The psychological downstream consequences of recycling

Abstract

Increasingly, consumers are encouraged to engage in recycling behaviors, and they are also frequently exposed to various recycling-related stimuli in the environment such as recycling bins and recycling posters. However, little research has been conducted to examine the psychological consequences of recycling. In this research, I investigate two downstream consequences of recycling: consumer waiting and sensation seeking. The first set of experiments demonstrates that recycling (both engaging in recycling behaviors and being exposed to recycling-related information) increases consumers’ willingness to wait for products and services because it activates the concept of an extended life span, which increases consumers’ perceived time availability. Nine studies (one pilot study, six laboratory experiments, one field experiment, and one study that consists of archival data analyses) provide converging evidence for the relationship between recycling and consumers’ willingness to wait and the mediating role of perceived time availability. Interestingly, this effect is attenuated when recycling is framed as a way of decomposing products into raw materials (thus no longer perceived as life-extending), or when consumers are dissatisfied with the to-be-recycled products (presumably due to a motivation to end the products’ life). The second set of experiments demonstrates that recycling behaviors increase consumers’ sensation-seeking tendencies (novelty seeking and intensity seeking), which is mediated by a sense of vitality. Five studies (three laboratory experiments and two studies that consist of archival data analyses) provide converging evidence for the relationship between recycling and consumers’ sensation-seeking tendencies and the mediating role of vitality. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are also discussed.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Supervisor	Jiewen HONG (Supervisor), Rongrong ZHOU (Supervisor) & Linying FAN (Supervisor)