Digital Social Networks as a Governance Mechanism: Shaping Norms for Agricultural Commodity Demand

Global agricultural trade is a telecoupled system where demand in one region displaces environmental impact on distal supply regions. Governance and transformation of the trade of the commons requires a deep understanding of social change at multiple – individual to societal – levels shaping their demand. In this context, our research investigates how social networks function as informal institutions in shaping social norms and consequently driving demand. We develop an indicator to measure demand for agricultural products as captured in digital social networks, using a conceptual framework derived from a literature review, positing that personal attitudes and perceived social norms influence pro-environmental choices.

We test this framework in the context of telecoupled demand for sustainable coffee consumption in Germany. We populated the indicator using big data from social media to capture people’s consumption and social trends online using X, collecting 1.9 million English and German posts from more than 7,000 primary users in Germany in two years. Employing content analysis, machine learning techniques, social network, and regression analysis, we identify correlations among factors such as product attributes, consumers’ sustainability awareness, and the attitude of consumers’ social circles (on sustainability and sustainable coffee) versus sustainable demand.

The results provide empirical evidence that peer-to-peer social influence within digital networks is a powerful mechanism shaping demand with distal environmental consequences. This study sheds light on the complex interplay between individual choices, social influence on the demand side, and subsequently biodiversity on the supply side, as increasing demand for coffee tends to intensify the impacts of coffee systems on biodiversity. Digital platforms as a governance of the commons mechanism can restore the coordination abilities lost in societies with increasingly decentralised sources of information. It underscores the need for integrated approaches that consider both the intrapersonal and interpersonal levels to facilitate sustainable forms of transformative change in the biodiversity domain.