Exploring circular consumption: Circular attitudes and their influence on consumer behavior across the product lifecycle

Abstract

This study explores the dynamic and multidimensional domain of circular consumption, emphasizing the relevance of a lifecycle perspective in understanding consumer behaviors within the circular economy. Moving beyond prior research that predominantly focused on specific actions such as recycling or purchasing second‐hand products, we advocate for a more comprehensive understanding of consumer choices throughout a product's lifecycle. Drawing on attitudes theory, we employ item response theory (IRT) models to unveil latent attitudes reflecting diverse circular consumer behaviors. These attitudes, inferred from manifested actions across different product lifecycle stages, include environmental‐centric, resource‐centric, and societal‐centric circular attitudes. The study involves a representative sample of 5,124 respondents across five European countries. Our findings underscore the complexity of consumer motivations in the circular economy, revealing distinct links between circular attitudes and behaviors. This research contributes to a nuanced understanding of circular consumption, emphasizing the importance of a lifecycle approach, and driving the development of robust measurement scales for circular consumer actions.