Abstract:

Under the background that the country attaches great importance to the construction of green and low-carbon production methods and lifestyles, companies actively employ minimalist product and service design to promote green production. However, consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior still needs to be stimulated and released. A key question is whether companies’ minimalist product and service designs (the supply side) can create spillover effects that stimulate sustainable consumption behaviors in consumers (the demand side). To address this research gap, the current study explores the impact of minimalist design on sustainable consumption behaviors.

Specifically, this study focuses on both tangible and core values of products and services, examining how package design simplicity (tangible product design) and single-function product (vs. multi-functional product; core product design) influence product recycling behaviors, and how service environment simplicity (tangible service design) and the application of face recognition in services (core service design) influence resource conservation behaviors. Moreover, drawing on product cognition and self-cognition theories, our work explores the internal psychological mechanisms of perceived product uniqueness, perceived product efficacy, moral self-perception and self-diagnostic. Such effects are moderated by construal level, product type, salience of deign intent, and self-monitoring level.

This study not only theoretically extends and advances research in minimalist design and sustainable consumption, but also holds significant practical guidance value for macro policies and corporate strategies to effectively promote sustainable consumption behaviors. The theoretical contributions of this research are threefold. First, it deconstructs supply-side minimalist design through tangible and core value dimensions (aesthetic minimalism and resource minimalism), enriching research on the behavioral outcomes of minimalist design and advancing empirical studies in minimalist consumption. Second, by introducing minimalist design into the research of antecedents of sustainable consumption behaviors, this study specifically examines how supply-side minimalist design influences demand-side product recycling and resource conservation behaviors, thereby expanding the research framework on factors affecting sustainable consumption. While prior research has identified sustainable consumption as a form of minimalist consumption and preliminarily established connections between minimalist design and sustainable consumers, the spillover effects of supply-side minimalist design on sustainable consumption behaviors remain empirically untested. This study effectively supplements this research framework. Third, from product cognition perspective, it reveals the mediating roles of perceived design uniqueness and product efficacy in how minimalist product design affects recycling behaviors. From self-cognition perspective, it explains the mediating effects of moral self-perception and self-diagnostic in how minimalist service design influences resource conservation. By systematically clarifying the logical relationships between minimalist design, product cognition, self-cognition, and sustainable consumption behaviors, this research provides theoretical foundations for deeper understanding of how minimalist design can nudge sustainable consumption practices.

In addition, the practical implications of this study manifest at both macro and micro levels. At the macro level, the findings of our study can inform policy formulation to facilitate sustainable lifestyles among the public. Specifically, the findings can assist government authorities in formulating rational development pathways for product and service providers, thereby driving cost-effective and efficient transitions toward sustainable behavioral changes in Chinese society through design innovations in products and services. At the micro level, this research offers actionable recommendations for companies to optimize product and service designs across tangible and core dimensions, while providing practical pathways for corporate green transformation. This research demonstrates that companies can effectively nudge sustainable consumption behaviors simply by redesigning their products and services, which can save operational cost effectively and enhance marketing efficiency.

Key words: minimalist design, sustainable consumption, product recycling behavior, resource conservation behavior