D2.2: Consumers’ awareness and behavioural change

The rapid growth in e-commerce has reshaped consumer habits, offering unparalleled convenience but also introducing pressing societal challenges. With delivery rates rising rapidly, the environmental burden—manifested in increased pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and congestion—is escalating. These impacts extend beyond environmental concerns to include threats to public health, such as rising noise levels, traffic stress, and safety risks.

In this context, the CodeZERO project seeks to co-create sustainable and zero-emission last-mile delivery and return solutions for e-commerce that align with consumers’ preferences while being sustainable for retailers, logistics operators, and local authorities. The project also intends to provide communication guidelines to engage consumers and tools for local authorities to promote sustainable delivery and return options.

This deliverable (D2.2) provides valuable insights into consumer awareness regarding the societal impacts of their online orders—specifically delivery and return choices—and explores behavioral change processes toward choosing more sustainable delivery and return options.

Released as part of “WP2: Analysis of consumers’ behavior,” this deliverable contributes to an iterative and mixed-methods approach to better understand consumer preferences and behaviors when ordering online and selecting delivery options. The findings will inform key performance indicators (KPIs) in WP3 to assess consumers’ behavioral change and serve as the foundation for drafting preliminary communication guidelines in WP4.

This deliverable explores the following critical questions:

• How aware are online consumers about the consequences of e-commerce deliveries and returns on society?
• To what extent does consumer awareness of sustainability impacts of delivery options result in change in online shopping behavior and choice of delivery option?
• What triggers behavioral change (i.e., choosing more sustainable delivery options)?
• How does behavioral change occur?

The approach adopted in this deliverable is based on biographical interviews, situating consumers’ delivery and return choices within the broader context of their individual life trajectories. A total of 21 interviews were conducted with online consumers in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway, countries of CodeZERO pilots. To capture a nuanced understanding of consumer awareness and behavioral change, the sample was diversified based on awareness levels and engagement with sustainability. This approach aligns with the personas being developed in forthcoming Deliverable 2.1, which are informed by factors such as motivation and opportunity, rather than sociodemographic attributes like age, income, or education. While some sociodemographic categories were underrepresented, the sample still reflects diversity in these dimensions.

All the interviews were transcribed in full using an automated transcription tool, and the transcripts were analyzed thematically with a focus on several themes:

• Awareness of delivery and return impacts
• Awareness evolution over time
• Behavioral change processes
• Adaptation strategies
• Life stages and key events in online consumption

When it comes to the findings, the interviews reveal that while consumers have some awareness of issues related to online shopping, the impacts of last-mile delivery remain a significant blind spot, especially for individuals with low pro-sustainability values. Even when consumers are aware of the challenges posed by online deliveries and returns, this awareness tends to be fragmented, focusing on specific aspects rather than the broader picture. As a result, our findings suggest that consumer knowledge about e-commerce impacts is relatively patchy and incomplete.

Consumers report becoming aware of these issues through various channels, including news and documentaries, their studies or professional experiences, social networks, personal encounters with delivery consequences, and their environmental awareness or reasoning. Awareness is not instantaneous; it is built gradually over time, often through multiple channels. However, the interviews reveal a critical gap: retailers, public organizations, and authorities play a limited role in informing consumers. This lack of engagement presents a significant opportunity for these stakeholders to raise consumer awareness about the impacts of e-commerce.

Despite awareness of last-mile delivery issues, the deliverable reveals that some consumers remain in the contemplation stage, where they recognize the problem but do not take steps to change their behavior. However, this stage presents an opportunity, as small, targeted incentives could nudge these consumers toward more sustainable delivery choices. For instance, reducing the convenience of home delivery or increasing its fees might be sufficient to motivate consumers identified as "uncommitted consumers" in forthcoming D2.1. For consumers with strong pro-sustainability values – the “pro-sustainable consumers” from D2.1 – awareness can act as a powerful trigger for behavioral change. Yet, even for these consumers, adapting their behavior often requires compromises, underlining the difficulty of change for those less concerned about sustainability.

In addition, as consumer awareness is typically fragmented, with a focus on specific issues rather than the broader context, this implies that even committed consumers may exhibit unsustainable behaviors in areas they are less informed about.

The deliverable also emphasizes that factors beyond awareness can influence behavior change. Life events, social networks, and opportunities to act sustainably all play a role in driving change. Nevertheless, significant barriers persist, notably the convenience and cost of sustainable options. The findings underscore a critical insight: awareness alone is insufficient to drive change. It must be paired with pro-sustainability values or the availability of convenient, cost-effective sustainable delivery solutions to effectively foster behavioral shifts.

The findings from this deliverable lead to the following recommendations:

• Engaging consumers through targeted strategies: Develop targeted campaigns to raise consumers’ awareness about the environmental and social consequences of their delivery choices and highlight the availability and advantages of sustainable alternatives.
• Develop retailer and policy interventions: Retailers and public authorities should take a more active role in promoting sustainable delivery options through transparent and trustworthy information.
• Make sustainability convenient: Develop solutions that align sustainable delivery options with consumer priorities, such as affordability and convenience, to encourage widespread adoption.

By understanding the factors that shape consumer awareness and behavioral change, this research provides valuable insights for better communicating to consumers about the societal impacts of e-commerce deliveries and incentivizing their choices.