You overestimate the number of decisions people make consciously and underestimate how much people are simply responding to their environment and taking the pat

You overestimate the number of decisions people make consciously and underestimate how much people are simply responding to their environment and taking the path of least resistance. “Decreased consumption” only means less resource utilization in this instance, it doesn’t mean that people are necessarily materially worse off. An obvious and example would be efforts to expand awareness about the longevity and repairability of consumer electronics. Many people don’t want to continually throw things away when they break.