Title:An Interpersonal Perspective on Sustainability: Social Barriers to a Circular Economy

Speaker:Peggy J. Liu (the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Business) 

Time: 10:00(Monday) , May 27, 2026

Venue: Room 706, Mingde Business Building (Zhongguancun Campus)

Language: English

Abstract：

Moving toward a circular economy requires more than the individual consumer; it necessitates understanding and addressing the interpersonal barriers that impede the practices that facilitate extended product life cycles. The central theme of this talk is the key role of interpersonal dynamics, relationship considerations, and misprediction in consumption decisions. I will discuss three key empirical projects that examine social friction points along the customer decision journey and the product life cycle. I will first briefly highlight our research on when and why consumers seek a partner’s input for product disposal more than for acquisition, often delaying sustainable decisions (e.g., donations for re-use). Then, I will mainly present two of our latest research projects. In one project, we examine whether, why, and when gift-givers are averse to purchasing and gifting secondhand items in the marketplace, even despite recipients being willing to receive such gifts—a discrepancy which is magnified by relationship-signaling motivations (e.g., when givers consider gifting to close others). In another project, outside of the gift-giving context, we examine whether, why, and when product owners underestimate the positivity of others’ reactions to being offered their used goods for reuse within a social network—an underestimation which is magnified by uncertainty about others’ openness to used products (e.g., when considering distant others). Altogether, this research aims to develop a deeper theoretical and practical understanding of how the social reality of consumption fundamentally shapes consumers’ engagement in sustainable behaviors as part of the circular economy.

Short biography：

Peggy J. Liu, Ph.D., is the Ben L. Fryrear Endowed Chair and Professor of Marketing at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Business. Peggy’s research expertise is consumer behavior, focusing on health and social domains. Her research appears in top marketing, management, and psychology journals, including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Management Science, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. She also publishes in public health and medical journals. Peggy has won awards across marketing, psychology, and public policy. In marketing, she won the American Marketing Association Erin Anderson Award, Association for Consumer Research Early Career Award, Society for Consumer Psychology Early Career Award, American Marketing Association Marketing and Society SIG Emerging Scholar Award, American Marketing Association Retail and Pricing SIG Emerging Scholar Award, Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar, and American Marketing Association Consumer Behavior SIG Research in Practice Award. In psychology, she is an Association for Psychological Science Fellow and won the APS Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions and APS Rising Star Award. In public policy, she won the Behavioral Science and Policy Association New Investigator Award. She also won the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award. Peggy serves as an Associate Editor at Journal of Consumer Research and on the Editorial Review Boards of Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, and Journal of Consumer Psychology. She is also an award-winning teacher and was named a Poets & Quants Top 50 Undergraduate Business School Professor.