Conceptualizing the moral rebound effect–linking normative overload and stakeholder governance in circular economy transitions

Abstract Circular economy (CE) strategies are commonly promoted through morally charged narratives, yet they can still produce rebound effects, i.e., unintended consequences in resource use that offset anticipated benefits. Existing circular economy rebound (CER) research has largely explained such backfire through techno-economic mechanisms, while behavioral scholarship has highlighted moral licensing at the individual level. This article integrates these strands by conceptualizing moral rebound : a system-level deterioration of circular outcomes that can arise when morally saturated CE aspirations outpace the governance capacity required to operationalize them, thus promoting symbolic compliance or free-riding dynamics. Drawing on the ordonomic approach, this article conceptualizes moral rebound as a misalignment between normative semantics (ideas) and institutional incentives (governance). We develop a two-dimensional diagnostic space: normativity (realism vs. overload) and stakeholder governance (functional vs. dysfunctional), creating four heuristic regions within a continuous space capturing fluid real-world trajectories. We anchor this framework with illustrative cases, illuminating how selected backfire mechanisms documented in prior CER research may be interpreted through the lens of under-governed symbolic circularity. Finally, we derive three theoretically grounded propositions specifying conditions under which moral rebound may become more plausible, and propose possible governance levers for future empirical assessment, emphasizing verification and traceability, credible commitments across stakeholders, pacing of ambition, and intermediary coordination. This framework endogenizes moral discourse within rebound dynamics and offers a theoretical building block for systematic learning on moral rebound; one that calls for future empirical validation.