The last few decades have seen an explosion in population growth and along with this growth we have also witnessed an increase in demand for products. Although our resources are limited, consumers' needs know no bounds. It is not surprising that we are also increasingly demanding more from our environment. It is therefore imperative that we make better use of our resources and reassess how we construe a product's lifecycle. Instead of a linear perspective, which typically follows a product's lifecycle from mining of raw materials to manufacturing, but then stops when products are trashed, we need to use a circular perspective, where we focus on the entire lifecycle of products, from not just manufacturing to usage, but also from usage to creation of new products through recycling. The focus of this dissertation is on understanding two important processes in the circular economy: that of usage and disposal. I focus on the role that consumers' product valuations play in these processes. In essay 1, I show that consumers value products made from recycled materials more than comparable regular products. I also document why this happens and demonstrate how this affects usage. In essay 2, I investigate the relationship between reuse and product disposal. The circular economy is based on what is now referred to as the 3R approach: reduce, reuse, and recycle. However, I show that consumers are more (vs. less) likely to trash products that they have used extensively (vs. rarely). This then leads to a conundrum: if we encourage consumers to reuse products extensively, it appears that they are more likely to trash them. It is therefore imperative that we understand this relationship better and find interventions to mitigate this negative relationship. / Doctor of Philosophy / The last few decades have seen an explosion in population growth and along with this growth we have also witnessed an increase in demand for products. To create a more sustainable world, it is imperative that we move towards a more circular economy, where we not only minimize waste, but also find ways to extract more use from our resources. One way to do this is to find ways to reuse products after they have reached the end of their lifecycle. The focus of this dissertation is on understanding two important processes in the circular economy: that of usage and disposal (essentially addressing questions about what to do with products that we no longer have a need for). I primarily focus on the role that consumers' product valuations play in influencing these processes. In essay 1, I study how consumers feel about products made from recycled materials. I find that consumers are willing to pay more for products made from recycled materials compared with products made from regular raw materials. The higher willingness to pay emerges because consumers value the process that transforms the recycled materials into brand new products. I also show that this valuation impacts use: consumers use products made from recycled materials more judiciously. In essay 2, I investigate the relationship between product usage and disposal. I find that when consumers use a product more extensively, they are more likely to trash the product compared with other forms of reuse, such as, disposing in the recycling bin, giving it to others, or reselling it. This effect emerges because when consumers use a product more frequently, they believe that the product has less value remaining for others, and a product that confers lower value to others should be trashed.

The study aims to explore some antecedents to products usage and its consequences in which a series of process of experiential evaluation is involved to center on the role of customer¡¦s experiential value after using personal computer. The conceptual model in this study is to extend the Use-Diffusion Model proposed by Shih and Venkatesh (2004) by including the framework of customer value based on Holbrook (1994). The survey method was employed in this study in which questionnaire was for data collection. The total sample size of 1114 was used in statistical analysis. According to the analytical results, we not only confirm the relationships suggested in the Use-Diffusion literature but also find the mediating effect of customer experiential value. That is, the evaluation of after-use experience leads to customer experiential value that in turn affects partially the customer intention of the sequential adoption of new technology. Besides contributing to the field of consumer research, the research findings in this study may provide insightful information that, we believe, helps managers to understand their incumbent customers.

abstract: This dissertation uncovers the negative aspects of aesthetics by examining when and how enhanced product and payment aesthetics can backfire and lead to unfavorable consumer responses. The first essay examines the downstream effects of nondurable product aesthetics on usage behavior and consumption enjoyment. Across a series of field and lab experiments, I document an inhibiting effect of aesthetics on consumption. I find that highly aesthetic products elicit greater inferences of effort in their creation, and that people have an intrinsic appreciation for such effort. Because the consumption process indirectly destroys the effort originally invested to make the product beautiful, people reduce consumption of such products because usage would involve destroying something they naturally appreciate. Further, I show that in cases where individuals do consume a beautiful product, they exhibit lower consumption enjoyment. These negative post-consumption outcomes are driven in parallel by concerns over having actually destroyed the effort that made the product beautiful as well as the decrements in beauty that become visible when aesthetic products are made less attractive through consumption. The second essay investigates how the aesthetics and design of a payment (e.g., beautiful gift card packaging) can influence the purchase experience. Three field and lab experiments reveal the negative impact of beautified payments on spending and purchase satisfaction, particularly in situations where usage involves compromising its aesthetic appeal. Specifically, when consumers must damage a payment’s appearance before using it (e.g., ripping gift card packaging), they are less likely to use that payment, and experience lower purchase satisfaction when they do, an effect driven by the pain of payment. In doing so, I identify aesthetics as a novel antecedent to the pain of payment that carries important consequences for spending behavior, purchase satisfaction, and the overall customer experience. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2018

Attitudes of users towards new Information Technology products have been the matters of consumer research studies. Factors that affect user behavior in terms of IT acceptance have been modeled by different researchers with an attempt to predict the actual usage. This study aims to analyze these factors and their significance in military context. One of the robust models, namely Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) is used as the study model with required modifications in order to augment its compatibility. Therefore an exploratory survey study is conducted within the target user group of two rugged mobile computers with the participation of 37 Turkish sergeants. The study used both qualitative and quantitative instruments. The results showed that, for military products, users acceptance criteria mainly concentrate on the performance of the new product and its relative ease of use.

Although COO has been a topic of central interest in international marketing research, most work has focused on consumers in western countries. The concept of product usage experience, though often implied in COO research, has yet to be investigated more directly and explicitly. The goal of the study is to examine the relationships among COO perceptions, product usage experience and purchase intention among Chinese consumers. The study examined two kinds of product usage experiences (usage variety and frequency) pertaining to products (products in general and laptop computers in specific) made in two countries (America and China). Empirical data gathered from a survey were used to test two sets of research hypotheses pertaining to America and China respectively. The results supported the hypothesized interactions between COO ratings and product usage experiences in predicting purchase intention of American products among Chinese consumers. The interactions between COO ratings and usage experience in predicting purchase intention of Chinese products among Chinese consumers were partially supported.