Ethical Pro-Environmental Self-Identity Practice: The Case of Second-Hand Products
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Literature Review
3.1. Ethical Consumption Behavior
3.2. Pro-Environmental Self-Identity Practice
4. Social Practice Theory
4.1. Meaning
4.2. Material
4.3. Competence
5. Results
6. Discussion
7. Contributions
8. Conclusions
8.1. Theoretical and Empirical Implications
8.2. Practical Implications
8.3. Limitations
8.4. Future Research Directions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Product Category | Contents of Product Category | In-Depth Interview Pairs |
---|---|---|
Cellphone | All kind of cellphones. | SP1 + SP2 BP1 + BP2 |
Furniture | Chair, table, bed, etc. | SF1 + SF2 BF1 + BF2 |
Jewelry | Bangles, necklace, earrings, Bangladeshi ethnic jewelries | SJ1 + SJ2 BJ1 + BJ2; BJ3 + BJ4 |
Attires | Male and female outfits, e.g., shirts, pants, jackets, Bangladeshi ethnic female dresses (saree, salwar kameez). | SA1 + SA2; SA3 + SA4 BA1 + BA2; BA3 + BA4 |
Bicycle | All kinds of bicycles, e.g., electric, mountain. | SC1 + SC2; SC3 + SC4 BC1 + BC2 |
Books | Textbooks, novels, poetry | SB1 + SB2 BB1 + BB2 |
n = 32 |
Key Concepts | Explanations | Authors |
---|---|---|
Altruistic consumption | Customers opt for environmentally harmful consumption patterns. | Smith and Paladino (2010) [31]; Yadav (2016) [32] (p. 93) |
Exchanging behavior | Using moral values of exchanging products. | Husser et al. (2019) [33]; Van Quaquebeke et al. (2019) [34] |
Fair trade (FT) practice | Includes (i) willingness to pay more, (ii) guidance by universalism, benevolence, self-direction, and stimulation, (iii) self-identification, (iv) emphasis on FT labels on products, and (v) cultural influence. | Gram-Hanssen (2021) [26]; Gregory-Smith et al. (2017) [35] |
Frugal consumption | Customer prefers less materialistic purchases, repairs and reuses products, extending product life | Gatersleben et al. (2019) [36]; Goldsmith et al. (2014) [37] |
Green consumption | Customers motivate community- and the country-level practices, which enforces producers to comply with environmentally friendly products. | Gregory-Smith et al. (2017) [35]; Stern et al. (1995) [38] |
Socially conscious consumption behavior | Equal consideration of environmental issues (e.g., using second-hand products), health (e.g., building a waste-less community), and social issues (e.g., donating unused products). | Pepper et al. (2009) [39]; Romani et al. (2016) [40] |
Socially responsible consumption behavior | Comprises purchase behavior (e.g., buying second-hand products), non-purchasing behavior (e.g., preventing purchase of products which use raw virgin materials) and post-purchase behavior (e.g., selling fully functioning used products at a lower market price). | Johnson and Chattaraman (2019) [41]; Lee (2019) [30] |
Spiritual and moral consumption | Consumers’ spiritual practice motivates moral consumption. | Orellano et al. (2020) [42]; Vitell et al. (2016) [43] |
Key Concept | Explanation | Authors |
---|---|---|
Pro-environmental behavior (PEB) | Concerns individuals’ behavior that minimizes the negative impacts of actions on the natural and built world. | Kollmus and Agyeman (2002) [51] |
Environmental or ecological behavior | Environmental impact from human actions. | Cheung et al. (2010) [52]; Tian and Robertson (2019) [53] |
Environmental responsible behavior | Service context of the importance of perceived value, environmental and education. | Chiu et al. (2014) [54]; Hwang (2000) [55] |
Environmentally friendly behavior | Energy consumption of householdinfluencing consumer behavior in a food retail setting through information on green energy. | Gatersleben et al. (2002) [56]; Kristensson (2017) [57] |
Code Labels | Wordings from the Respondents |
---|---|
Availability at a cheaper rate | “I can purchase a cellphone 40% lower than the market price”. |
Cash on Delivery | “I paid after receiving the product”. |
Circular Economy | “It’s a zero-waste system.” |
Commitment in exchanging | “I post unedited pictures and videos in selling posts.” |
Decluttering unused items | “Through re-commerce, I am able to declutter redundant products.” |
Detailed product information | “I asked seller the brand name, buying price, expected selling price, seller location, mode of delivery and payment method. I also ask product raw pictures and video.” |
Digital device | “I avail smartphone for the re-commerce process.” |
Ethical PESI | “I post the awareness of reducing the virgin materials dependency on Facebook by promoting the virtue of second-hand products.” |
“Facebook is a social media.” | |
Fully Functioned Products | “I always seek usable second-hand products.” |
Logistics support | “I avail courier service for exchanging products.” |
Mobile banking service | “I prefer to use mobile banking service for paying and receiving payments.” |
PESI practices on Facebook | “I post pictures wearing myself newly purchased second-hand products on Facebook.” |
Pro-environmental behavior | “I encourage my family and friends to use second-hand products which would break the associated social taboo.” |
Code | Explanation |
---|---|
Availability at a cheaper rate | A respondent cannot afford the new product, so second-hand is the best option. The exchange of a second-hand product is a benevolent system. It helps individuals satisfy their demand at a lower price. |
Commitment in the exchange | In their interviews, all respondents stated that they made a predetermined commitment and expected their counterpart to keep his/her commitment. Commitment depends on branding, especially in the case of electronics. |
Decluttering | Respondents want to upgrade their products, so they often go to purchase a new one. Instead of leaving it idle, they prefer to sell it. |
Detailed product information | Respondents agree on the need for detailed product information as a requirement for re-commerce. |
Functionality | Our nine respondents who played the role of sellers stated that they intend to provide product description, information about any defect(s), reason for selling used item, product raw picture(s), product video, buying price, expected selling price, seller location, payment method, and mode of delivery while listing sell posts. |
PESI practices(Communication) | Posting happy-faced photos ofthe buyers wearing second-hand products on Facebook, making status updates in support of exchanging and using second-hand products, and encouraging family and friends to join second-hand product exchange groups. |
Promoting pro-environmental behavior | All respondents identified that social media (not limited to Facebook) helps to communicate the benefits of using second-hand items. Many respondents repost past stories related to second-hand exchange to preserve their own Facebook wall and often share them with connections to recall these benevolent ethical practices, which is also an important characteristic of PESI. |
Code | Explanation |
---|---|
Cash on delivery | Payment upon delivery of the product is preferable. The buyer receives the goods from the courier service agent and pays him/her upon receiving the order. The courier service provider then sends money to the seller’s mobile banking account. |
Digital device | All respondents used smart phones, which support the use of Facebook, mobile banking apps, and courier service apps, all of which are crucial in re-commerce activities. |
Logistics support | It can be either face to face product delivery at a predetermined place or through a courier service, which is the most popular system of product delivery all over the world, and the re-commerce process is not an exception. Some respondents report that buyers use their own vehicles to carry products or rent vans for carrying purposes. |
Mobile banking service | Mobile banking services such as Swish has made the re-commerce process easy for both sellers and buyers. Both sellers and buyers prefer product delivery through a courier service. |
Code | Explanation |
---|---|
Circular economy | Respondents report on understandings of a philosophy of turning waste to zero for promoting reusing products. Respondents also refer the circular economy as a cradle-to-cradle system, which fosters regenerative philosophy, a waste-less economy, zero-waste philosophy, waste reduction, extending product life, promoting upcycling, and environmental protection system. |
Ethical PESI | In practicing ethical PESI, the market price of second-hand products should be considerably lower than the purchase price, which also ensures purchases for those who cannot afford new products. Many respondents considered ethical PESI an integral part of a circular economy, and they discussed ethical PESI and circular economy together. |
Synonymous terms such as “social media”, “social networking site”, “social community site”, “e-commerce tool”, “social network community system”, “technological community”, “social networking site”, and “virtual community”. Facebook facilitates the formation of personal and professional communities, which is critical for spreading the concept of a circular economy and ethical PESI practices. |
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Arman, S.M.; Mark-Herbert, C. Ethical Pro-Environmental Self-Identity Practice: The Case of Second-Hand Products. Sustainability 2022, 14, 2154. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042154
Arman SM, Mark-Herbert C. Ethical Pro-Environmental Self-Identity Practice: The Case of Second-Hand Products. Sustainability. 2022; 14(4):2154. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042154
Chicago/Turabian StyleArman, Saleh Md, and Cecilia Mark-Herbert. 2022. "Ethical Pro-Environmental Self-Identity Practice: The Case of Second-Hand Products" Sustainability 14, no. 4: 2154. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042154