What is it about?
This paper explores consumer acceptance of three circular economy practices — using sharing platforms, buying recycled goods, and purchasing remanufactured products — in East and Southeast Asia in closing the circular economy loop. A survey of 584 consumers from China, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam tells us that the general level of acceptance towards the CE practices is low even though consumers are still willing to try them.
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Why is it important?
This study contributes theoretically to understanding the motivators of and barriers to consumer acceptance of circular economy practices in Asia. It provides empirical insights into consumer acceptance towards sharing platforms, recycling, and remanufacturing practices in the five Asian countries. The results show some common factors (e.g., trust, cost-saving and pursuit of innovation) that businesses can pursue, yet differences that influence consumers’ buy-in that are unique to Asia.
Perspectives
This study is the first to reveal that Asian consumers are still in the early stages of circular economy practices. Considering existing studies on consumer’ reaction to circular economy focus on Western countries, the results are meaningful in that they provide important empirical data for future studies of Asian consumers. Professor Adrian Kuah has taught at Manchester Business School, Bradford University School of Management and James Cook University over the last 20 years. He was named by the UK Financial Times as Professor of the Week and has published more than 60 papers, with his work appearing in prestigious outlets such as the Journal of Cleaner Productions, European Journal of Marketing and R&D Management. He read his PhD from Manchester, ITP from Bocconi, and MBA from Strathclyde.
Adrian T. H. Kuah
James Cook University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Circular economy and consumer acceptance: An exploratory study in East and Southeast Asia, Journal of Cleaner Production, November 2019, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119097.
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