Towards sustainable market strategies: A case study on eco textiles and green power

This study focuses on the economic, market-related context of consumptionpatterns and incorporates the regulatory settings and values. The aim is tosystemise the influences on sustainable consumption patterns. Special attention isdrawn to the question how existing niche markets could be extended to massmarkets. This question is deepened by case studies on the green textile and thegreen power markets.The results emphasise the different key factors which influence the successfulpathways for an extended green market volume. Looking at the case of the greenpower market it can be seen how important it is to create an economic andinstitutional context for adoption. Looking at the case of green textiles theimportance of new lifestyles and cultural impacts are obvious.Looking at the interfaces between institutional settings, supply structure, societalvalues and consumers' decision-making, it can be seen that consumers' demandsare not only a product of individual needs. Therefore sustainable consumptionstrategies will have to face not only the change of needs, but also the change ofstructures which influence individual choices.