Deeper Sociological Insight Needed for Behaviour Change: A Systematic Review of Chinese Ivory Consumption

1. Context: Chinese consumer demand for ivory threatens vulnerable African elephant populations, despite longstanding efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade. Behavioural science approaches have been proposed to address these systemic behaviours. However, their robust use remains uncommon in demand management interventions. A culturally nuanced, psychological, and sociological understanding of the behaviours driving ivory consumption is essential for effective behaviour change.2. Methods: We conducted a qualitative systematic literature review in English and Chinese to understand the drivers and barriers of Chinese ivory consumption. We sought to understand ivory acquisition, possession, and disposal behaviours through purchase, gifting, and inheritance practices. Our final review included 13 articles from the academic and grey literature. After inductive thematic analysis, we deductively applied UNICEF’s Behavioural Drivers Model to support practitioner applications. Building on the limitations highlighted, we additionally deductively explored ivory consumption through a Consumer Culture Theory lens to assess ivory subcultures and market identities.3. Main Results: Ivory consumption is driven by a mix of social, cultural, and economic factors but these are currently under-researched. In particular, looking more closely at Chinese social norms around ivory gifting could lead to better strategies for changing behaviour. Additionally, most research focuses mainly on buying, despite strong evidence that gifting and personal collecting are major motivations. Moreover, the inheritance of ivory is another important area that hasn't been explored. Understanding these aspects more fully could help reduce demand and improve elephant conservation efforts.4. Implications: Managing Chinese demand for ivory requires diverse interventions aimed at different consumer groups and their behaviours beyond purchasing. Insights into gifting, gender roles, and biases are essential to crafting effective strategies, which could lead to social norm change. Understanding these social and cultural factors more deeply will help shape interventions that reach people more effectively than legal and environmental approaches alone.