Research in consumer behavior has focused predominantly on how consumers make purchase decisions. However, much less attention has been directed toward examining post-purchase behaviors. In this dissertation, I examine how ownership affects individuals' disposal decisions of their current possessions. In essay 1, I investigate how differences in duration of ownership affect consumers' food waste behaviors. I demonstrate that the same food products are more likely to be wasted as well as wasted more of when they are owned for a longer duration (vs. purchased more recently). I also delineate how this wastage can be reduced. In essay 2, I explore how a specific post-ownership experience, evaluations (positive vs. negative), influences consumers' recycling behaviors, even when these evaluations (e.g., taste of a drink) do not affect recyclability (e.g., of the bottle). I demonstrate that consumers will be more likely to recycle products associated with positive (vs. negative) evaluations, and, thus, will be more likely to recycle a drink's bottle when the taste is evaluated more positively. / Doctor of Philosophy / When thinking about the field of consumer behavior, most might believe it to involve studying how consumers evaluate products and make purchase decisions. Very few might believe that studying post-purchase behaviors also falls within the realm of consumer behavior. Unfortunately, these beliefs are quite common, and are not held by lay people alone. In fact, in the past, even researchers thought of consumer research as being synonymous with buyer behavior. However, researchers now recognize that consumer behavior is a dynamic ongoing process, which does not just start and end with product purchase. In this dissertation, I focus on one type of consumers' post-purchase behavior, disposal decisions. Specifically, I look at how ownership affects individuals' disposal decisions of their current possessions.
In essay 1, I focus on consumers' food waste behavior. I study how differences in how long they have owned a food product (duration-of-ownership) affect their food evaluations as well as food waste behavior. I find that even when two food products are otherwise identical (i.e., same manufacturing/expiration dates, not expired, previously unopened), consumers are more likely to waste as well as waste more of the one purchased earlier (a longer duration-of-ownership) than that purchased more recently (a shorter duration-of-ownership). I also suggest one strategy to help reduce this food wastage.
In essay 2, I focus on consumers' recycling behavior. I study how product evaluations affect consumers' recycling decisions. I find that even when these evaluations (e.g., taste of a drink) have nothing to do with the container (e.g., bottle of the drink), consumers are more likely to recycle the drink's bottle when they like the taste than when they do not like the taste of the drink.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/109641 |
| Date | 11 April 2022 |
| Creators | Xie, Jieru |
| Contributors | Marketing, Bagchi, Rajesh, Herr, Paul Michael, Chaxel, Anne-Sophie, May, Frank Dominick, Pandelaere, Mario |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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