Pro-Circular Consumer Profile: An Approach to Their Identification and Characterization Based on the Components of the Value-Belief-Norm Theory

Abstract

Circular economies have focused on managing organizations and changes in production and consumption models that lead to the better use of resources, generating the least waste. These changes toward new circular models will only be possible if consumers become involved through their behavior. In this sense, the first step is to understand who pro-circular consumers are and what characterizes them. Thus, this exploratory study aims to profile pro-circular consumers based on their behaviors and to characterize them based on the components of the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory. Using survey data of a representative sample of 417 participants in the city of Medellín (Colombia), as well as cluster and multiple correspondence analyses, this study identified some pro-circular consumer profiles, mainly characterized by factors like moral norms and perceived consumer effectiveness. Our results suggest that even when consumers without habitual behaviors toward circularity exist, those who engage in them do so because they consider it the right thing to do and because they believe that their pro-circular action is effective for solving environmental problems. On the contrary, green consumption values, beliefs about awareness and responsibility toward the environment, and sociodemographic factors do not seem to be associated with and characterize this type of consumer.