This study explores the dynamic and multidimensional domain of circular consumption, emphasizing the relevance of a lifecycle perspective in understanding consumer behaviors within the circular economy. Moving beyond prior research that predominantly focused on specific actions such as recycling or purchasing second‐hand products, we advocate for a more comprehensive understanding of consumer choices throughout a product's lifecycle. Drawing on attitudes theory, we employ item response theory (IRT) models to unveil latent attitudes reflecting diverse circular consumer behaviors. These attitudes, inferred from manifested actions across different product lifecycle stages, include environmental‐centric, resource‐centric, and societal‐centric circular attitudes. The study involves a representative sample of 5,124 respondents across five European countries. Our findings underscore the complexity of consumer motivations in the circular economy, revealing distinct links between circular attitudes and behaviors. This research contributes to a nuanced understanding of circular consumption, emphasizing the importance of a lifecycle approach, and driving the development of robust measurement scales for circular consumer actions.

中文翻译：

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探索循环消费：循环态度及其对整个产品生命周期消费者行为的影响


本研究探讨了循环消费的动态和多维领域，强调生命周期视角在理解循环经济中消费者行为的相关性。与之前主要关注回收或购买二手产品等具体行动的研究不同，我们主张更全面地了解消费者在整个产品生命周期中的选择。借鉴态度理论，我们采用项目反应理论（IRT）模型来揭示反映不同循环消费者行为的潜在态度。这些态度是从不同产品生命周期阶段的表现行为推断出来的，包括以环境为中心、以资源为中心和以社会为中心的循环态度。该研究涉及五个欧洲国家的 5,124 名受访者的代表性样本。我们的研究结果强调了循环经济中消费者动机的复杂性，揭示了循环态度和行为之间的明显联系。这项研究有助于对循环消费的细致理解，强调生命周期方法的重要性，并推动循环消费者行为稳健测量尺度的开发。