The influence of sustainability beliefs in sustainable consumption behavior: a study with students from Brazil and Paraguay

One of the main challenges to achieving the much desired sustainable development is to identify the paths so as to realize the transition from speech to sustainable practice. One of the first aspects necessary for this transition is the change in the forms of production and consumption. This article aims to analyze the beliefs of individuals about the sustainability issue are related to the behavior of sustainable consumption. When investigating this relationship opens the opportunity to shed light on the factors that may influence consumption in order to make it sustainable. Therefore, validated instruments were used in the research from previous study of the constructs beliefs in sustainability and sustainable consumption behavior in a sample of brazilian and paraguayan students. Data analysis occurred through structural equation modeling. The results showed that, for the brazilian sample, the beliefs of individuals concerning the sustainability influence their willingness to sustainable consumption, however, this relationship was not true for the sample of paraguayan students. And cultural factors related to the understanding of stage about the sustainability for both countries are possible explanations for the results.