Towards a cross-cultural understanding of the determinants of sustainable consumption using a socio-cultural perspective: a case of the Sultanate of Oman.

The study examines sustainable consumptions among Omani consumers by moving away from the conceptions that sustainable consumption is a simple, linear, information-processing decision making and choice-oriented activity towards a contextualised set of factors that mediate consumer choice in relation to sustainability. The study employs a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine the determinants of sustainable consumption in Oman in order to contribute cross-cultural insights into the study of sustainable consumption. The study proposes that cross-cultural insights are necessary to develop a body of knowledge applicable cross culturally to avoid the potential threat of alienating consumers from the notion of sustainable consumption by developing market development strategies constructed from models and frameworks derived solely from Western context. The distinctive socio-cultural environment in the Middle-Eastern countries is likely to mediate the function that consumption plays in the lives of Omani people. Moreover, the trends in macroenvironmental factors that bear upon consumer decision making are different to those of the Western economies from which much of the existing sustainable and ethical consumption research has been developed. Gaining insights into how Omani consumers view consumption in general, their level of knowledge of sustainable consumption and what they perceived to be the drivers and barriers to their adoption of sustainable consumption is crucial to developing public policies, retail environments, promotion and communication, education that will be conducive to the emergence of a marketplace underpinned by responsible consumption. Oman is in the midst of developing its marketplace as part of the country?s economic diversification efforts. Developing a framework that models the consumers? views in light of the current macro-institutional forces can provide vital information to enable the cross-institutional decision-makers, to include the government, the industry and the civil society to design a marketplace underpinned by responsible consumption.

The study examines sustainable consumptions among Omani consumers by moving away from the conceptions that sustainable consumption is a simple, linear, information-processing decision making and choice-oriented activity towards a contextualised set of factors that mediate consumer choice in relation to sustainability. The study employs a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine the determinants of sustainable consumption in Oman in order to contribute cross-cultural insights into the study of sustainable consumption. The study proposes that cross-cultural insights are necessary to develop a body of knowledge applicable cross culturally to avoid the potential threat of alienating consumers from the notion of sustainable consumption by developing market development strategies constructed from models and frameworks derived solely from Western context. The distinctive socio-cultural environment in the Middle-Eastern countries is likely to mediate the function that consumption plays in the lives of Omani people. Moreover, the trends in macroenvironmental factors that bear upon consumer decision making are different to those of the Western economies from which much of the existing sustainable and ethical consumption research has been developed. Gaining insights into how Omani consumers view consumption in general, their level of knowledge of sustainable consumption and what they perceived to be the drivers and barriers to their adoption of sustainable consumption is crucial to developing public policies, retail environments, promotion and communication, education that will be conducive to the emergence of a marketplace underpinned by responsible consumption. Oman is in the midst of developing its marketplace as part of the country?s economic diversification efforts. Developing a framework that models the consumers? views in light of the current macro-institutional forces can provide vital information to enable the cross-institutional decision-makers, to include the government, the industry and the civil society to design a marketplace underpinned by responsible consumption.