IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i2p647-d1567911.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Consumer Behavior in the Social Exclusion Context: Impact on Upcycled Product Adoption and Environmental Sustainability Metrics

Author

Listed:
  • Yufang Jiang

    (Department of Economic Management, Jining University, Jining 272100, China)

  • Kwang-Su Lee

    (Department of New Media Contents, Dong-Ah Institute Media and Arts, Anseong-si 17516, Republic of Korea)

  • Chang-Hyun Jin

    (Department of Business Administration, Kyonggi University, Suwon-si 16227, Republic of Korea)

  • Changfang Kan

    (Department of Industrial Design, Kyonggi University, Suwon-si 16227, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

This study investigates how social exclusion influences sustainable consumption patterns, specifically examining its impact on upcycled product adoption as a key metric of circular economy implementation, while also examining the moderating effects of self-efficacy and consumer innovativeness. As social isolation becomes increasingly prevalent in modern society, understanding its effects on sustainable consumption behaviors has become crucial. A survey involving 857 participants was executed in October 2024, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with EQS 6.4. The results revealed that social exclusion positively influences both purchase intention for upcycled products and the perception of ethical consumption. Furthermore, an enhanced perception of ethical consumption significantly enhances purchase intention for upcycled products. Self-efficacy demonstrated significant moderating effects throughout all relationships in the model, notably pronounced in the relationship between social exclusion and ethical consumption awareness. Consumer innovativeness exhibited a significant moderating effect solely on the association between social exclusion and ethical consumption perception, but not on purchase intentions. This research advances sustainability measurement frameworks by establishing quantifiable links between psychological factors and sustainable consumption outcomes, offering practical metrics for assessing the social dimensions of sustainability implementation.

Suggested Citation

  • Yufang Jiang & Kwang-Su Lee & Chang-Hyun Jin & Changfang Kan, 2025. "Sustainable Consumer Behavior in the Social Exclusion Context: Impact on Upcycled Product Adoption and Environmental Sustainability Metrics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-21, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:2:p:647-:d:1567911
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/2/647/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/2/647/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maxwell, Sarah & Kover, Arthur, 2003. "Negative affect: The dark side of retailing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(7), pages 553-559, July.
    2. Alalwan, Ali Abdallah & Baabdullah, Abdullah M. & Rana, Nripendra P. & Tamilmani, Kuttimani & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2018. "Examining adoption of mobile internet in Saudi Arabia: Extending TAM with perceived enjoyment, innovativeness and trust," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 100-110.
    3. Jaehoon Lee & L. J. Shrum, 2012. "Conspicuous Consumption versus Charitable Behavior in Response to Social Exclusion: A Differential Needs Explanation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(3), pages 530-544.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Choi, Sungwoo & Wan, Lisa C. & Mattila, Anna S., 2024. "Unintended indulgence in robotic service encounters," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    2. Ra’ed Masa’deh & Dmaithan A. AlMajali & Abdullah A. M. AlSokkar & Mohammad Alshinwan & Maha Shehadeh, 2023. "Antecedents of Intention to Use E-Auction: An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-11, March.
    3. Wang, Yajin, 2022. "A conceptual framework of contemporary luxury consumption," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 788-803.
    4. Dubey, Prince & Bajpai, Naval & Guha, Sanjay & Kulshreshtha, Kushagra, 2020. "Mapping gender and marital roles on customer delight by value perception for mobile technology in India," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. Jacob, Isaac & Khanna, Monica & Rai, Krupa A., 2020. "Attribution analysis of luxury brands: An investigation into consumer-brand congruence through conspicuous consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 597-607.
    6. Crick, James M. & Crick, Dave, 2021. "The dark-side of coopetition: Influences on the paradoxical forces of cooperativeness and competitiveness across product-market strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 226-240.
    7. Cheng-Feng Cheng & Chien-Che Huang & Ming-Chang Lin & Ta-Cheng Chen, 2023. "Exploring Effectiveness of Relationship Marketing on Artificial Intelligence Adopting Intention," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    8. Atandile Ngubelanga & Rodney Duffett, 2021. "Modeling Mobile Commerce Applications’ Antecedents of Customer Satisfaction among Millennials: An Extended TAM Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-29, May.
    9. Khalifa, Dina & Shukla, Paurav, 2021. "When luxury brand rejection causes brand dilution," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 110-121.
    10. Muhammad Umar Usman & Pawan Kumar, 2021. "Factors Influencing Consumer Intention to Shop Online in Nigeria: A Conceptual Study," Vision, , vol. 25(4), pages 407-414, December.
    11. Elodie Gentina & L. J. Shrum & Tina M. Lowrey & Scott J. Vitell & Gregory M. Rose, 2018. "An Integrative Model of the Influence of Parental and Peer Support on Consumer Ethical Beliefs: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem, Power, and Materialism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1173-1186, July.
    12. Dong Woo Ko & Young Han Bae & Jayoung Han, 2018. "Social Exclusion and Switching Barriers in Medicare Part D Choices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-10, July.
    13. Park, Sehoon & Kim, Chaeyeong & Park, Jane, 2023. "How power distance belief, self-construal, and relationship norms impact conspicuous consumption," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    14. Shrum, L.J. & Wong, Nancy & Arif, Farrah & Chugani, Sunaina K. & Gunz, Alexander & Lowrey, Tina M. & Nairn, Agnes & Pandelaere, Mario & Ross, Spencer M. & Ruvio, Ayalla & Scott, Kristin & Sundie, Jill, 2013. "Reconceptualizing materialism as identity goal pursuits: Functions, processes, and consequences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1179-1185.
    15. Long Yang & Haiyang Lu & Sangui Wang & Meng Li, 2021. "Mobile Internet Use and Multidimensional Poverty: Evidence from A Household Survey in Rural China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 1065-1086, December.
    16. Zheng, Xiaoying & Xu, Jing & Shen, Hao, 2022. "To be respected or liked: The influence of social comparisons on consumer preference for competence- versus warmth-oriented products," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 170-189.
    17. Dang, Ngoc Bich & Bertrandias, Laurent, 2023. "Social robots as healing aids: How and why powerlessness influences the intention to adopt social robots," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    18. Dennis, Charles & Alamanos, Eleftherios & Papagiannidis, Savvas & Bourlakis, Michael, 2016. "Does social exclusion influence multiple channel use? The interconnections with community, happiness, and well-being," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 1061-1070.
    19. Mukherjee, Ashesh & Lee, Seung Yun & Burnham, Thomas, 2020. "The effect of others’ participation on charitable behavior: Moderating role of recipient resource scarcity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 213-228.
    20. Ali Nawaz Khan, 2024. "Unexpected Ally: Can Social Exclusion Boost Quality of Life Through Green Choices?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 175(1), pages 295-315, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:2:p:647-:d:1567911. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.