Exploring what motivates the development of upcycling practices. The making of values and principles

Abstract

Faced with an aggressive production model with the use of resources, initiatives such as upcycling arise that seek to extend the life of products. This paper analyzes the role of individuals’ principles and values as driving factors, something that has not been studied in depth to date. The study is based on a field work in which 830 subjects from 180 countries have participated in a survey, from September 2019 to September 2020. This large sample of participants at the international level is one of the key contributions of the work, since it allows us to contrast conclusions from the few previous works and issue new ones based on the sequence of analysis described below, which broadens the empirical base in this field of study. The data so collected was analysed using the statistical software Stata and estimating standard multiple linear regressions, ordered logit and logit regressions. The findings confirmed the chain of actions - doing, frequency, entrepreneurship - is decisively conditioned by personal values and principles. This sequence of analysis constitutes the main contribution of our work. With regards to entrepreneurship, this work provides evidence that having the intention to start up an upcycling business is more likely when individuals consider upcycling important for them and report themselves as having a high probability of upcycling; but it is less likely among women and the older age groups (more than 55 years old).