Circular economy and consumer acceptance: An exploratory study in East and Southeast Asia

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production Vol. 247; p. 119097
• Main Authors: Kuah, Adrian T.H., Wang, Pengji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 20.02.2020
• Subjects: Asia; Circular economy; Consumer acceptance; Recycling; Remanufacturing; Sharing platforms; Circular economy; Consumer acceptance; Recycling; Sharing platforms; Remanufacturing; Asia
• ISSN: 0959-6526; 1879-1786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119097

The circular economy presents a practical solution to the earth’s resource limitations. To succeed, it is imperative for consumers to engage in circular economy practices. Are consumers buying in to these practices, however? This study examines consumer acceptance of three CE practices in East and Southeast Asia: using shared platforms, buying recycled goods, and purchasing remanufactured products. Focusing on electronic gadgets, the exploratory study of 584 Asian consumers yielded four findings: (1) Asia generates a large amount of e-waste, but the level of awareness of CE facilities and programs is limited; (2) although consumers are willing to try sharing platforms, they are concerned about being exploited or cheated; (3) consumer acceptance of recycled and remanufactured products in Asia is low because of their concern of reliability and quality; and (4) consumers are still willing to buy these products in the future because of their environmental- and cost-consciousness. We recommend that policy makers and companies work on various ways to promote circular economy practices, such as targeting certain demographic groups, managing consumers’ trust, allaying their concerns, improving offerings, and appealing to innovation-minded consumers. •Our study focuses on consumers' acceptance of recycling, remanufacturing and sharing platforms in multiple Asian countries.•Our findings reveals a general low engagement and uptake of circular economy (CE) practices in Asia.•Protecting the environment and cost-savings encourage use of sharing platforms, but trust and risk concerns discourage it.•Asian consumer perceive recycled and remanufactured products as low quality and reliability, hence they are less accepted.•We recommend a targeted approach, managing trust, and introducing innovative elements to encourage uptake of CE practices.