Informing logistics social responsibility from a consumer-choice-centered perspective

• Date: 11 February 2019
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-07-2018-0169
• Published date: 11 February 2019
• Pages: 96-116
• Author: Tim Gruchmann,Imke Schmidt,Sarah Lubjuhn,Stefan Seuring,Martine Bouman
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics

Informing logistics social

responsibility from a consumer-

choice-centered perspective

Tim Gruchmann

Faculty of Management, Westcoast University of Applied Sciences,

Heide, Germany

Imke Schmidt

Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production,

Wuppertal, Germany

Sarah Lubjuhn

Center for Media and Health, Gouda, The Netherlands

Stefan Seuring

Department of Supply Chain Management, University of Kassel,

Kassel, Germany, and

Martine Bouman

Center for Media and Health, Gouda, The Netherlands

Abstract

Purpose –Although research has been conducted on logistics social responsibility ( LSR) on the one hand, and

sustainable consumption on the other hand, the interlinkages between LSR and sustainable consumption still

lack conceptualization and empirical evidence. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to study empirically the

interplay between logistics services and sustainable consumer choices. Such an analysis allows an investigation

of consumer-choice-centered sustainable logistics practices to promote LSR in supply chains (SCs).

Design/methodology/approach –Based on expert interviews and in-depth consumer interviews, the

authors conducted a three-stage qualitative, exploratory study with regard to sustainable logistics practices

explicitly taking a consumer-choice-centered perspective into account.

Findings –As a result, consumer-choice-centered LSR categories were identified and discussed against the

consumer socialresponsibility (ConSR)and other disciplines’literature.In particular, consumercommunication

is necessary to enhance consumers’awareness of sustainable logistics as current consumption behavior still

hardly considers logistics services. Also, context- and situation-dependent SC configurations as well as

financial incentives for sustainable consumption patterns promote moresustainable logistics services choices

by end consumers.

Practical implications –Resolving certain frictions and rewarding positive behavior eases consumer’s

decision making. By doing so, retailers need to support logistics service providers by stressing the benefits of

more sustainable products and services as well as implementing more sustainable pricing schemes. Due to the

consumer preferences, it is also important to achieve a context and situation dependent configurations to

provide opportunities for more sustainable trade-offs.

Originality/value –The people dimension in SC management is seen as a promising field as thebehavioral

dynamics of consumers is rarely investigated in SC research. In this line, the study attempts to advance the

theoretical underpinnings of corporate social responsibility in sustainable SCs. Therefore, this study

contributes to theory by enriching the concept of LSR to include a consumer-choice-centered perspective and

gives managerial as well as ethical implications on ConSR accordingly.

Keywords Sustainability, Europe, Retail logistics, Logistics services, Logistics strategy, Qualitative interviews

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) has gained importance in recent yearsand has begun to

merge with thelong-lasting debate on sustainable development(Hák et al., 2016). Against this

background, CSR refers to the “responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its

The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 30 No. 1, 2019

pp. 96-116

© Emerald PublishingLimited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-07-2018-0169

Received 13 July 2018

Revised 17 September 2018

8 November 2018

Accepted 11 November 2018

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-4093.htm

96

IJLM

30,1

decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical

behavior that contributes to sustainabledevelopment”(ISO, 2010). While focusing on certain

dimensions of CSR, the (sub)concepts of logistics social responsibility (LSR) and purchasing

social responsibility (PSR) emerged, constructing supply chain (SC) specific CSR dimensions.

In this context, LSR can be defined as socially responsible logistics management (Carter and

Jennings, 2002; Miaoet al., 2012). Consequently, logistics activitiesare linked to sustainability

requirements and have to include environmental, economic and social topics that address

certain CSR dimensions such as diversity, working conditions, human rights, safety,

philanthropy and community involvement (Carter and Jennings, 2002).

For the logistics industry as such, which is strongly affected by a dynamic, and

competitive market environment, more sustainable business strategies mean not only a

reduction of CO

2

emissions and cost savings in economic terms, but also opportunities to

highlight the value creation logic and to allows for new governance forms such as social

businesses (Aronsson and Huge Brodin, 2006). To do so, logistics service providers can, on

the one hand, unfold their sustainability potential by reducing the ecological and social

impact in the SC, e.g., by technological innovations or the improvement of working

conditions (Chapman et al., 2002). On the other hand, it has been recognized that consumers

also need to adapt to sustainability requirements (Vitell and Muncy, 2005), e.g., by

supporting sustainable logistics strategies with their monetary “votes”(e.g. Shaw et al.,

2006) or by changing their own logistics behavior (e.g. using an environmentally friendly

alternative to get to the supermarket). This interdependence between LSR and consumer

social responsibility (ConSR) is referred to as “shared responsibility,”which requires mutual

support and cooperation (Brinkmann, 2004; Schmidt, 2016). Therefore, the core assumption

of this paper is that logistics service providers can support sustainable development by

facilitating more sustainable consumer logistics choices (e.g. choices referring to the

distribution channels, the bundling of deliveries and other logistics actions).

Analyzing the main constructs in the literature on LSR practices, two main gaps in our

understanding exist how logistics service providers can support a sustainable development

in the realization of their LSR:

(1) Construction gap: so far, existing LSR studies address single logistical functions and

categories rather than cross-functional investigations, e.g., such as the

interdependence between sustainable transportation and warehousing (Ciliberti

et al., 2008). Therefore, the required mutual interaction between certain SC members

(Schmidt, 2016) to realize specific LSR practices needs to be constructed in a holistic,

theoretical framework.

(2) Conceptualization gap: furthermore, research on CSR practices carried out by the

focal company dominates the literature (Spence and Bourlakis, 2009), while logistics

service providers are considered to play rather a passive role in adapting sustainable

and responsible processes. However, CSR practices need to be investigated from

different SC perspectives to tackle further interdependences such as those between

LSR and ConSR.

To address these gaps systematically, the scope of the study was narrowed to logistics

service providers as a central actor in the SC to facilitate LSR. In this regard, the paper

presents findings of an exploratory study that investigated the logistics service provider’s

potential to support sustainable consumption consumer choices in different operational

settings. Therefore, a structured and integrated analysis of logistics services and consumer

decisions is provided, such that possible SC configurations, including the interaction with

the consumer, are assessed from a social sustainability point of view.

Accordingly, thepaper is structured as follows: in Section 2, the relevant literature stream

regarding CSR and LSR is briefly presented. Section 3 describes the related research design.

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A consumer-

choice-centered

perspective of

LSR