Case study: GIVING AND RECEIVING ON FREECYCLE.ORG Consumer Behavior Newcastle University

1.Why do you think Freecycle.org has achieved such high levels of growth in such a short period of time?
Freecycle is an electronic forum that enables people to recycle items they might otherwise throw out. Started in Arizona in 2003 to promote waste reduction, Freecycle members see themselves as part of a "worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste," making used items available to others free of charge, www.freecycle.org. Freecycle.org has achieved very large success as can be seen from its millions of members in countries across the world. Our society is gradually turning in to a disposable society. Meanwhile, people tend to be more conscious of environmental protection. Freecycle.org meets the needs of people as they want to find others to take their old junk off hands. Additionally, Freecycle organization has provided the remedy for many people who care for the safety of their environs since dumping electronic gadgets and creating landfills is a bother to people who care for their ecosystem. Moreover, the website is totally free of charge. Freecycle.org offers free membership opportunities; hence any one can join regardless of their financial status. In addition, the free exchange of old junk properties is another catalyst of Freecycle swift growth. It is not only social media which provide a way to exchange, but also becoming a virtual link to connect people together. It uses a social media channel to publicize its self-majority of people who have access to the social networks get linked with the organization; thus achieving high levels of growth in such a short period of time. Freecycle’s given options of interested members joining the organization through the groups closer to them, has also contributed immensely to its high levels of growth since people can join the organization from different geographical locations, as long as they have a close group to join and become a member of the wider community.

Concerns related to the environment are evident in the increasingly environmentally conscious marketplace. Over the years, a majority of consumers have realized that their purchasing behavior had a direct impact on many ecological problems. Modern production methods and marketing systems have brought unparalleled material comforts to most people in affluent societies, to many in the so-called emerging economies, as well as to a few in less developed societies. In this sense affluent consumers have never had it so good. But this level of material wealth has come at a high price as increasingly the earth's natural resources are seen to be under enormous stress, the most significant example of which is perhaps global climate change (Throop et al., 1993; Stead & Stead, 1994).

2. Freecycle created an alternative disposal option that is rapidly growing. Discuss ways that Freecycling might affect the purchase habits of consumers.
Freecycle aims to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduce waste and landfill as same time take benefit to consumers. It attracts more than nine million followers worldwide until now (Freecycle, 2015). It is possible that freecycling can influence the purchase habit of consumers to some extent. Firstly, an increasing number of consumer would like to check what they need before shopping instead of buying they want directly. Especially, it is helpful to some people with the short budget and does not mind second hand’s goods, so they can use a limited budget to buy the more important product for them. Secondly, the consumer might consider buying the high quality product because it can be used longer, even they do not like it that can be recycled to another person. And they take responsible to environment protection through freecycling. Because living in the eco-friendly social environment, an increasing number of people has the green awareness already. Thirdly, people might give away old goods and upgrade to new products that will take benefits to the business environment and make a contribution to the economy. However, freecycling might discourage some people to buy new commodities that not urgently necessary, because they can wait for them from freecyle.org.

3. Should for-profit businesses like eBay get into the Freecycling business? Should companies motivate more consumers to give things away that they might otherwise be able to sell or auction? Can they still make a profit while they help to eliminate waste?
A. Profit businesses like eBay should get into freecycling business since this organization has many members willing to purchase new products especially when they have disposed of their old items. Hence, it can be therefore said that eBay might get numerous customers from Freecycle.org since there are enormous opportunities on business transactions of business through the online business links.
B. Whether company should motivate consumers to do so or not is depending on company’s strategy. The benefit of motivating consumer to give away is that company could build a good social image. With the increase of utilization rate, company help people to improve the environmental awareness which is a good way to show company’s sense of social responsibility. In addition, this encouragement could promote the increase of consumer groups which is a good way to attract potential consumers. If people are not satisfy with products offered by other consumers, they may search the same kind of goods on eBay, so this will increase the possibility of consumption. However, there some drawbacks of motivating consumers to give away. It will be a threat to the second-hand market. Consumer no longer choose to buy the second-hand goods. So the second-hand market will shrink and company will lose the profit. Furthermore, consumers may will blame the company if they receive the products with bad quality. There is no doubt that there is a risk of damaging the image of company’s. Consequently, if the company wants to attract more consumers, they could encourage people to exchange goods freely. If company wants to maintain a steady second-hand market and make sure their good image, they should not to do so.
C. Yes, they can. On the one hand, although there would be a negative impact on eBay's secondhand commodities business, they can still earn a profit in other ways. For example, one of the approaches could be the commission of expressage revenue from logistic companies that cooperate. It means that if consumers exchange their products through e-bay’s platform, the products will be delivered by using the cooperated logistics companies so that e-bay can deduct a percentage from the expressage income. On the other hand, while making a significant contribution to such a meaningful and environment-friendly campaign regardless of revenue of its secondhand commodity market, a considerable number of potential consumers would be attracted since the social image of e-bay is improved by social media. Therefore, e-bay could indirectly make a profit.

References
The Freecycle.org (2015) History & Background Information [online], Avaliable from: https://www.freecycle.org/about/background [Accessed 25th October 2015].

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