Information systems to support sustainable consumption and sustainable supply

Responding to rising concerns about environmental sustainability, governments around the world have committed to the promotion of more sustainable consumption patterns. Mainstream approaches to promoting sustainable consumption often involve government interventions: to correct prices, and to provide regulatory frameworks to influence producers to become more eco-efficient. Unfortunately, the success of these actions is frequently limited by information barriers. Consumers have limited information about the social and environmental impacts of products, and have long relied instead on price information as well as information available on the product package in making their buying decisions. This lack of information creates difficulties for consumers when assessing and understanding the implications of their choices. Similarly, lack of integrated information about environmental impacts in the sustainable supply chain could potentially disrupt the entire system. These disruptions could, in turn, create higher costs for actors in the supply chain. Our special issue focuses on how information technology can be leveraged to support transparency of supply chain and consumer trust in order to support sustainable consumption. One of the key objectives, besides promoting in-depth discussion on the technological, social, economic, and political implications of developing sustainable supply chain, is to bridge the research gap between sustainable consumption and sustainable supply chain literature. In addition, we seek to expand and incorporate various research approaches and methodologies including but not limited to theoretical framing, empirical studies utilizing quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, modeling, and simulation. Multidisciplinary perspectives connecting the study of information technology with design science, economics, organizational studies, and political science are particularly encouraged.