Reverse logistics in an urban setup: A consumer perspective of travel mode choice for transporting End-of-life/End-of-use furniture.

Abstract: With the rise in urbanization and cities fulfilling sustainability challenges, companies across the globe are moving towards circularity. One approach adopted towards circularity is of reverse logistics where companies take back EOL/EOU products. In the furniture industry, this approach towards circularity is coupled with consumers being asked to transport the EOL/EOU furniture to second-hand/retail stores on their own accord. With urbanization, the ability to transport these goods in a city can involve choosing between various modes of travel available to consumers. In line of this, this research explores what is the mode of transportation that consumers used to transport EOL/EOU furniture in an urban setup and why they used the same. The why aspect of the research is developed by determining what determinants consumers considered when making the choice of the transport mode. This research is drawn from the theory of planned behaviour and uses 8 semi-structured interviews for deriving the analysis. A total of 13 determinants were identified. The attitude construct identified 7 determinants: cost, convenience, door-to-door ability, easy, autonomy, availability, and distance; the social norm construct identified 2 determinants: social responsibility and sustainability; And the PBC construct identified 4 determinants: planning effort, transportability, odd shape & Manoeuvring, and lack of information. 11 of these determinants are consistent with previous research and 2 of which namely: odd shape & Manoeuvring, and lack of information are novel to this research. Lastly, the research provides insights to policymakers and companies to address practical and social barriers to reverse logistics in an urban setup from a consumer perspective.