Contribution of online trading of used goods to resource efficiency : an empirical study of eBay users
- This paper discusses the sustainability impact (contribution to sustainability, reduction of adverse environmental impacts) of online second-hand trading. A survey of eBay users shows that a relationship between the trading of used goods and the protection of natural resources is hardly realized. Secondly, the environmental motivation and the willingness to act in a sustainable manner differ widely between groups of consumers. Given these results from a user perspective, the paper tries to find some objective hints of online second-hand trading’s environmental impact. The greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the energy used for the trading transactions seem to be considerably lower than the emissions due to the (avoided) production of new goods. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for second-hand trade and consumer policy. Information about the sustainability benefits of purchasing second-hand goods should be included in general consumer information, and arguments for changes in behavior should be targeted to different groups of consumers. Keywords: online marketplaces; online auctions; consumer; electronic commerce; used products; second-hand market; sustainable consumption
Author: | Jens Clausen, Birgit Blättel-MinkORCiDGND, Lorenz Erdmann, Christine Henseling |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30-113094 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3390/su2061810 |
ISSN: | 2071-1050 |
Parent Title (English): | Sustainability |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Place of publication: | Basel |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2011/09/05 |
Year of first Publication: | 2010 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2011/09/05 |
Tag: | consumer; electronic commerce; online auctions; online marketplaces; second-hand market; sustainable consumption; used products |
Volume: | 2 |
Issue: | 6 |
Page Number: | 22 |
First Page: | 1810 |
Last Page: | 1830 |
Note: | © 2010 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an Open Access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
Source: | Sustainability 2010, 2, 1810-1831; doi: 10.3390/su2061810 |
HeBIS-PPN: | 274740656 |
Institutes: | Gesellschaftswissenschaften / Gesellschaftswissenschaften |
Wissenschaftliche Zentren und koordinierte Programme / Institut für Wirtschaft, Arbeit, und Kultur (IWAK) | |
Wissenschaftliche Zentren und koordinierte Programme / Cornelia Goethe Centrum für Frauenstudien und die Erforschung der Geschlechterverhältnisse (CGC) | |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 33 Wirtschaft / 330 Wirtschaft |
Sammlungen: | Universitätspublikationen |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - Namensnennung 3.0 |