TY - JOUR

T1 - Transforming trash into treasure

T2 - Why consumers like personalized upcycling

AU - Fillmann, Johannes

AU - Völckner, Franziska

AU - Imschloss, Monika

AU - Schulz, Michael

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors.

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - This research investigates consumer reactions to personalized upcycling, which refers to a novel form of commercial upcycling whereby a company transforms a consumer’s own waste materials into an upcycled product for the same consumer (e.g., transforming a consumer’s old jeans into a weekend bag for them). A field study and six controlled experiments show that personalized upcycling elicits more positive consumer reactions compared to made-to-stock upcycling (i.e., upcycled products made from waste materials that a company generates itself or receives from its suppliers) and other green products, such as recycled products or secondhand products. This effect occurs because consumers already own the waste materials (i.e., what is mine) before they are transformed into a personalized upcycled product for them, which helps them see the trait of environmental consciousness embodied by personalized upcycled products in themselves (i.e., what is me)—referred to as pro-environmental activation. Finally, we investigate a socially important downstream consequence of personalized upcycling and demonstrate that the higher level of pro-environmental activation that consumers derive from personalized upcycling leads to enhanced pro-environmental behavior in areas beyond the product in question.

AB - This research investigates consumer reactions to personalized upcycling, which refers to a novel form of commercial upcycling whereby a company transforms a consumer’s own waste materials into an upcycled product for the same consumer (e.g., transforming a consumer’s old jeans into a weekend bag for them). A field study and six controlled experiments show that personalized upcycling elicits more positive consumer reactions compared to made-to-stock upcycling (i.e., upcycled products made from waste materials that a company generates itself or receives from its suppliers) and other green products, such as recycled products or secondhand products. This effect occurs because consumers already own the waste materials (i.e., what is mine) before they are transformed into a personalized upcycled product for them, which helps them see the trait of environmental consciousness embodied by personalized upcycled products in themselves (i.e., what is me)—referred to as pro-environmental activation. Finally, we investigate a socially important downstream consequence of personalized upcycling and demonstrate that the higher level of pro-environmental activation that consumers derive from personalized upcycling leads to enhanced pro-environmental behavior in areas beyond the product in question.

KW - Circular economy

KW - Personalized upcycling

KW - Pro-environmental consumer behavior

KW - Trait activation

KW - Waste reuse

KW - Management studies

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105024963515

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.09.005

DO - 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.09.005

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:105024963515

JO - International Journal of Research in Marketing

JF - International Journal of Research in Marketing

SN - 0167-8116

ER -