Consumer motivation for product disposal and its role in acquiring products for reuse

• Author: Dayna Simpson,Damien Power,Yelena Tsarenko,Kathleen Riach
• Date: 01 October 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/joom.1049
• Published date: 01 October 2019

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Consumer motivation for product disposal and its role

in acquiring products for reuse

Dayna Simpson

1

| Damien Power

2,3

| Kathleen Riach

1,4

| Yelena Tsarenko

5

1

Department of Management, Monash

University, Caulfield East, Victoria,

Australia

2

Department of Management and Marketing,

University of Melbourne, Parkville,

Victoria, Australia

3

Faculty of Economics and Business,

University of Groningen, Groningen,

Netherlands

4

Department of Management, University of

Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

5

Department of Marketing, Monash

University, Caulfield East, Victoria,

Australia

Correspondence

Dayna Simpson, Department of

Management, Monash University, Caulfield

East, Victoria, Australia.

Email: dayna.simpson@monash.edu

Handling Editor: Brian Jacobs

Abstract

Product reuse is most profitable where manufacturers acquire used products in the

best possible condition—near new and with little wear and tear. This requires con-

sumers, however, to dispose of products that still work and may still be in use. Prior

scholarship on acquiring consumer products for reuse focuses on consumer

“returns”—products consumers find fault with, or bought in error. These, however,

are a fraction of all products sold to consumers and available for reuse. Importantly,

returns are motivated by a different set of factors, than product “disposal.”We

explore how psychological ownership influences consumer disposal of reusable

products. Across three studies of Australian consumers, we found two psychological

tendencies (attachment and frugality) increased product retention. We also found,

that infrequent product use, and emotional reward, could weaken ownership and

encourage disposal of products that are attractive for reuse. To our knowledge, no

behavioral studies in the product acquisition literature deal with consumers before or

during product disposal. We highlight a role for consumers in product acquisition, as

well as contribute to the consumer psychology and mental accounting literature, and

identify significant opportunity for manufacturers to leverage consumers' psychologi-

cal tendencies to improve the collection of reusable products.

KEYWORDS

closed-loop, consumer behavior, disposal, experiments, product reuse, recycling

1|INTRODUCTION

To ensure profitable product reuse, it is vital for consumers to

dispose of reusable products, while they are still in good

working condition (Blackburn, Guide, Souza, & Van

Wassenhove, 2004; Guide, Souza, Van Wassenhove, &

Blackburn, 2006; Ray, Boyaci, & Aras, 2005). Early retire-

ment of products by consumers, however, is somewhat of a

paradox, given that when consumers purchase new products

they do not expect to be replacing them anytime soon (if at

all). In practice, manufacturers increasingly offer to buy con-

sumers' used products, as a means to increase new product

sales, and support product reuse operations (e.g., Apple

GiveBack and Samsung Trade Up). Such programs, including

trade-ins, online auctions, individual selling, and recycling,

reflect a growing number of ways in which firms can connect

directly with consumers to acquire product and encourage

upgrades by consumers (Hahler & Fleischmann, 2017; Kim,

Rao, Kim, & Rao, 2011; Srivastava & Chakravarti, 2011).

Research in this space, however, particularly regarding how

firms might more cost-effectively acquire products from con-

sumers, rarely draws from the behavior of actual consumers.

This is surprising, given much of the uncertainty in product

acquisition relates directly to the choices of consumers

(Galbreth & Blackburn, 2010; Guide, 2000; Klausner &

Hendrickson, 2000).

Received: 4 April 2017 Revised: 28 May 2019 Accepted: 5 June 2019

DOI: 10.1002/joom.1049

612 © 2019 Association for Supply Chain Management, Inc. J Oper Manag. 2019;65:612–635.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joom

Product reuse is a multi billion dollar industr y that reduces

pollution by collecting goods for reuse, rather than landfill, as

well as decreasing firms' reliance on nonrenewable resources

(Abbey, Meloy, Blackburn, & Guide, 2015; Esenduran,

Kemahlioglu-Ziya, & Swaminathan, 2016; UNEP, 2015). In

the literature regarding how manufacturers should acquire

products for reuse, however, consumer behavior is addressed

only to the extent that consumers “return”some products

under retailers' return policies (Ferguson, Guide, & Souza,

2006). Returns represent only a small proportion (5–10%) of

all products purchased by consumers (Ferguson et al., 2006).

They are a very limited subset of products, given they arise

under retailer policies, that typically cover only a 30, 90 or

180 day postpurchase period. This focus on returns, therefore,

has two major limitations: first, a vast number of products still

have significant value beyond the period, and conditions, of

product return policies; second, the psychology of product

returns is fundamentally different to the psychology of

“disposal,”in which consumers must relinquish a product for

which they have a sense of ownership (Coulter & Ligas,

2003; Okada, 2001).

For their part, consumers often view their possessions as

personal and financial extensions of the “self.”Product own-

ership is influenced significantly by a consumer's own psy-

chological characteristics, as well as a bond that can exist

between consumer and product (Brough & Isaac, 2012;

Haws, Naylor, Coulter, & Bearden, 2012; Lastovicka & Sir-

ianni, 2011). Tension arises where a consumer perceives

greater value in product ownership, than what they could

emotionally or financially gain from product disposal

(Bellezza, Ackerman, & Gino, 2017; Okada, 2001). A funda-

mental premise of past research on product disposal is that

while consumers may struggle to give up possessions (Haws

et al., 2012; Kleine & Baker, 2004), they are also open to dis-

posal methods that compensate psychological loss with psy-

chological gain (Lastovicka & Fernandez, 2005; Sun &

Trudel, 2017; White, MacDonnell, & Dahl, 2011). Con-

sumers have been shown to engage with disposal more will-

ingly, where the action can help others, reduce pollution, or

allow them to move on from the past (Jacoby, Berning, &

Dietvorst, 1977; Lastovicka & Fernandez, 2005). Prior

research has paid little attention, however, to how consumers

manage the disposal of products with high reuse value. Reus-

able products, such as automobiles, electronics, or household

appliances, have “benefits [that are] spread out over future

periods [and] utility does not diminish significantly in succes-

sive usage occasions.”(Okada, 2001: p.434). Their capacity

for use over a long period of time may increase a consumer's

dependence on the product (Chandler & Schwarz, 2010). In

addition, that a product “still works”increases tensions for a

consumer given that disposal, regardless of when, suggests

that something will be wasted (Arkes, 1996; Brough &

Isaac, 2012).

From the manufacturer's perspective, used product acquisi-

tion involves significant uncertainty. The ability to predict the

quality and quantity of what is being acquired is a constant

problem. Prior scholarship for the most part suggests that

firms should deal with this uncertainty through their relation-

ships with suppliers, or by increasing their control over how

products are collected (Atasu, Toktay, & Van Wassenhove,

2013; Guide & Van Wassenhove, 2001; Hahler &

Fleischmann, 2017; Savaskan, Bhattacharya, & Van

Wassenhove, 2004). While these practices have helped to

reduce uncertainty in used product supply, they neglect the

fundamental role of consumers. As such, better understanding

of consumer behavior in advance of product acquisition offers

scope for manufacturers to improve the quality of products

acquired for reuse and reduce costs. For example, products

acquired earlier in their life cycle, or in greater volume, allow

manufacturers to spread their costs over more units

(Ovchinnikov, 2011). It also improves the choices that manu-

facturers have regarding how to profit from reuse and end-of-

life product collection (Atasu, Guide, & Van Wassenhove,

2010; Atasu & Van Wassenhove, 2012; Klausner &

Hendrickson, 2000; Seitz, 2007).

To our knowledge, there are no behavioral studies in

the product acquisition literature that deal directly with

consumers, before or during product disposal. This has

been noted by others, who have called for more

consumer-focused research in this domain (Abbey,

Meloy, Guide, & Atal ay, 2015; Rao, Narasim han, &

John, 2009; Souza, 2013). In our research, we explore

(a) consumer beliefs around product ownership and dis-

posal, and (b) its implications for manufacturers seeking

to acquire product for reuse. We do so with three studies

involving consumers: (a) consumer in-depth interviews

(n= 19); (b) a consumer survey (n= 250); and (c) a

behavioral experiment with consumers (n= 382). We

found that by offering two key psychological rewards—

financial and emotional—consumers were more willing

to relinquish high-quality products for disposal, and

would in some circumstances do so for less in return. In

particular, consumers' under-utilization of a product and

disposal options that offered them an emotional reward

(giving to charity) were significant motivating factors for

disposal. These findings contribute significantly to the lit-

erature on product acquisition but also to behavioral theo-

ries surrounding product disposition. Our findings also

allow us to offer several practical implications for manu-

facturers, with respect to how they can develop

consumer-focused programs to acquire ideal products for

reuse.

SIMPSON ET AL.613