Closing the Loop on Clothing Waste: Nudging and Incentives for Take‐Back Programs

ABSTRACT The environmental impact of textile waste disposal is a global concern, yet empirical research on consumers' participation in clothing take‐back programs at the disposal stage remains limited. Drawing on the push–pull–mooring (PPM) framework, this study examines consumers' switching intention from conventional clothing disposal to participation in formal take‐back programs and investigates how anchoring nudges and incentives condition this process. Two scenario‐based experiments were conducted using simulated social media posts promoting clothing return campaigns. Study 1 analyzed data from 250 Korean consumers assigned to a peer‐based anchoring nudge, a goal‐based anchoring nudge, or a control condition. Study 2 employed a 2 × 3 factorial design with 295 participants, combining the two anchoring nudges with social, financial, or no‐incentive conditions. PLS‐SEM and two‐stage interaction analyses revealed that push and pull factors increased switching intention, whereas mooring factors reduced it. Across both studies, pull factors exerted the strongest effect. The findings from Study 1 further indicated that anchoring nudges attenuated the negative effect of mooring factors. Study 2 demonstrated that incentives strengthened the effects of push and pull factors when they aligned with the reference point emphasized by the nudge: social incentives were most effective when paired with participation‐based social reference points, whereas financial incentives produced the strongest effects when linked to concrete return targets. These findings suggest that clothing take‐back campaigns should align motivational appeals, behavioral reference points, and reward structures while positioning consumer participation as part of broader textile circularity efforts.