Circular Consumer Behavior: From the 9Rs to Consumption Practices: Proposal of a Theoretical Framework
Circular economy; consumer behavior; 9R strategies; circular consumption practices; integrative framework; sustainable consumption.
The transition to a circular economy requires changes that go beyond production systems and extend to consumers’ everyday practices. Although consumers are increasingly recognized as relevant agents in circularity, the literature still tends to position them peripherally, with greater emphasis on technical-industrial, productive, or end-of-life dimensions, especially disposal and recycling. In this context, this dissertation project aims to understand how consumer behavior is articulated with the 9R strategies in the circular economy through the systematization of the state of the art, the proposal of an integrative conceptual model, and the empirical analysis of circular practices in a Latin American context. The research is structured into three interdependent articles. The first article consists of a systematic literature review based on the PRISMA protocol and the TCCM framework, aiming to map the theories, contexts, characteristics, and methods used in studies on consumer behavior and the 9R strategies. The second article proposes an integrative theoretical model of circular consumer behavior, articulating the 9R strategies, the phases of consumption, and the individual, social, material, economic, cultural, and institutional conditions that influence the adoption of circular practices. The third article empirically applies this model in a Latin American context, seeking to understand how consumers incorporate circular strategies into concrete practices throughout different phases of consumption. The dissertation is expected to contribute theoretically by integrating dimensions that remain fragmented in the literature, methodologically by combining systematic review, conceptual development, and empirical investigation, and practically by producing evidence relevant to public policies, business strategies, and research agendas focused on circular consumption in emerging economies.