Abstract

Upcycling products are recognized for their eco-friendly value in that they create new value by recycling waste that would otherwise be discarded, so they tend to be sold at higher prices than conventional products. Therefore, in this study, we propose that consumers’ perceived price fairness of upcycling products can play as an important role on purchase intention as their environmental value. We also expected that negative perceptions of waste as a material for upcycling products would transfer to the product, and would negatively affect price fairness and eco-friendliness, resulting in decreased purchase intention. In Study 1, we found that contamination perception of material were negatively correlated with purchase intentions for upcycling products, and that this relationship was mediated by reduced perceived price fairness and environmental friendliness. In Study 2, we sought to determine whether nostalgia moderate the negative effects of perceived contamination, manipulating perceived contamination of the material (waste) between groups. The results showed that there was no difference in the high contamination group, but only in the low contamination group did activated nostalgia enhance perceived price fairness and environmental friendliness of upcycling products. These findings suggest that presenting raw materials of upcycling product together in advertising can sometimes backfire through consumers’ perceived contamination. It also suggests that price fairness may be as important as eco-friendliness in upcycling products, and that activating nostalgia can increase both eco-friendliness and price fairness perceptions.