Social Influence and Sustainable Consumption

Dr. Elizabeth B. Goldsmith’s interest in family resource management was ignited in the 1970s in graduate school at Michigan State University. The journey has since led to teaching at New Mexico State University, the University of Alabama, and Florida State University with Fulbright stays at the University of Malta (2011) and the University of the West Indies (2006). For three years, she was on the Fulbright National Screening Committee and the Economics Review Panel. Currently she is on the Board for the North Florida Fulbright Alumni Chapter and a Commissioner with the Leon County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. She has had visiting appointment/grants from Stanford University, Duke University, and the Smithsonian Institution, published over 50 journal articles, given speeches around the world, been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, been a domestic policy advisor to the White House on women’s and girls’ economic education and to the United Nations, and published over a dozen books including Resource Management for Individuals and Families, 5th Edition (Pearson, 2013) and Consumer Economics: Issues and Behavior, 2nd Edition, Pearson, 2009).

Introduction.- I. Social Influence.- Introduction to Social Influence.-Social Influence History and Theories.- Values, Attitudes, Goals, and Motivation.-Communication and Social Media.- II. Consumption.- What We Buy and Who We Listen To: The Science of Consumption.- Decision Making and Problem Solving.- Households: Productivity and Consumption.- III. Sustainability.- Social Influence and Sustainable Behavior.- Sustainably Managing Resources of the Built Environment.- Influencing Behavior: Four Strategies.