Psychology behind Recycled Goods

Spencer Schillerstrom                                                                                                                                        1/14/2015

Blog 7: Psychology behind Recycled Goods

            While reading MacBride’s section on the Utility Plastics Corporation of Brooklyn’s project to transform residential recycled plastics into traffic cones and police barricades, I could not help but wonder why it failed. Here was a project that MacBride herself stated as a 'sufficient solution' to our current counterproductive recycling system, yet due to lack of purchasing support, the entire firm went under. In my eyes, it seems like it would be very beneficial to state and city agencies in New York to support a zero waste reuse program. Utility Plastics supplied a program that put “more than 100 people back to work” (MacBride) in a city that has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs in the last decade (not to mention it’s great for the environment). In addition, the recycled products created by the company earned favorable reviews. It doesn't add up! Why is the recycled materials market so depressed if it contains so many benefits?

            Lien-Ti Bei and Eithel M. Simpson from Purdue University set out to ask this very question. To begin their research, the two decided to investigate the reasons for purchasing decisions based on Thaler’s acquisition-transaction utility theory. This theory suggests that “consumers’ purchase probabilities depend on received value compared to the purchased cost.” (Bei and Eithel) In other words, when people make decision to buy certain products over others, they buy what they think has the value of its market price.

            To find out what determines value in a citizen’ mind, the two researchers asked three rounds of questions to a group of college students and household owning citizens. The questions asked included how often they bought recycled goods, how much they care about the environment, and about what they think price ranges should be for recycled goods. After data was gathered, the answers were very clear as to what the problems and solutions to the depressed market were.

            Their research clearly showed that people do care about the environment. One main conclusion of the study was that consumers would hold recycled goods at a higher value if they were aware of the environmental benefits from buying recycled goods. As a result, manufacturers and retailers should emphasize the importance of the current climate issue and inform the public of the good in buying recycled products. This gives buyers the feeling that they are positively contributing to a solution. In turn, this action would raise the product’s value. Consumers are also often times wary of the quality of recycled products. Value of these goods is lowered because of this. In order to increase purchasing probability, manufacturers and retailers should ensure that the quality of the recycled good is at least equal to the virgin product.

            Today’s society has been brainwashed into thinking that growth and expendability is a sign of power and wealth. This is far from true. In order to set our society on the right track, we must find a way to encourage the recycled goods market. Through a psychological examination of purchasing decisions, Lien-Ti Bei and Eithel M. Simpson have found a productive solution. By raising value of recycled goods though marketing strategies that emphasize quality and environmental good, today’s world can create a healthy recycled materials market.