Consumer Disposal Behaviour of Durable and Semi-Durable Products: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

Abstract

Waste generation has become a global issue, especially for certain product categories. Consumers' disposal practices contribute greatly to this problem. Despite growing interest in this topic, there is a lack of systematic and comprehensive reviews, leading to fragmented knowledge on consumer product disposal. Previous reviews include a limited number of consumer products, and there has been little examination of theoretical development in the existing literature. While some scholars take the view that disposal should be encouraged by businesses to increase subsequent purchases, we adopt the view that the aim is to decrease waste overall, which is in line with a circular economy approach. Recommendations to drive a circular economy are provided via a systematic literature review (SLR) of disposal, with 64 articles identified utilising the Theory–Context–Characteristics–Methods (TCCM) framework and the SPAR-4-SLR protocol. We provide a comprehensive picture of consumer disposal behaviour research, for both durable and semi-durable goods, and a research agenda to guide future research on the disposal of these product types. We synthesise the literature to provide a typology of circular and non-circular disposal methods, a model of the consumer disposal process, a framework of antecedents and outcomes of product disposal and a definition of disposal that overcomes the inconsistencies identified in the review of the extant literature.