Public Awareness of Remanufactured Products in Yangtze River Delta of China: Present Status, Problems and Recommendations

Abstract

Exponential increase of used and scrapped products has aroused worldwide attention, with various coping strategies regarding environmental protection and resource reutilization being considered and implemented. Among these, remanufacturing, processing used products environmentally and restoring them to like-new conditions, is preferred by nations around the world. China has been committed to developing and advancing the remanufacturing industry along with its products since 2013, however only a few residents are able to recognize and purchase remanufactured products at the present time. This paper aims to investigate the public awareness of Chinese residents on these emerging products by conducting a questionnaire survey and field research for data collection, and analyzing the results statistically. Results show that most Chinese residents are not familiar with remanufactured products, the superior attributes of such products, or the channels available to purchase them. This could be explained by insufficient publicity and promotion on the part of the government and business enterprises. Factors influencing the purchase intentions of customers are illuminated and potential problems are summarized, in response to which, respective recommendations are provided for both policy makers and firms to popularize remanufactured products.

The mediating role of functionality orientation for purchasing remanufactured products: Cases in China, Indonesia, and Thailand

“…Second, remanufacturers, governments, and other stakeholders should work to increase consumers' awareness of RMPs. Cao et al (2018) report that almost half of the consumers in China are unaware of RMPs. Furthermore, for the respondents who are aware of RMPs, 64% learned about these products from the internet and 39% from government advertisements, which indicates that remanufacturers' and government marketing activities are effective.…”

“…For example, Cao et al. (2018) found that almost half of the respondents in their sample of Chinese consumers had never heard of RMPs. However, consumers are not the only group unfamiliar with RMPs, as many Asian countries do not clearly distinguish between RMPs and used products (Kojima, 2017; Nasr et al., 2017).…”

A remanufacturing supply chain network with differentiated new and remanufactured products considering consumer preference, production capacity constraint and government regulation

“…Remanufacturing as a specific type of eco-efficiency technology, which recovers, processes, and sells like-new versions of obsolete products, is playing a paramount role in environmentally conscious industrial efforts [3,4]. A remanufactured product can match the quality and performance of a new product, while remanufacturing the used product reduces both resource depletion and negative environmental externalities [5][6][7][8][9].…”

Fairness Concern in Remanufacturing Supply Chain—A Comparative Analysis of Channel Members’ Fairness Preferences

“…Remanufacturing opens a new avenue for realizing Responsible Consumption and Production, which is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) introduced by the UN. Compared with conventional manufacturing that aggravates resource depletion and environmental pollution, remanufacturing has a cost advantage of saving 40-60% energy and reduces negative environmental effects by decreasing ~70% water consumption and 80% emissions of air pollutants [3][4][5][6][7]. The remanufacturing practice could present both environmental and economic performances, as well as social benefits to its implementers [8,9].…”