Understanding consumers' willingness to pay for circular products: A multiple model-comparison approach

The circular economy involves a shift from the previous linear production to the closed-loop production, leading to potential circular products that can be reused or recycled. Regarding the upcoming circular products, it is essential to understand the consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for circular products beforehand. Previous studies have proposed many common theoretical models to predict consumers' WTP for circular products. Currently, it is more significant to explore the effectiveness of these common theoretical models in this field. This study employed a mixed methods design to systematically review and comparatively analyze common theoretical models in the field of consumers' WTP for circular products. We applied the meta-analytic structural equation modeling to integrate the results of past studies to evaluate the explanatory power and rationality of common theoretical models. The results suggested that the theory of consumption values with an explanatory power R2 of 66.7 % had the most predictive power for consumers' WTP for circular products. There is the strongest positive correlation between personal norms and WTP. The findings have improved the clarity of the theory and the predictiveness and accuracy of common theories in consumers' WTP for circular products.