Analyzing Consumers’ Willingness to Participate in the Circular Economy : R-SWARA and Econometric Modeling

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2026/v20i6/176041

Keywords:

circular economy, willingness to participate, R-SWARA, consumer behavior, factor analysis, binary logistic regression.
JEL Classification Codes :C3, C44, D11, D12, Q56
Publication Chronology: Paper Submission Date : September 15, 2025 ; Paper sent back for Revision : May 10, 2026 ; Paper Acceptance Date : May 20, 2026 ; Paper Published Online : June 15, 2026.

Abstract

Purpose : The success of circular business models depends on understanding the drivers of circular consumption and the consumer’s willingness to participate, yet the foundations of individual decision-making remain overlooked. This study aimed to evaluate the key drivers of circular consumption and how the interaction of psychological, economic, and infrastructural factors affected the circular practices among youth.

Design/Methodology/Approach : This study adopted a multi-stage methodological framework to evaluate the key drivers of circular consumption. A multi-stage causal research design was used to evaluate the Indian Youth’s willingness to participate in the circular economy. The Delphi technique, rough stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis, and multi-criteria decision-making approach were used to assign relative weights to the nine important re-activities in the consumption process. Survey data from 234 respondents were subjected to principal component analysis for data reduction, followed by the development of a binomial logistic regression model to evaluate how these factor scores predict the willingness to participate in the circular economy.

Findings : The econometric model results indicated that the strongest significant positive driver of participation was responsible consumption, increasing the odds of willingness to participate by approximately 21.2% (B = 0.192, Exp (B) = 1.212, p < 0.001). Conversely, affordability/market-based access acted as a statistically significant financial hurdle that reduced the likelihood of participation (B = –0.645, p = 0.020), and philanthropy/altruistic relinquishment emerged as a distinct behavioral trait from principal component analysis but was not found to be a statistically significant driver in the final decision-making process (p = 0.202).

Practical Implications : Businesses should replace vague corporate social responsibility messaging with campaigns highlighting trackable resource savings from repairing, reselling, or reusing. Gamified apps that visualize carbon reduction or waste aversion can further activate the moral norms of youth consumers. For bridging the affordability gap, firms should replace “premium” positioning with flexible, low-cost “pay-per-use” models and offer financial incentives for product returns to foster loyalty. Additionally, government policy must shift from mere awareness campaigns to structural interventions, such as subsidizing repair infrastructure, enforcing “right to repair” frameworks, and deploying localized incentives.

Originality/Value : Unlike prior research focusing on business-to-business supply chains, this work provided a holistic, consumer-centric framework that bridged multi-criteria prioritization and predictive econometric modeling to disentangle the trade-offs between environmental values and pragmatic constraints.

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Published

2026-06-15

How to Cite

Kapoor, N., Prasad, R., Roy, J. S., Prasad, S. P., & Mathur, A. (2026). Analyzing Consumers’ Willingness to Participate in the Circular Economy : R-SWARA and Econometric Modeling. Indian Journal of Finance, 20(6), 8–28. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2026/v20i6/176041

Issue

Volume 20, Issue 6, June 2026

Section

Articles
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