Brand-assisted consumer resale as a circular marketing strategy: consumer psychology and comparative effects with sustainable product design

Purpose This study investigates brand-assisted consumer resale (BCRA), a circular marketing strategy in which brands facilitate consumers’ resale of previously purchased products through authentication, valuation or buyback services, typically without directly profiting from the resale transaction. It compares the behavioral effectiveness of BCRA with sustainable product design (SPD) and examines the psychological mechanisms through which these strategies influence consumers’ purchase intention, as well as the boundary role of green attitude. Design/methodology/approach A between-subjects experiment was conducted with 343 Chinese consumers randomly assigned to one of four conditions: control, BCRA, BCRA with resale awareness and SPD. Purchase intention, perceived environmental benefit, perceived financial risk and brand trust were measured as key variables, with green attitude examined as a moderator. The proposed dual-pathway framework – comprising a value-expressive environmental pathway and a utilitarian risk–trust pathway – was tested using confirmatory factor analysis and integrated structural equation modeling, supplemented by bootstrap mediation and moderation analyses. Findings Results show that BCRA significantly enhances purchase intention relative to the control condition and shows no statistically significant difference from SPD. Integrated structural equation modeling indicates that purchase intention is primarily driven by a utilitarian risk–trust pathway through enhanced brand trust and reduced perceived financial risk, whereas the perceived environmental benefit–purchase intention path is not significant when modeled concurrently. Model comparisons further show that the dual-pathway model fits the data better than an environmental-only model, but not better than a risk–trust-only model. In addition, green attitude has a positive main effect on purchase intention but does not significantly moderate the effect of BCRA. Originality/value This study advances research on circular consumption and sustainability marketing by conceptualizing BCRA as a behavior-oriented, service-enabled circular strategy and clarifying the conditions under which it influences consumer decision-making. By demonstrating the central role of trust and risk reduction relative to environmental value signaling, the findings refine dual-path explanations of sustainable consumption and offer cautious managerial insights for designing inclusive circular initiatives in emerging markets.