Psychology of Disposal and its Influence on Consumer Behavior

Abstract

Consumption is a multi-stage process encompassing acquisition, usage, and disposal, and the issues surrounding consumers' disposal are as complex and far-reaching as those of acquisition and usage. Yet research on disposal remains limited, making it imperative to study related issues not only to offer a richer perspective on disposal but also because mindless disposal has contributed to dire environmental and social problems. My dissertation aims to enhance the understanding of disposal by illuminating the psychology behind it, providing insights into how consumers conceptualize disposal and how this influences decision-making at various consumption stages. Chapters 1 and 2 consolidate past research on disposal and provide an integrative framework to help researchers make novel predictions and ask new questions. This framework incorporates ways in which disposal exerts influence across the entire consumption cycle and identifies illustrative questions that can guide the ongoing development of disposal research. This presents an opportunity for consumer research to claim ownership in a domain that is, by definition, a key aspect of consumption. Chapter 3 then demonstrates an example of how the integrative framework can be implemented to broaden the disposal literature by investigating how referencing disposal as part of product information (i.e., disposal reference) influences consumers' product evaluations at purchase. Across eight studies, I show that highlighting disposal at the point of product acquisition negatively impacts consumers' product evaluations by affecting perceptions of the product's wastefulness. I also demonstrate that morality underlies this disposal reference effect. Referencing disposal imbues the product with moral significance, an effect amplified among consumers with a strong moral identity. In documenting a novel effect of considering disposal on product evaluations at purchase, these findings advance our understanding of disposal, wastefulness, and morality. In the concluding chapter, I delineate disposal’s substantive import and discuss further research directions on disposal-related phenomena and areas of inquiry. Overall, my dissertation theoretically and empirically expands our understanding of disposal while highlighting its importance across consumers, businesses, society, and the ecosystem.