What Makes Consumers Buy Pre-Owned Products? Drivers of Re-Commerce in Selected Product Categories
(A2025-125723)

AUTHORS

Laurin Krempel, Saarland University; Bastian Popp, Saarland University; Florian Weyerhäuser, Saarland University

ABSTRACT

In times of economic challenges for consumers and a general trend towards sustainability, retailers face an increasing demand for pre-owned products. For various product categories, such as electronics, books, and apparel, this development helps save resources and retailers implement re-commerce to contribute to the circular economy. We contribute to emerging research on the phenomenon of re-commerce by overcoming the general view of investigating green purchasing behaviour in general and by considering and comparing different product categories in the online environment. Our empirical study among German consumers shows that consumers' purchasing motivations are manifold and vary across product categories. While price fairness is the most crucial factor for purchasing pre-owned electronics, hedonic motivation plays a decisive role in apparel, and sustainability in the book sector. Retailers should address the different buying motives in the product categories to maximise their sales.