting in mindless buying. Thus, if marketers or policy makers turn to encourage consumers to undertake mindful consumption (Sheth et al., 2011), it is important to understand the precursors of mindful consumption and effect of mindful consumption appeals on consumer buying (Geiger et al., 2019; Jain & Gupta, 2018; Wamsler, 2019). This paper contributes (1) to theory, by clarifying whether mindfulness and religious faith encourage mindful consumption, and if they do, whether they are independent, and (2) to practice, by equipping marketers and policy makers with strategies to encourage consumers to practice mindful consumption.