Mot en cirkulär ekonomi: En studie om attityder, drivkrafter och barriärer

Unsustainable consumption is today an acknowledged global problem which is set to only get worse unless major changes take place. Our society is based on a linear model where unlimited resources serve as fuel for increased consumption. Even though awareness among consumers is growing, there are still many consumers who are unaware of the effects of their consumption on the environment. However, the consumer will play a crucial role in the transition to a sustainable circular economy where resources and material consumption is reduced so that we can live within the limits of our planet. Nonetheless, we know very little about consumers’ attitudes towards consumption concepts and products that support the circular economy: second-hand, renting and sharing. The goal of this study is to examine consumer attitudes, motivations and barrier to such concepts for different furnishing products. Interviews and a survey are used as methods for data collection. The study is conducted in collaboration with IKEA, which provided access to IKEA Family's customer panel as the studied population. Qualitative content analysis and compilation of quantitative data is the basis of the empirical material. The study shows that attitudes towards the various consumption concepts differ widely depending on the product. Generally the attitudes towards second-hand furniture are positive, even though hygiene and a preference for new products are barriers for second-hand products. The biggest motivations for purchasing second-hand furniture are economic factors and the pursuit of uniqueness. Attitudes are negative when it comes to long-term renting of furniture, however, the attitudes are positive towards short-term renting solutions. Biggest barriers for renting furniture are economic and hygiene concerns, desire to own and lack of understanding when it comes to the benefit of the concept. Biggest drivers for renting are flexibility, temporality, economic and a chance to test products or to change furnishing more often. Products that are used seldom are more accepted to be shared. Biggest motivations to share products are economic, social and environmental. Biggest barriers are lack of access to the product, trust, hygiene, fear of conflict and impracticality.Mot en cirkulär ekonomi: En studie om attityder, drivkrafter och barriärer Denna studie undersöker unga konsumenters attityder, drivkrafter och barriärer för konsumtionskoncept som främjar en cirkulär ekonomi. I motsats till den linjära ekonomin där slit och släng blivit norm, bygger den cirkulära ekonomin på att återanvända och återvinna. Men för att omställning ska ske från linjär till cirkulär ekonomi krävs en förståelse för konsumentens syn på de konsumtionskoncept som en cirkulär ekonomi skulle innebära. Det finns idag dålig kunskap om hur konsumenter ser på alternativa konsumtionsmodeller. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka unga konsumenters attityder gentemot cirkulära konsumtionskoncept samt förstå vilka bakomliggande drivkrafter och barriärer som dessa attityder grundar sig i. Att köpa secondhand, hyra eller dela/samkonsumera produkter till hemmet är det som undersöks i denna uppsats. Intervjuer och en enkätundersökning används som metod för datainsamling. Studien genomförs i samarbete med IKEA, vilket gjorde det möjligt att använda medlemmar i IKEA Family Sverige som population för studien. Resultaten visar att konsumenternas attityder skiljer sig mycket beroende på vilken produktgrupp som studeras. Generellt är attityder till begagnade möbler positiva, även om hygien och en preferens för nya produkter är barriärer för konsumtion av secondhandprodukter. De största drivkrafter för att köpa begagnade möbler är ekonomiska faktorer samt viljan att vara unik. Attityderna gentemot att hyra möbler för långvarigt bruk är majoriteten av respondenterna negativa till, emellertid är respondenternas attityder positiva till mer temporära hyreslösningar. De största hindren för att hyra möbler rör aspekter kring ekonomi, hygien, viljan att äga och brist på förståelse för konceptet. Största drivkrafterna till att hyra produkter till hemmet är flexibilitet, temporäritet, ekonomi samt en chans att testa produkter eller förnya sig. Produkter som används sällan är mer accepterat att dela. Största drivkrafterna till att dela produkter är ekonomi, social kontakt samt miljömässiga faktorer. De största hindren för delande av resurser är brist på tillgång till produkten, bristande förtroende för främmande människor, hygien, konflikträdsla samt att det ses som opraktiskt. Rekommendationer Mina rekommendationer till IKEA i det fortsatta arbetet kring cirkulär ekonomi är följande; belysa dessa tre konsumtionskoncepts relevans ur ett miljömässigt perspektiv, samt tydligt peka på vilka fördelar denna typ av konsumtion har, då resultaten från denna studie tyder på att detta inte alltid är uppenbart för konsumenten. Genom någon typ av kvalitetskontroll kan den upplevda barriären för hygien minska. Att börja med att introducera hyreskoncept för temporära lösningar kan vara ett lämpligt första steg i utvecklandet av åtkomstbaserade konsumtionskoncept. För utveckling av affärsmodeller kring samkonsumtion kan rekommenderas att lägga fokus på produktgrupper som inte används frekvent av konsumenten och som inte har ett högt emotionellt värde för kunden. Handledare: Oksana Mont och Matthias Lehner Examensarbete 30 hp i Miljövetenskap 2015 Centrum för miljö- och klimatforskning, Lunds universite

Rebirth Fashion: Secondhand clothing consumption values and perceived risks

In recent years, the circular economy of alternative consumption models for secondhand goods has become a subject of prominence. However, very little research has been carried out to obtain an in-depth understanding of the negative or positive consumer attitudes, motivations, and values behind secondhand clothing consumption. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the perceived risks and barriers to utilizing secondhand clothing and to identify the enabling and disabling factors that influence its consumption. Two empirical semiqualitative studies were carried out among secondhand clothing consumers (n=134) and non-secondhand clothing consumers (n=138) in the UK to investigate their attitudes, values, and perceptions of risk regarding secondhand clothing consumption. The study incorporated a qualitative means-end value model with a quantitative research technique to construct hierarchical value maps. The results show that consumer perceptions of secondhand fashion products and services differ significantly. The five main values identified among secondhand clothing consumers were: economic, self-expressive, hedonic, environmental, and social contribution values. Non-secondhand clothing consumers exhibited concerns about used clothing consumption due to perceived poor product quality and cleanliness, limitations in the degree of possible self-enhancement and expressibility of self-identity, and a perceived social image of the clothes as low-class and having low social acceptance. The study’s findings concerning secondhand clothing consumption values held by the market and consumers’ perceived risk dimensions can assist retailers and marketers to create a more tailored retailing and promotional strategy

Closing the Loop on E‐waste: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

This paper describes the challenges faced, and opportunities identified, by a multidisciplinary team of researchers developing a novel closed loop system to recover valuable metals and reduce e-waste, focusing on mobile phones as a case study. This multidisciplinary approach is contrasted with current top-down approaches to making the transition to the circular economy (CE). The aim of the research presented here is to develop a product service system (PSS) that facilitates the recovery of valuable functional components and metals from mobile phone circuit boards. To create a holistic solution and limit unintended consequences, in addition to technological solutions, this paper considers appropriate component lifetimes; the (often ignored) role of the citizen in the circular economy; customer interaction with the PSS; environmental life cycle assessment; and social impacts of the proposed PSS. Development of enabling technologies and materials to facilitate recovery of components and metals and to provide an emotionally durable external enclosure is described. This research also highlights the importance of understanding value in the CE from a multifaceted and interdisciplinary perspective

Between enthusiasm and refusal: A cluster analysis on consumer types and attitudes towards peer-to-peer sharing

The rise of peer-to-peer platforms for sharing private resources has introduced new possibilities for access beyond ownership. Although experiencing fast growth, the academic literature has only recently begun to study individual user attitudes towards such new forms of consumption. Building on findings on the underlying consumer motives for peer-to-peer sharing, this study differentiates prototypical consumers by means of cluster analysis. Based on data from a large-scale online survey (n = 745) on consumer motives, we identify 5 main dimensions (concerns, benefits, product-specific aspects, social aspects, and ownership-related aspects). On these grounds, we identify 4 consumer types with distinct demographic and attitudinal characteristics: Social Enthusiasts, Conflicted Materialists, Skeptic Ascetics, and Individualistic Refuseniks. Based on these clusters' differences with regard to demographics and sharing behaviors, we derive implications for practitioners to tailor their business models and marketing strategies to the specific motivational patterns of the respective user groups