In a so-called overpopulated world, sustainable consumption is of existential importance. However, the expanding spectrum of product choices and their production complexity challenge consumers to make informed and value-sensitive decisions. Recent approaches based on (personalized) psychological manipulation are often intransparent, potentially privacy-invasive and inconsistent with (informational) self-determination. By contrast, responsible consumption based on informed choices currently requires reasoning to an extent that tends to overwhelm human cognitive capacity. As a result, a collective shift towards sustainable consumption remains a grand challenge. Here, we demonstrate a novel personal shopping assistant implemented as a smart phone app that supports a value-sensitive design and leverages sustainability awareness, using experts’ knowledge and ‘wisdom of the crowd’ for transparent product information and explainable product ratings. Real-world field experiments in two supermarkets confirm higher sustainability awareness and a bottom-up behavioural shift towards more sustainable consumption. These results encourage novel business models for retailers and producers, ethically aligned with consumer preferences and with higher sustainability.

在一个所谓的人口过剩的世界中，可持续消费至关重要。但是，产品选择范围的扩大及其生产的复杂性挑战了消费者做出明智且对价值敏感的决策。基于（个性化）心理操纵的最新方法通常是不透明的，可能会侵犯隐私，并且与（信息性）自决不一致。相比之下，基于知情选择的负责任的消费目前需要推理到一定程度，往往会压倒人类的认知能力。结果，向可持续消费的集体转变仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在这里，我们演示了一种新颖的个人购物助手，该智能手机应用程序已实现为智能手机应用程序，可支持对价值敏感的设计并利用可持续发展意识，利用专家的知识和“人群的智慧”获得透明的产品信息和可解释的产品等级。在两家超级市场进行的真实世界现场试验证实，人们对可持续发展的意识更高，并且自下而上的行为向更加可持续的消费转变。这些结果鼓舞了零售商和生产商的新颖商业模式，在道德上符合消费者的偏好并具有更高的可持续性。