Summary
This feature paper introduces voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and canvas the research that has been conducted on VSS from different academic disciplines. It identifies four main areas of research on VSS and explore them. First, it focusses on research on the institutional design of VSS, which highlights the diversity among VSS. Next, it explores studies that try to assess the impact of VSS on key sustainability dimensions. Third, it zooms in on studies that analyse the uptake or adoption of VSS. Finally, it focusses on the interaction between VSS and public policies. For each of the four areas, it summarises the main research findings and identify opportunities for future research.