Economia circular e consumo sustentável: explorando relações entre os modelos de negócios e o comportamento do consumidor.

Abstract

The general objective of this dissertation was to analyze how the circular economy business models can contribute to promote sustainable consumption behavior. To do so, a systematic approach was applied that resulted in three articles. The first analyzed how academic production on circular economy and sustainable consumption were related. A bibliometric study was carried out, through the analysis of publications collected in the Web of Science database, in the period from 2011 to 2022. The results indicate that the publications have greater representation in the year 2021. Moreover, it became apparent that not always the journal with greater number of publications is more influential in terms of number of citations. The area of concentration of the publications was directed towards business models, reuse, second-hand purchases. The practices of sharing, renting clothes, and underused objects stood out. The second article proposed to analyze how circular business models can act as a means of promoting sustainable consumer behavior. This makes it possible to understand the opportunities and extensions that the elements of these business models have to act as a positive force in the transition to a circular economy. Therefore, a qualitative and exploratory research of the literature on the subject was carried out to propose a framework with such elements. After reviewing the key literature discussing circular economy models, three business models were chosen in the study that have the greatest potential to influence the consumer: sharing, product as a service and lifecycle extension. Finally, the third article explored how circular business models can act in changing consumer behavior, from the perception of managers and based on the COM-B model. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation and documentary analysis of secondary data, allowing data triangulation. The results indicate that the interaction factors present in the investigated circular models contribute to establishing new behavioral patterns of consumption, because it invites consumers to rethink their attitudes.