Abstract: Researches on sustainable consumption have long focused on individual level micro-psychological mechanisms, which are insufficient to bridge the significant gap between sustainable attitudes and actual consumption behaviors. A review of the theoretical evolution indicates that sustainable consumption is not merely an individual choice of consumption patterns but is also subject to the complex influence of multiple social agents embedded in consumers’ social networks. Drawing on the influence pathways and mechanisms of social agents on consumers’ sustainable consumption at the individual, group and organizational levels, the present paper proposes a framework of social agent influence mechanisms centered on enculturation, nudge and norm. This framework points to future research directions, including investigating the interactive influence mechanisms among multiple agents, examining cross-cultural differences in these influence mechanisms, and expanding the boundaries of social agent research. In doing so, it provides a new theoretical perspective and research approach to resolving the attitude-behavior inconsistency in sustainable consumption.

Key words: Sustainable consumption, Individual choice, Social agent, Influence mechanism