Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability cuts across all areas of production and consumption. This indicates a need to address sustainability holistically so as to understand the challenges we face today in attempting to decrease our environmental impact on society. Evidence suggests that there is increasing pressure from stakeholders about the social and environmental responsibilities of companies (for example, those responsibilities concerning how products are manufactured and marketed to consumers). Recent catastrophic events, such as the factory collapse in Bangladesh, have highlighted unacceptable and unethical practices in production, thus prompting, at the very least, a media backlash against the companies involved. Therefore, one of the many challenges for consumers choosing between different brands is to inform and possibly educate buyers about brands’ sustainable production practices, so as to convey potential advantages for sustainable brands over similar but less sustainable ones.

The interface between companies and consumers in promoting sustainable production and consumption is reflected in contact points, such as advertising, packaging, and labeling. Such points are key providers of information concerning how products are sourced, manufactured, and used.

However, consumers themselves are faced with a bewildering range of product choices and increasing information, which raises questions about the links between sustainability in production and consumption.

We invite papers that examine the relationship between how organizations attempt to produce and market sustainable products/services, and how these are understood and consumed by the target audience. Topics might include, but are not limited to, issues around transparency of information, consumer knowledge, regulation of environmental claims, packaging design, product labeling, eco labeling, and sustainable consumption.

Dr. Panayiota Alevizou
Dr. Caroline J. Oates
Prof. Seonaidh McDonald
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• marketing of sustainable products
• sustainable production
• sustainability marketing
• consumer knowledge
• eco labeling
• regulation of environmental claims