Image Considerations in Second-Hand Adoption: A Vignette Experiment

Luca Congiu (), Luisa Lorè () and Mariangela Zoli ()
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Luca Congiu: University of Insubria
Luisa Lorè: Universität Innsbruck
Mariangela Zoli: CEIS, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", http://www.ceistorvergata.it

No 625, CEIS Research Paper from Tor Vergata University, CEIS

Abstract: Despite growing recognition that image considerations underlie the adoption of secondhand goods, research in this domain has largely overlooked the possibility that different image dimensions operate through distinct channels. Using a vignette experiment on a nationally representative Italian sample (N = 10; 496), this paper disentangles the effects of three image perspectives – self-image, social image, and second-order self-image (beliefs about others’ self-image) – across four main dimensions of secondhand adoption: financial, social, environmental, and hygiene. Contrary to findings in other behavioral domains, self-image emerges as the stronger predictor of intention to adopt second-hand, with the largest gaps over social image for hygiene and social-approval dimensions and the smallest – though still significant – for environmental considerations. Within self-image, hygiene and financial considerations are the strongest correlates of adoption, while environmental consciousness is the weakest; yet it becomes relevant under other-oriented perspectives (social and second-order), suggesting it operates more as a social signal than a private value. Participants also systematically underestimate how positively others view themselves when engaging in second-hand adoption, and this underestimation depresses adoption intentions more than overestimation boosts them – a pattern consistent with pluralistic ignorance that may act as a self-reinforcing barrier to adoption.

Keywords: Second-hand adoption; Self-image; Social image; Second-order beliefs; Vignette experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D83 D91 Q50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 87 pages
Date: 2026-07-06, Revised 2026-07-06
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