Introduction

United Nations Industrial Development Organization [80] states that the circular economy (CE) encourages companies to produce sustainable products (e.g., new products with used parts). CE is a new philosophy based on several principles, such as designing out waste, building resilience through diversity, and relying on renewable energy [52]. Take-back legislations in many developed countries, such as the European Union’s Waste Legislation on packaging and packaging waste [23], compels manufacturers to collect returned or end-of-life products and reuse them with various strategies to close material loops (e.g., remanufacturing, recycling, and refurbishing).

Among CE approaches, remanufacturing is a product recovery process [82] which includes replacing components or reprocessing used parts of a product [8]. Remanufacturing aims to decrease the number of returned products by repairing or updating used products with new parts to improve their quality to the standards of a new product. Remanufacturing helps companies reduce costs (e.g., disposal and production costs), provide cheap resources, and decrease the amount of waste. It also has considerable advantages, such as reaching new customer groups (e.g., environmentally concerned consumers) and creating a positive company image toward its target market. Furthermore, companies may benefit from insights into CE adoption in emerging economies [57]. Although remanufacturing provides considerable strategic advantages for companies, several factors may negatively affect these advantages.

For instance, consumers’ willingness to purchase remanufactured products (RPs) is lower compared to new products [4], and RPs may reduce the sales of new products and create cannibalism because it is a low-price alternative [8]. A remanufactured product may be considered a low-quality version of the original product by customers, or customers may be suspicious about the performance of the RPs [1, 43]. These factors may create ambiguity for managers to remanufacture used products and may negatively affect consumer behavior toward RPs. Although consumer behavior toward RPs is a relatively new research area, it is getting more attention from academics and practitioners.

The current study contributes to the existing literature in the following ways. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first comprehensive review of consumer behavior toward RPs. The literature lacks a detailed and comprehensive systematic review of related studies on consumer behavior toward RPs. Paul et al. [60] note that another systematic review should be written when existing systematic reviews have huge gaps or shortcomings. Although several literature reviews attempt to investigate the topic, these reviews have some drawbacks. For example, Camacho-Otero et al. [12] mainly focus on the current scientific work on the circular economy and circular solutions addressing consumption. Their effort is to reveal the factors behind the circular solutions. Therefore, the study does not present a detailed review of consumer behavior toward RPs. Another attempt by Schallehn et al. [68] reviews the customer experience related to used products. Their main aim is to examine product-service systems related to used products via a category system consisting of seven different factors and capture the various facets of customer experience creation toward second-hand, remanufactured, and rented products. However, they ignore many studies about consumer behavior toward RPs. Apart from the earlier attempts, an editorial note about the papers published in a special issue where Govindan et al. [28] present a review of marketing issues for RPs through exploring various marketing strategies, consumer behaviors, pricing, and pricing and branding decisions, and optimized green transportation. Consumer behavior toward RPs is barely mentioned in a subsection of this study. Singhal et al. [72] investigate factors influencing consumers’ behavior toward RPs with meta-analysis. The meta-analysis, applied to only ten articles, reveals relationships among several aspects of purchasing intention. However, the scope of the study is considerably limited and the authors didn’t suggest any theories or constructs that can be implemented into new studies. Lastly, Bigliardi et al. [10] examine customers’ purchase intention toward recycled products. Although the authors inform that the terms of recycling, remanufacturing, and refurbishing have been used interchangeably, these recovery options differ for customer evaluation. Furthermore, the study focuses on a limited number of constructs and theories. However, several factors and methodologies considered on the consumer behavior toward RPs have been ignored by this work. Table 1 reveals that there is a need for a comprehensive systematic review.

Table 1 Summary of review papers about the consumer behavior toward RPs
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Secondly, although the remanufacturing process and remanufactured products are not new phenomena, consumer behavior toward remanufactured products is an important issue that should be examined to reveal the potential of remanufactured products for gaining market share in a CE-based business environment. Therefore, we present a comprehensive review of consumer behavior toward remanufactured products considering both descriptive and detailed analysis. This systematic review seeks to answer the following questions, (1) What do we know about the literature on remanufactured products from a consumer perspective? (2) Where should the research on consumer behavior toward RPs be heading? (3) Which theories, context, characteristics, and methodology are used to explain the purchase behavior of RPs?

Thirdly, this study is the first attempt to employ the theory, context, characteristics, and methodology (TCCM) framework in the related literature [61]. The proposed framework is a valuable tool to identify theories used in the related literature (theory); the origin country of the research and the various types of remanufactured products (context); construct types and the relationship among them (characteristic); and quantitative/qualitative based methods (methodology). Furthermore, we suggest several agendas for future research that attempt to enrich the related literature by considering new theories and methodologies.

This study aims to reveal the factors behind consumer behavior toward RPs by reviewing articles in the related literature. The study is structured as follows. Section 2 explains the methodology of the systematic review. Section 3 gives the evolution of the research and examines the theoretical foundations, context, characteristics concerning constructs and relationships in the papers, and the methodology of the articles. Section 4 gives a general discussion, and Section 5 suggests future research directions. The last section gives the conclusion.

Methodology

This study follows a standard procedure employed in systematic literature reviews (SLRs). SLRs aim to identify, determine, and arrange themes of a specific topic considering research questions while providing a theoretical and substantial contribution to the related literature [67]. SLRs are highly beneficial for examining the research gaps and offering future research directions [58]. Furthermore, many authors adopt SLRs in the marketing literature [7, 17, 33, 48]. We designed our systematic review process according to the Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) protocol [60], as presented in Fig. 1. SPAR-4-SLR provides state-of-the-art insights and agendas to advance knowledge in the related literature. The considered protocol should be arranged based on logical and pragmatic rationales, and stages and substages should be transparently reported. We summarized all data in an Excel file.

Fig. 1
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Summary of the systematic review process (The SPAR-4-SLR protocol)

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Different types of systematic reviews aim for theory development, such as domain-based, structured, framework-based, hybrid, theory-based, meta-analytical reviews, or reviews [58]. We benefited from the theory, context, characteristics, and method (TCCM) framework developed by Paul & Rosado-Serrano [61] while conducting the systematic literature review in our research. Many authors adapted the TCCM framework in previous review studies on various marketing-related topics [e.g., 7, 11, 33, 48, 59, 61, 62, 71]. After explaining the evolution of the research, we followed the TCCM framework [61] for our systematic review. First, we examined the theoretical foundations (T) of the papers. Second, we revealed the context (C) of the papers. Third, we explained the characteristics (C) of the papers to demonstrate the studied constructs and the relationships between these constructs. Fourth, we examined the methodology (M) of the papers regarding research designs, sample sizes, and analyses. Furthermore, we developed future research suggestions based on the TCCM framework.

Findings

Table 2 represents bibliographic sources regarding consumer behavior toward RPs, and thus presents the evolution of the research. Paul et al. [60] indicate that a substantial body of work in that domain exists when there are at least 40 articles for review. We found that 53 papers were published regarding remanufacturing and consumer behavior. The most productive five journals have 43 percent (23 studies) of the papers. These journals are Journal of Cleaner Production, Sustainability, Business Strategy and the Environment, International Journal of Production Economics, and Resources, Conservation & Recycling, respectively.

Table 2 Bibliographic sources on remanufacturing and consumer behavior
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Figure 2 shows the growing interest in consumer behavior toward remanufacturing. Early studies were published in 2010, and, except for 2019, the interest in the related topic increased within the last four years.

Fig. 2
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Publication years of articles

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Table 3 presents the citation analysis of the articles. The most cited studies are Guide and Li [29], with 248 citations; Michaud and Llerena [53], with 164 citations; Abbey et al. [2], with 162 citations; Wang and Hazen [89], with 133 citations, and Hazen et al. (35) with 130 citations, respectively. Furthermore, Decision Sciences, Business Strategy and the Environment, Production and Operations Management, International Journal of Production Economics, and Business Strategy and the Environment are leading journals hosting the most cited studies in the related area.

Table 3 Sample of articles and their citations
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TCCM analysis of RP

Theoretical foundations(T)

The theory of planned behavior is mostly used theory (11 out of 53 studies) to understand consumer behavior toward RPs [38, 39, 41, 42, 65, 66, 73, 87, 88, 91, 97]. The remaining studies benefited from various theories, which are presented in detail.

The theory of planned behavior (TPB)

The theory has been widely applied to predict various behavior [6]. The theory of planned behavior [5] extends the Theory of Reasoned Action by adding perceived behavioral control. The theory indicates that behavioral intentions are determined by attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms [6]. Furthermore, intention affects behavior [6]. Intention refers to performing a given behavior [5]. Attitude toward a behavior is a function of behavioral beliefs [6]. Subjective norm defines the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior [5]. Perceived behavioral control shows the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior [5].

Theory of reasoned action

Three papers [19, 93, 95] have incorporated this theory into their studies. The theory of reasoned action [24] includes subjective norm, attitude, intention, and behavior variables.

Economic theory

Guide and Li [29] benefited from this theory to explain the drop in the price of a new product when a remanufactured product is a substitute for the new product. Economic theory indicates that a substitute will decrease the price of another item [76].

Pull–push-mooring theory of migration

Hazen et al. [35] used this theory in their study. The theory refers to the macroeconomic conditions that push or pull people to migrate elsewhere from their existing location and mooring factors consisting of micro-level conditions [35]. Hazen et al. [35] tried to explain why consumers intend to switch to a remanufactured product as a reason of positive (pull), negative (push), and micro-level (mooring) factors. They note price as a push factor, government incentives and environmental benefits as a pull factor, and attitude as a mooring factor.

Prospect theory

This theory characterizes cumulative uncertainties to predict individual choices [89]. Wang and Hazen [89] used this theory as an alternative to the utility theory, which may not be adequate to explain the consumer’s intention to purchase RPs due to risk and value factors.

Theory of perceived risk

Two studies noted that they benefited from this theory [18, 91]. Perceived risk refers to the uncertainties and expectations of losses with purchasing a product [64]. These risks may involve physical, performance, financial, time, resource, and social risks [91].

Ambiguity aversion theory

This theory underlines decision-makers preferring a known risk to an ambiguous risk [22]. Hazen et al. [36] benefited from this theory to reveal the effect of tolerance of ambiguity on the perception of RPs regarding quality or price.

Signaling theory

Three studies used this theory [20, 34, 92]. RPs involve many uncertainties for consumers; thereby, authors benefited from signaling theory to explain consumers’ concerns. Signaling theory posits that people benefit from signals to reduce uncertainties [92]. When consumers are uncertain about the quality of a remanufactured product, they look for signals such as warranty, brand, price, or seller’s reputation [20].

Utility theory, transaction cost theory, and market signal theory

Xu et al. [94] combined these theories to understand the willingness to purchase RPs. Xu et al. [94] benefit from utility theory to understand consumers’ preferences toward a remanufactured product, transaction cost theory to explain the costs of purchasing a remanufactured product, and market signal theory to understand how signals convey information on RPs.

Regulatory focus theory

Wang et al. [90] used this theory to understand consumers’ purchase decisions that align with environmental thoughts. The theory refers to fulfilling internal motivations such as feeling better about themselves through consumption. Chinen et al. [16] also used this theory to understand the effect of consumers’ environmental awareness and functionality orientation on the willingness to purchase RPs.

Cognitive dissonance theory

Wang and Kuah [86] benefited from this theory to understand the actions taken by consumers to minimize inconsistencies regarding their internal contradictions about the environment or their behavior.

Risky-choice theory

Abbey et al. [3] and Abbey et al.[4] preferred to use risky-choice theory and closed-loop supply chain research. Authors benefited from this theory to explain consumers’ risk preferences regarding purchase decisions, such as risk, ambiguity, and loss aversion.

Mental-model theory

Moosmayer et al. [55] benefited from this theory to understand RPs’ lower-quality perception. The theory refers to an interpretation of reality.

Stimulus–response model

Pisitsankkhakarn and Vassanadumrongdee [65] benefited from this model to extend the TPB model. The model represents the external environment's effect on consumers’ behavioral responses.

Context (C)

  Table 4 summarizes the context of articles investigated in the reviewed literature, including countries and remanufactured product types.

Table 4 The context of articles
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In this study, we employ The International Money Fund classification to distinguish two groups of countries according to their growing economic potentials, such as advanced and emerging markets. Studies in the literature primarily investigate consumer behavior toward RPs in emerging markets such as China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, India, Myanmar, Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, and South Korea. The top three studied emerging markets are China (20 studies), Indonesia (6 studies), and Thailand (5 studies). Furthermore, studies also examined the same concept in advanced markets such as the US, Sweden, Japan, the UK, Spain, Finland, Canada, France, and Germany. The top three studied advanced markets are the US (12 studies), the UK (3 studies), and Japan (2 studies).

Types of RPs also differed in the studies. The top three studied RPs are auto parts, electronic products, and mobile phones. The remanufactured product type is crucial as it affects the relationships between independent variables and consumer behavior toward RPs. For instance, consumers’ relative repulsion or disgust is low for technology products and high for personal care products [1].

Characteristics (C)

We examined constructs and relationships that constitute the characteristics. We categorized the variables used in the studies into themes such as consumer-related constructs, marketing mix-related constructs, and external environment-related constructs.

Consumer-related constructs

Consumer-related constructs measure psychological factors that directly or indirectly affect purchase intention toward remanufactured products. Table 5 represents the studies that use consumer-related constructs. Many studied consumer-related constructs are purchase intention (34 studies), perceived risk (27 studies), knowledge (20 studies), and attitude (16 studies).

Table 5 Consumer-related constructs
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Attitude, perceived behavioral control, purchase intention, and purchase behavior

These constructs are from the TPB model. Consumers’ attitude toward RPs positively affects the intention to purchase RPs [38, 39, 42, 73, 88, 91, 95, 97]. Two studies used attitude as a mediator, and one used attitude as a moderator. For instance, some studies used attitude as a mediator while testing the relationship between product knowledge and intention [84], perceived risk and intention [84, 91], and perceived benefit and intention [84, 91]. Furthermore, attitude is used as a moderator while testing the relationship between environmental benefits, new product prices, government incentives, and switching to RPs [35]. Moreover, perceived behavioral control positively affects the intention to purchase RPs [39, 65, 88, 91, 97].

However, purchase intention does not merely depend on perceived behavioral control or attitude, it may rely on other factors, such as perceived risk [91]. Thus, five studies state that they extend the TPB model. For instance, Wang et al. [91] added the variables of perceived benefit, product knowledge, and perceived. Wang et al. [87] added past experiences. Pisitsankkhakarn and Vassanadumrongdee [65] added product, price, place, and promotion variables. Kabel et al. [39] included marketing variables such as price advantages and expected product quality, and Zhang and Luo [97] added environmental concern and perceived risk into the TPB model.

We must note that only four studies investigated the relationship between intention and behavior. For instance, Khor and Hazen [42] found that the intention to purchase RPs positively affects the purchases of RPs, and energy-efficient products and negatively affects the purchase of new products. Wang et al. [88] found that purchase intention positively affects the actual purchase of RPs. Green purchase behavior positively affects switching intention to purchase RPs [63]. Moreover, hedonistic and utilitarian buying behavior affects the intention to buy RPs [25].

Only Wang et al. [87] preferred to differentiate TPB constructs. They differentiated subjective norm into normative and informational social influence, attitude into experiential and instrumental attitude, perceived behavioral control into product knowledge, perceived risk, and perceived inconvenience.

Perceived risk

Consumers may be hesitant to buy RPs as a reason for perceiving these products as too risky. This risk may be related to malfunctioning, safety, financial concerns, a possible repair, the possibility of being laughed at for using a remanufactured product, and risk resulting from a not-well-regulated market or bad reputation of remanufacturers [91]. Therefore, Wang et al. [91] state that performance, time, physical, financial, social, and resource risks are related to the perceived risks of a remanufactured product. Wahjudi et al. [85] note that there are financial (obsolescence concern, regulatory concern), quality (quality assurance, perceived quality, lack of OEM support), and social risks (prestige concern, subjective norm, public opinion, and trend concern). Chinen and Matsumoto [15] considered only physical, financial, performance, and time risks.

Perceived risk negatively affects the attitude toward RPs [39, 73, 84, 87, 91, 97] and intention to purchase RPs [15, 18, 50, 51, 74, 87, 89, 95, 97].

Abbey et al. [3] found that the perceived probability of cosmetic and functionality defects negatively affects perceived quality and purchase likelihood. Perceived functional risk negatively affects intention [19, 86]. Ambiguity tolerance positively affects perceived quality and willingness to pay [36]. Quality risk negatively affects the willingness to pay for RPs [14]. Moreover, one of the reasons that consumers don’t buy RPs is because these products have lower reliability [43].

Perceived risk is also used as a mediator. Confente et al. [18] state that perceived risk mediates the relationship between product type (remanufactured vs. new) and purchase intention from a retailer, such that for RPs, purchase intention from a retailer is lower owing to higher perceived risk.

Knowledge

Consumers' purchase intention may differ in each country according to their knowledge about RPs and/or the environmental contribution of these products. Therefore, product knowledge or perceived knowledge is another biggest concern. RPs may be considered second-hand or dirty products for most consumers rather than environmental-friendly products if consumers are ill-informed [42]. Furthermore, perceived knowledge of RPs differs among developing countries [51] and advanced countries [49]. Product knowledge positively affects attitude [73, 84, 91], purchase intention [50, 51, 54, 73, 84, 87], and perceived benefit [15]. Moreover, product knowledge negatively affects perceived risk [91] and directly influences demand risk [41]. On the contrary, Chinen and Matsumoto [15] couldn’t find a significant relationship between product knowledge and perceived risk. Moreover, Wang et al. [91] found that product knowledge negatively influences purchase intention.

Product knowledge may include cost knowledge, green knowledge, quality knowledge [89], knowledge of price, warranty, performance, features [49], possible damages, the proportion of remanufactured components, reason for discarding, results of performance tests [81], knowledge of product history [92] or knowledge of remanufacture and remarket processes [92]. Cost knowledge positively affects perceived value and negatively affects perceived risk [89]. Green knowledge positively affects perceived value [89] and intention to purchase RPs [86]. Similarly, information including energy-saving, material-saving, and emission reduction positively affects perceived green value and perceived trust [90]. Environmental knowledge positively affects environmental concerns [39]. But, Michaud and Llerena [53] could not find a significant relationship between informing consumers about the environmental benefits of remanufacturing and willingness to pay for RPs. Quality knowledge positively affects perceived value and negatively affects perceived risk [89]. Gaining knowledge of the product history positively influences attitude [92]. Gaining knowledge of remanufacture and remarketing processes positively influence attitude [92]. Moreover, product knowledge partially mediates the relationship between product attributes, advertisement, and intention to purchase RPs [66].

Trust

One of the reasons for not purchasing RPs is that consumers don’t trust the remanufacturing process [43]. However, trust in certified RPs positively affects purchase intention [15]. Product trust partially mediates the relationship between product attributes, advertisement, and intention to purchase RPs [66].

Awareness

Consumers’ awareness of RPs [86] and awareness of green benefits in RPs positively affect purchase intention [19]. Environmental awareness positively influences willingness to pay for/purchase RPs [14, 16] and functionality orientation. However, Chen et al. [13] couldn’t find a significant relationship between awareness of remanufacturing, awareness of new products, and willingness to purchase RPs. Moreover, Singhal et al. [73] couldn’t find a significant relationship between green awareness and purchase intention. Moosmayer et al. [55] found that value-oriented consumers have reduced environmental awareness and choose RPs for their functional values.

Concern

Kuah and Wang [43] reported that environmental concern, such as preserving future resources, is one reason for purchasing RPs. Zhang and Luo [97] found that environmental concern positively affects attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. However, Kabel et al. [39] couldn’t find a significant relationship between environmental concern and attitude toward RPs. Furthermore, Shen et al. [69] reported that consumers’ concern over sustainable fashion production and remanufacturing has reduced since 2006. Moreover, consumers may be hesitant to purchase a remanufactured product due to their concern about face issue which represents the desire to be recognized by other people [14].

Consciousness

Consumers who have environmental consciousness express interest in purchasing RPs [19, 25]. Environmental consciousness also increases the awareness of consumers regarding the green benefits of RPs [19]. When consumers prioritize environmental protection, they intend to purchase remanufactured functional products [13]. However, three studies [20, 74, 86] couldn’t find a positive and significant relationship between environmental consciousness and purchase intention.

Price consciousness positively affects purchase intention [50]. However, price consciousness can differ among countries. For instance, US consumers are more price-conscious than Japanese consumers [49].

Status-conscious consumers intend to purchase RPs when they have more green knowledge of these products [86]. Value-conscious consumers are more likely to purchase RPs [86], and if they perceive these products as green, this relationship is strengthened [19, 86]. Status consciousness weakens the likelihood that consumers aware of their green benefits will purchase RPs [19]. Moreover, face-consciousness positively affects purchase intention [95].

Brand-newness preferences

Preference for brand-new products is one of the reasons for not buying RPs [43]. Old product preferences affect consumers’ willingness to purchase RPs [14]. When consumers attach importance to the old and new, their willingness to purchase remanufactured hedonistic products becomes lower [13].

Consumer types

“Only new will do consumers” will purchase only new products rather than RPs [1]. Green consumers find RPs more attractive [2]. However, Abbey et al. [1] found that green consumers prefer new products. Furthermore, the functionality orientation of consumers mediates the relationship between environmental awareness and the willingness to purchase RPs [16].

Consumer familiarity

Consumer familiarity refers to knowledge and past experiences regarding RPs. Wahjudi et al. [85] indicate that this construct is vital in shaping purchase intention. Consumer familiarity positively affects attitude and negatively affects intention to purchase RPs [88].

Past experiences

Past experiences are one reason to buy RPs [43] and positively affect the intention to purchase RPs [13, 87]. However, this relationship is affirmed only for functional products by Chen et al. [13]’s study.

Marketing mix-related constructs

Marketing mix-related constructs focus on how product, price, place, and promotion affect consumer behavior. Market strategy positively affects the intention to purchase RPs [73]. However, Jimenez-Parra et al. [38] found that marketing mix variables negatively affect the intention to purchase RPs. But they only considered purchasing online, RP design, brand reputation, and availability in conventional distribution channels, even though there are various aspects such as quality, knowledge, advertisements, price discounts, etc., regarding the marketing-mix related constructs. Business models like buying vs. rental also affect purchase intention [44]. The reviewed papers show us that the most studied marketing-mix-related construct is product. Others are price, place, and promotion. Table 6 represents the marketing mix-related constructs.

Table 6 Marketing mix-related constructs
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Product

Product positively affects attitude toward RPs [65]. Many studied product-related constructs are attributes (17 studies), quality (16 studies), and benefits (12 studies).

Buying vs. renting RPs affect consumers’ purchase intention [44].

Remanufacturer and original equipment manufacturers' (OEM) reputations motivate consumers to purchase RPs [81]. However, Michaud and Llerena [53] couldn’t find a significant relationship between the identity of the remanufacturer (OEM or independent firm) and willingness to pay for RPs.

Product quality is important regarding RPs [65]. Perceptions toward the quality of a remanufactured product may stem from a perceived cosmetic or functional defect [3]. Ten studies examined perceived quality. Abbey et al. [1] showed with their experiments on thousands of consumers that quality perceptions are the most important factor affecting interest in RPs. Therefore, perceived quality positively affects the attractiveness of RPs [2]. Even though RPs are produced as good as new, consumers perceive these products as having lower quality and less reliability [1, 43]. Hazen et al. [34] state that the perceived quality of RPs consists of features, lifespan, performance, and serviceability. Furthermore, consumers in developing countries are likely to perceive the product quality in advanced countries as superior to that in developing countries [51]. Moreover, the perceived quality of new products partially mediates the effect between the similarity of RPs and the purchase intention of new products [46].

Perceived quality of RPs positively affects purchase likelihood [3], willingness to pay [3, 36], and intention to purchase RPs [19, 34, 86]. Expected product quality positively affects attitude toward RPs [39]. Moreover, the perceived quality of new products has a mediating effect between the similarity of RPs and the purchase intention of new products [46].

Perceived value positively influences the intention to purchase RPs [74, 89]. Perceived value moderates the effect of price on the likelihood of purchasing an RP [77]. Moreover, perceived green value positively affects the intention to purchase RPs [90].

Environmental values affect the intention to purchase RPs [66]. Environmental values also partially mediate the relationship between product attributes, advertisement, and intention to purchase RPs [66]. Overall, individual values and attitudes remain important in shaping consumer behavior toward RPs [25].

Perceived benefits may constitute environmental (eco-consciousness, natural resources concern), financial (affordable price, market competition), quality (upgraded specification, perceived quality, quality assurance, product warranty), and social benefits (social expectation) [85]. Wahjudi et al. [84] used perceived benefit as an independent variable. Perceived benefit positively affects attitude toward RPs [84, 91] and intention to purchase RPs [15, 50, 51, 54, 84]. Personal benefits positively affect attitude and intention [73]. Moreover, product knowledge positively affects perceived benefit [15].

Product attributes positively affect the intention to purchase RPs [66]. The level of motivations toward purchasing RPs, such as low prices and the latest technology, positively affects purchase intention [38]. RP attractiveness is negatively affected by negative attribute perceptions of RPs such as dirty, disgusting, and unattractive [2], and positively affected by green attribute perceptions of RPs [2]. Repulsion or disgust effect can vary by product category. For instance, consumers’ relative repulsion or disgust is low for technology products, moderate for household products, and high for personal care products [1]. The proportion of remanufactured components in a product doesn’t influence consumers’ willingness to pay for RPs [53]. Moreover, product type (remanufactured vs. new) positively influences perceived risk [18]. The similarity between RPs and new products negatively affects the purchase intention of new products [46].

Warranty and value-added services motivate people to buy RPs [81]. The nature of the product, such as longevity or the remanufacturing process, is important for the purchase decision [25]. The functional ability of RPs positively affects the willingness to purchase RPs [14]. Moreover, the made-in-effect is important in deciding to purchase RPs, as consumers in developing and transitioning countries are willing to purchase RPs in advanced countries [51].

Environment-related attributes are also important for consumers. For instance, the environmental effect of RPs positively affects the willingness to pay for RPs [14]. Moreover, eco-labeling is positively related to the willingness to buy RPs [43]. Green certification moderates the relationships between energy-saving and material-saving information and trust [90]. Moreover, consumers are more willing to purchase quality certified RPs than uncertified ones [54]. The likelihood of purchasing RPs increases with lower prices and the level of service offered [77].

Consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price for RPs [31], negative perception toward RPs [44], repulsion or disgust effect differs [1], the attractiveness of RPs [2] between product categories. For instance, while discounted prices positively affect the attractiveness of remanufactured technology, household, and personal care products, green attributes don’t significantly affect remanufactured personal care product attractiveness [2].

Chen et al. [13] couldn’t find a significant relationship between the importance of brand and willingness to pay for RPs. The brand equity effect of RPs by product categories is stated as complex in Abbey et al. [1]’s study.

Brand reputation moderates the relationship between the similarity of remanufactured products and the perceived quality of new products [46]. de Vicente Bittar [20] found that brand equity positively affects purchase intention and price perception. However, Kabel et al. [39] couldn’t find a significant relationship between brand equity and attitude toward RPs. Moreover, brand equity is more strongly related to the intention to purchase RPs when the price ratio is low [20]. Furthermore, brand extension positively relates to purchase intention [95].

Price

Positive price perception toward RPs positively affects the intention to purchase RPs [20]. Negative perceptions of RPs regarding the price differ between product categories [44]. The high perceived price of new products positively affects attitudes toward RPs [92]. Moreover, the high perceived price of new products moderates the relationship between gaining knowledge of the product history and attitude toward RPs; gaining knowledge of the remanufacturing process and attitude toward RPs; gaining knowledge of the remarketing process and attitude toward RPs [92].

The attached importance of the price positively affects the willingness to purchase RPs [13]. Acceptable price range is also crucial as it reflects the consumers’ perception of a remanufactured product being too cheap or expensive [44]. Furthermore, while the effect of the price ratio between a remanufactured and a new product on purchase intention is essential, it depends on brand equity [20]. In the case of high brand equity, the ratio should be between 40 and 60%; but if the brand equity is low, the ratio should be below 40% [20].

Lower prices of RPs compared to new products positively affect the likelihood of purchasing an RP [77]. Price also positively affects attitude toward RPs [65].

New product price positively affects switching intention to purchase RPs [35]. However, Perez-Castillo and Vera-Martinez [63] could not find a significant relationship between these constructs.

Price advantages associated with RPs positively affect attitude toward RPs [39]. Price discounts make RPs more favorable than new products for consumers [1] and positively affect RP attractiveness. Furthermore, low cost positively relates to willingness to buy RPs [43].

Place

Place-related constructs are tested in only six studies. Pisitsankkhakarn and Vassanadumrongdee [65] could not find a significant effect of place on attitude. However, some other constructs related to the place affect attitude and intention. For instance, Confente et al. [18] found that a lenient return policy lowers perceived risk and, thus, leads to a higher purchase intention. Moreover, the perceived risk of consumers who buy RPs from a brick-and-mortar store and an online channel is equal [18]. Retailers’ reputation also motivates consumers to purchase RPs [81].

Availability represents access to distribution channels, purchasing methods, and product shipping methods and influences demand risk [41]. Purchasing convenience moderates the relationship between purchase intention and potential purchasing behavior regarding RPs [66]. Perceived inconvenience positively affects the intention to purchase RPs [87]. Providing e-services of posting product conditions and online seller information positively influences willingness to purchase RPs [94].

Promotion

Promotion-related constructs are tested in only four studies. Pisitsankkhakarn and Vassanadumrongdee [65] couldn’t find a significant relationship between promotion which includes warranty system, manufacturer reputation, reference group, and attitude toward RPs. Moreover, Michaud and Llerena [53] couldn’t find a significant relationship between informing consumers about the environmental benefits of remanufacturing and the willingness to pay for RPs. However, the relationship between advertisement and intention to purchase RPs is significant [66]. Moreover, Vehmas et al. [83] report that communication is vital to convincing consumers to purchase RPs.

External-environment related constructs

External environment-related constructs examine the factors that affect consumer purchase intention, such as government incentives, subjective norms, and socio-cultural norms. Table 7 shows the studies that examine external-environment-related constructs. Even though scholars suggest working on publicity with the government will be much beneficial [91], only three studies were concerned with the perceived importance of government incentives toward the purchase of RPs [35, 63], and incentive policy [66]. Perez-Castillo and Vera-Martinez [63] couldn’t find a significant relationship between government incentives and switching intention to purchase RPs. However, there should be strong coordination between the industry and government to affect consumer attitudes toward RPs positively. For instance, governments and remanufacturers should assure consumers that RPs are both environmentally-friendly and have “as good as new” conditions [91]. Moreover, incentive policy moderates the relationship between purchasing intention and the potential purchasing behavior of RPs [66].

Table 7 External-environment related constructs
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Furthermore, ten studies examined subjective norms associated with RPs, a TPB model construct. Subjective norm positively affects the intention to purchase RPs [38, 39, 42, 73, 91, 95, 97].

Socio-cultural norms also affect the intention to purchase RPs [25]. For instance, Gaur et al. [25] revealed that Indians who came to the USA reported that they came to know about such goods only after coming to the USA.

Methodology (M)

Sample sizes considerably vary in qualitative and quantitative studies. The sample size of qualitative studies is under 100 respondents [25, 83]. On the other hand, quantitative studies used a wide range of sample sizes (e.g., smallest n = 46, largest n = 1529). While studies primarily benefited from consumer surveys, some used posts in online fashion forums [69] or e-data [94].

Table 8 refers to the methodology of the articles. Studies primarily used structural equation modeling (18 studies) and regression analyses (16 studies). Twelve studies implemented experiments to understand consumer behavior toward RPs, and nine used other methods. Only three papers carried out qualitative research. One study used the grounded theory as the method. Only one study benefited from a mixed-method approach.

Table 8 Methodology of articles
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General Discussion

The recent growing interest in the literature on consumer behavior toward RPs has revealed the necessity of a comprehensive systematic review. This review benefits from the TCCM framework and SPAR-4-SLR protocol and addresses 53 papers retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and ScienceDirect on the literature regarding consumer behavior toward RPs. The theories adopted in the papers show that studies on consumer behavior toward RPs mostly benefited from the theory of planned behavior. While direct effects of attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm on intention to purchase RPs are examined, several papers used attitude as either a mediator or a moderator.

The context of the studies reveals that China (an emerging market) and the United States (an advanced market) are the leading countries and are widely considered in the reviewed studies. Most papers focus on consumer behavior toward remanufactured electronic products (e.g., computers, mobile phones, printers, etc.) and vehicle parts (e.g., auto spare parts, heavy truck engines, and electric vehicle batteries).

We categorize the characteristics of the studies into themes such as consumer-related, marketing mix-related, and external-environment-related constructs. Consumer-related constructs are the most studied constructs in the papers, followed by marketing-mix-related constructs and external-environment-related constructs. Consumer-related constructs include the most studied variables, such as attitude, knowledge, purchase intention, and perceived risk. Marketing-mix-related constructs reveal that product is the most studied element. Product is followed by price, place, and promotion. Subjective norms is the most studied construct followed by government policy in external-environment-related factors.

The methodologies of the papers show that sample sizes of qualitative studies are under 100 respondents, whereas this can be differentiated from 46 to 1529 in quantitative studies. Structural equation modeling is the most favorable method to examine consumer behavior toward RPs. Although many quantitative methods were chosen, only three studies employed qualitative methods, and one study benefited from a mixed-method approach.

Directions for future research

Our detailed systematic review reveals that there is still room to improve studies in the related literature. Therefore, we propose directions for future research based on the TCCM framework and divide this section into four segments, such as the applicability of other theories (theory), potential research context (context), potential constructs and relationships (characteristics), and potential methods (methodology). Table 9 presents directions for future research and research propositions.

Table 9 Future research agenda
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Applicability of other theories

This systematic review shows that different theories may be implemented to investigate consumer behavior toward RPs apart from extending the theory of planned behavior. According to the results, the theory of perceived risk is especially beneficial in this manner. Moreover, it is essential to synthesize multiple theories [39]. Therefore, we suggest six theories that will be useful in understanding the intention to purchase RPs.

Uses and gratification theory

This theory explains people's social and psychological needs and motivations to use social media platforms [78]. Consumers use these platforms to seek product information and suggest products to their acquaintances by generating content. Therefore, social media can influence consumers’ awareness and acceptance of RPs.

Technology acceptance model

This theory explains the factors such as perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude, and behavioral intention considering using innovative technology [96]. Ma et al. [47] benefited from this theory to understand consumers’ intention to buy apparel products with a sustainability label. Thus, the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of RPs can affect the intention to purchase RPs. This finding can differ between users and non-users of RPs.

Theory of green purchase behavior

This theory explains consumers’ environmental buying behavior [32]. RPs are considered green products and contribute to the environment by helping decrease waste. Therefore, the image of RP purchase, ecological worldview, awareness of consequences, the ascription of responsibility, and past behavior in everyday life can affect attitude toward RPs and RP purchase behavior.

Innovation resistance theory

This theory addresses barriers that lead consumers to resist innovation [26]. Traditional barriers reflect the underpinnings of the consumer’s belief system, which conflicts with accepting innovative products such as green products [26]. Therefore, traditional barriers can affect the intention to purchase RPs.

Health belief model

This model reflects the perceived threat of a disease which may lead consumers to change their behavior [26]. Consumers can perceive RPs as dirty [1]. Thus, the perceived threat can be significant for consumers during an RP purchase. So, there should be different marketing strategies to affect the purchase of RPs during a crisis like COVID-19.

Theory of consumption values

This theory explains the functional, social, emotional, conditional, and epistemic values that influence consumers’ intention to purchase certain products [70]. Studies [27, 45] show that the theory of consumption values can explain consumers’ choice to purchase green products. Thus, consumption values can affect the purchase of RPs.

Potential research context

Directions for future research regarding the context reveal that even though most studies focus on electronic products and vehicle parts, there is a huge gap in examining products in remanufactured fashion. Consumers may perceive some RPs as undesirable in many ways, such as disgusting and dirty [1]. To create awareness, COS, an H&M brand, uses old fabric from unsold clothes to remanufacture new clothes [30]. The remanufactured fashion sector remains a niche market even in the UK [21]. Therefore, examining the factors that affect the attitude toward remanufactured clothing products & garments will benefit future attempts. Moreover, there should be additional studies on skin-contact products such as personal care products. Furthermore, it is essential to examine multiple RPs simultaneously to reveal differences and similarities regarding consumer behavior toward RPs [39].

There is a growing interest in studying consumer behavior toward RPs in emerging markets compared to advanced markets. Consumers in advanced markets such as the USA or European countries are used to concepts such as remanufacturing or recycling. While the majority of the studies are carried out in China, there should be more studies on other emerging markets. It is worth studying the perception of middle-class consumers who have gained substantial disposable income and experienced substantial lifestyle changes since the neoliberal policies which commenced in the 1980s [9, 79] or the bottom of the pyramid.

Potential constructs and relationships

Directions for future research regarding the characteristics reveal that consumer-related constructs such as knowledge, perceived risk, and awareness are crucial when shaping consumers’ attitudes or purchase intentions related to RPs. Remanufacturers should make their processes more transparent to be thoroughly understood by consumers and make sure that their products are in “as good as new” condition [36]. More studies should examine macro, meso, and micro forces that can play a role in the consumers’ RP purchase decision process.

Macro forces

According to the results of our systematic review, we observed that a limited number of studies examined the effect of government incentives. Governments, conversely, can guide the intention toward RPs by advertising them “as good as new” and informing consumers about the remanufacturing process [89]. Therefore, it is essential to examine the government’s effect on consumers’ attitudes toward RPs. Moreover, the need for a Circular Economy law should be considered when forming semi-structured interviews.

Religion enhances people’s moral values and thus affects sustainable behavior [56]. Religiosity influences green product attributes and enhances environmental concerns and knowledge [75]. Therefore, it is worth examining the role of religiosity on consumers’ decision to purchase RPs instead of new products.

The purchase of second-hand products increases during an economic crisis [40]. While consumers consider their budget, are they willing to purchase RPs? It’s essential to examine the economy’s role in consumer behavior and the marketing strategies beneficial for RPs that target countries in economic recession or crisis.

Meso forces

Even though the reviewed studies underline the importance of product and price-related constructs such as quality, attributes, or price of an RP, there should be more studies examining the effects of promotion. Promotion and education help alleviate consumers’ negative perceptions toward RPs [1]. Advertising, mailings, and in-store labeling can educate consumers about the environmental and monetary value of RPs [90]. Moreover, future research should examine how companies can prevent greenwashing claims regarding RPs.

Micro forces

Abbey et al. [1, 2] found that consumers think RPs as dirty, disgusting, or undesirable, which differs by product category. Therefore, it’s worth examining this negative effect deeply for various product categories, mainly by conducting in-depth interviews and collecting data from focus groups.

There are only a few studies examining the intention-behavior relationship. Even though consumers intend to purchase RPs, they may not purchase RPs because of quality, price, or value concerns [42]. Therefore, the relationship between intention and behavior should be examined deeply in future studies.

Most consumers cannot understand the difference between RPs and second-hand products [14]. Therefore, further studies should examine whether past experiences regarding the consumption of second-hand products have positive or negative effects on the intention to purchase RPs.

Potential methods

Directions for future research regarding the methodology show that the reviewed papers are mostly quantitative. Future studies should employ mixed-method approaches to understand the intention toward RPs. By beginning with qualitative research and continuing with quantitative analysis, we will unlock a deeper understanding of consumer behavior toward RPs. Moreover, longitudinal studies can be conducted to compare different periods, allowing researchers to gain further insights [18, 42, 91]. Intention to purchase RPs may differ by the country’s economic progression. Forming the infrastructure for product recovery options will take a long time, especially for emerging markets. Therefore, collecting longitudinal data to understand consumer behavior changes will bring valuable insights. Furthermore, collecting data by observing and taking field notes on where consumers purchase RPs and, thus, carrying a field study will be beneficial.

Conclusion

Circular Economy is a new philosophy to lead companies and society to keep materials and products by enabling environment-friendly processes in circulation. Among these processes, remanufacturing is a significant way to reuse many products, including replacing components or reprocessing used parts. Although remanufacturing provides considerable strategic advantages (e.g., low costs, waste reduction) for companies, several factors (e.g., low-quality perception, and suspicion about the performance of the RPs) may negatively affect these advantages. Although consumer behavior toward RPs is a relatively new research area, it is getting more attention from academics and practitioners.

This study provides the first detailed and comprehensive systematic review of related studies on consumer behavior toward RPs while employing the TCCM framework in the related literature. According to the results of the TCCM framework, studies mostly employed the theory of planned behavior. to examine consumer behavior toward RPs. However, it is important to benefit from multiple theories. The reviewed studies consider consumer behavior toward RPs mainly in emerging (e.g., China, Taiwan, etc.) markets. Studies primarily investigate RPs of auto parts, electronic products, and mobile phones. We categorized the constructs in the reviewed studies under three themes; consumer-related constructs, marketing mix-related constructs, and external environment-related constructs.

The systematic review indicates that there is still room for future studies by adapting various theories to examine consumer behavior toward RPs. In addition, macro, meso, and micro forces may play a role in the consumers’ RP purchase decision process. Finally, mixed-method approaches and longitudinal studies may help researchers to provide new insights into consumer behavior toward RPs.