Abstract

Upcycling is the redesign of discarded waste or unwanted products to make them more valuable than they were originally. Not only are upcycled products made by selecting and collecting specific materials, but they are also often available in limited quantities because they are uniquely designed or handmade to differentiate them from typical mass-produced products. As a result, the price of upcycled products tends to be higher than the standard price of the same product category, and communication strategies that emphasize the environmental value of upcycled products to consumers are often used to overcome this. This study focuses on the characteristics of such upcycled products. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of scarcity messages based on limited quantities and processing fluency, which explains the feasibility of upcycling in an easy-to-understand manner, on purchase intention of upcycled products. The experiment was a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design with scarcity message (treatment vs. control) and processing fluency (high vs. low). 121 participants were randomized to the experimental conditions and each participant was exposed to a condition-specific ad. We then measured purchase intentions of the advertised upcycled products and found that the main effect of the scarcity message and the interaction effect between the two variables were statistically significant. Specifically, intention to purchase the upcycled product was higher when presented with a limited quantity scarcity message, and this effect was more pronounced in the high processing fluency condition. Therefore, it is recommended that scarcity messages be utilized in the advertising of upcycled products, preferably in conjunction with clear messages that facilitate understanding of the feasibility or suitability of upcycling (high processing fluency condition).