Universität zu Köln

Fillmann, Johannes ORCID: 0009-0000-7628-0414, Völckner, Franziska ORCID: 0000-0003-4835-6199, Imschloss, Monika ORCID: 0000-0001-8582-5965 and Schulz, Michael ORCID: 0000-0001-8351-4952 (2025). Transforming trash into treasure: Why consumers like personalized upcycling. International Journal of Research in Marketing. pp. 1-18. Elsevier. ISSN 0167-8116

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Abstract

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.

Item Type:	Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Fillmann, Johannes UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7628-0414 UNSPECIFIED Völckner, Franziska UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4835-6199 UNSPECIFIED Imschloss, Monika UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8582-5965 UNSPECIFIED Schulz, Michael UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8351-4952 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-810195
Identification Number:	10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.09.005
Journal or Publication Title:	International Journal of Research in Marketing
Page Range:	pp. 1-18
Number of Pages:	18
Date:	17 September 2025
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0167-8116
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences > Business Administration > Marketing > Professorship for Business Administration, Marketing and Brand Management
Subjects:	Economics Management and auxiliary services
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Personalized upcycling ; Trait activation ; Pro-environmental consumer behavior ; Waste reuse ; Circular economy English
['eprint_fieldname_oa_funders' not defined]:	Publikationsfonds UzK
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/81019