ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain.
Sec. Circular Economy
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsus.2025.1570573
This article is part of the Research TopicAssessing Circular Economy Transitions: Quantitative Approaches and Policy ImplicationsView all 5 articles
Circular Economy and Ecologically Sustainable Behaviour in the Light of Financial Constraints. Quantitative Results from Austria
Provisionally accepted
- 1St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, St Pölten, Austria
- 2Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Introduction: The Circular Economy (CE) has been proposed as a model for promoting both sustainability and economic growth, yet its social dimensions remain underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between financial constraints and the adoption of CE strategies, aiming to assess whether financial hardship influences individuals' ability to engage in sustainable practices.Methods: The study utilizes quantitative survey data from Austria (n=1,003) collected in June 2022. A secondary analysis was conducted using bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques, including Welch-ANOVA and binary logistic regression. The study examines four CE strategies—reduce, share, second-hand, and repair—across product categories such as clothing, electronics, furniture, and toys. The key independent variable is financial constrain, while controls include willingness to engage in sustainable behavior, accessibility of CE infrastructure and socio-demographic factors.Results: The findings indicate that financial constraints significantly impact engagement in some CE strategies. Individuals facing financial difficulties are more likely to participate in cost-saving strategies such as buying second-hand goods (e.g., clothes OR = 1.38, electronics OR = 1.39) or repairing toys (OR = 1.48). Willingness to engage in sustainable behavior is the strongest predictor across all strategies, while accessibility plays also a crucial role in adoption. Surprisingly, environmental awareness does not significantly predict actual sustainable behavior, highlighting a gap between intention and action.Discussion: The results suggest that financial constraints can act as both a barrier and a driver for sustainable behavior. While affordability enhances participation in second-hand markets, financial barriers may hinder engagement in repair and sharing models. The study raises concerns about "double injustice," where low-income individuals not only bear greater environmental risks but also face challenges in accessing sustainable solutions.
Keywords: circular ecomomy, Financial constrains, Austria, sustainable behaviour, social dimension
Received: 03 Feb 2025; Accepted: 07 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Richter and Khattab. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lukas Richter, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, St Pölten, Austria
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