consumer research
Circular Economy
Why do people really buy second-hand? A study of India's resale boom.
MBA group project (Group 5) · my focus: data analysis & interpretation
A consumer-behaviour study of the circular economy — centred on the second-hand market, where products are reused, refurbished and resold instead of thrown away. As resale platforms like Cashify, Spinny, OLX and thrift-fashion apps scale across India, the real question is what actually drives — and what blocks — people from buying used. I led the data analysis and interpretation.
The study
From take-make-dispose to reduce-reuse-recycle
Resale has gone mainstream
Why people buy used
And why they hold back
The focus
The circular economy swaps “take, make, dispose” for “reduce, reuse, recycle” — and its biggest consumer-facing pillar is the second-hand market. We set out to understand what genuinely drives, and what blocks, Indian consumers from buying used.
Why now
Resale has gone mainstream in India on the back of digital marketplaces — Cashify for refurbished electronics, Spinny for certified used cars, OLX and Quikr across categories, and a wave of thrift and re-commerce fashion apps. The market is more organised, reliable and accessible than ever.
What we studied
Through a primary consumer survey we mapped the drivers (affordability, access to premium brands, sustainability) against the barriers (perceived quality, hygiene, trust and social stigma), and tested how strongly sustainability awareness actually shapes purchase intent. My role was the data analysis and interpretation — turning responses into the behavioural picture.
The takeaway
Affordability and access pull buyers in; quality, hygiene and stigma hold them back — and sustainability, though real, tends to reinforce a decision rather than trigger it. For marketers the lever is trust: de-risk the purchase, and the green motive does the rest.