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Consumer Perception of Online Attributes in Circular Economy Activities

Author

Listed:
  • Nicole Stein

    (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, 42103 Wuppertal, Germany)

  • Stefan Spinler

    (WHU—Otto Beisheim School of Management, 56179 Vallendar, Germany)

  • Helga Vanthournout

    (Wealth of Flows Consulting Ltd, Hong Kong SAR)

  • Vered Blass

    (The Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Israel)

Abstract

Businesses like Airbnb have shown that a successful circular economy (CE) business can operate exclusively online. Although online communication and web appearance attributes have been subject to academic research given accelerated digitization, there is still a lack of knowledge about online attributes and their role in facilitating CE. We close the portrayed knowledge gap by conducting a discrete-choice experiment with best to worst scaling and focusing on the effect of CE experience on the perception of a CE website by ranking nine online attributes, grouped in three subsets. We therefore contribute by identifying online attributes that are perceived as favorable for CE businesses and detect how participation in CE activities affects the perception of these attributes. We find that third-party associated online attributes (e.g., user reviews or third-party guarantees) rank significantly higher throughout CE consumption patterns of the sample, being always amongst the top three attributes. This novel finding on online preferences opens a new direction for further research, as well as allows practitioners to optimize online operations accordingly. Furthermore, we find that users without prior touchpoints with CE have a higher need for information about the business model as compared to CE active users who are more interested in community related attributes.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicole Stein & Stefan Spinler & Helga Vanthournout & Vered Blass, 2020. "Consumer Perception of Online Attributes in Circular Economy Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:5:p:1914-:d:327829
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    Cited by:

    1. Cristina Calvo-Porral & Jean-Pierre Lévy-Mangin, 2020. "The Circular Economy Business Model: Examining Consumers’ Acceptance of Recycled Goods," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Bargoni, Augusto & Kliestik, Tomas & Jabeen, Fauzia & Santoro, Gabriele, 2023. "Family firms’ characteristics and consumer behaviour: An enquiry into millennials’ purchase intention in the online channel," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Carlos Rodríguez & Marta Jacob & Carmen Florido, 2020. "Socioeconomic Profile of Tourists with a Greater Circular Attitude and Behaviour in Hotels of a Sun and Beach Destination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-28, December.

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