Public defence: Lucy Zhou Korvald

Lucy Zhou Korvald is defending her thesis for the degree philosophiae doctor (PhD) at the University of South-Eastern Norway.

The doctoral work has been carried out at the USN School of Business in the program Marketing Management.

You are invited to follow the trial lecture and the public defence.

• Read the theses here (link to come)

Summary

The transition to a circular economy depends on consumers reducing, reusing, and recycling resources. Yet, despite widespread pro-environmental attitudes, circular consumption has not become mainstream. 

This thesis shows that circular consumption is constrained not only by psychological mechanisms within individuals, but also by marketing practices and institutional conditions such as infrastructure and social norms.

Recycling and waste prevention face distinct challenges

• While two-thirds of Europeans sort their waste for recycling, fewer than one-third avoid over-packaged products, buy secondhand goods, or repair items instead of replacing them.

This thesis investigates these barriers through three articles.

Article 1 found that people who care more about recycling feel more confident about sorting their waste but are not better at it. 

Surveys conducted in Norway, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates showed that strong pro-environmental attitudes are associated with greater confidence, but not with better performance in a waste-sorting test. 

The findings suggest that efforts should focus on improving recycling accuracy rather than simply encouraging more recycling. Packaging that is easy to sort and consistent sorting rules across regions may be more effective than campaigns aimed at increasing awareness or strengthening environmental attitudes.

Article 2 showed that consumers perceive reusable packaging as more environmentally friendly than recyclable single-use alternatives, yet they do not prefer it because it is seen as less convenient. 

Furthermore, a recycled-content claim on single-use packaging reduces preference for reusable options. In contrast, stronger social norms around returning packaging are associated with lower perceived inconvenience and a greater preference for reusable solutions. 

These findings suggest that reuse systems should be designed for convenience. Policymakers may draw lessons from successful deposit-return schemes for beverage containers to make reusable packaging part of everyday routines.

Article 3 revealed a positive relationship between national recycling performance and individual waste prevention practices. 

An analysis of more than 20,000 respondents across 27 European countries showed that individuals living in countries with higher recycling rates are also more likely to engage in waste prevention behaviors. 

The findings suggest that markets with high recycling performance are also characterized by stronger waste prevention behaviors among consumers. Businesses offering reduction, reuse, and repair solutions may therefore find particularly receptive customers in these markets.

Overall, this thesis brings the consumer to the foreground as an active but constrained stakeholder in the circular economy. It highlights how psychological, market, and institutional factors shape circular behavior and identifies whether consumers, businesses, or policymakers are best positioned to overcome these constraints.