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1、外文文献翻译 (含:英文原文及中文译文) 文献出处: Jens Clausen, Birgit Blttel-Mink2, Lorenz Erdmann, Christine Henseling . Contribution of Online Trading of Used Goods to Resource Efficiency: An Empirical Study of eBay Users J. Sustainability, 2010, 2: 10-30.英文原文 Contribution of Online Trading of Used Goods to Resource Ef
2、ficiency: An Empirical Study of eBay UsersJens Clausen, Birgit Blttel-Mink , Lorenz Erdmann and Christine HenselingAbstractThis paper discusses the sustainability impact (contribution to sustainability, reduction of adverse environmental impacts) of online second-hand trading. A survey of eBay users
3、 shows that a relationship between the trading of used goods and the protection of natural resources is hardly realized. Secondly, the environmental motivation and the willingness to act in a sustainable manner differ widely between groups of consumers. Given these results from a user perspective, t
4、he paper tries to find some objective hints of online second-hand tradings environmental impact. The greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the energy used for the trading transactions seem to be considerably lower than the emissions due to the (avoided) production of new goods. The paper concludes
5、 with a set of recommendations for second-hand trade and consumer policy. Information about the sustainability benefits of purchasing second-hand goods should be included in general consumer information, and arguments for changes in behavior should be targeted to different groups of consumers. Keywo
6、rds: online marketplaces; online auctions; consumer; electronic commerce; used products; second-hand market; sustainable consumption1. Introduction Online auction and trading platforms are increasing the opportunities for sustainable consumption. The potential of online based second-hand trading lie
7、s largely in the opportunity to extend the life span of products, thereby avoiding additional environmental stresses due to the purchase of new goods. To date, private households often failed to exploit the potentials for reusing products because of high transaction costs. Trade in second-hand goods
8、 remained limited to regional markets. These barriers frequently prevented local and regional used goods markets from attaining critical mass and becoming attractive for both buyers and sellers. In recent years, however, rapidly increasing use of the Internet and trading platforms, such as eBay, hav
9、e fundamentally transformed the underlying conditions of such markets. Online markets have not only significantly increased the numbers of market participants; they have also changed the roles traditionally assigned to consumers and producers. Exchange sites, auction platforms and other Internet-bas
10、ed trading models where users are not merely buyers, but at the same time, also active sellers of products or services, have shifted the role of consumers. Against this background, this article examines consumption processes using the example of eBay, the worlds largest online trading platform for u
11、sed goods, by focusing on the following question: Which sustainability potentials are connected with the electronic trading of used goods, and how can these potentials be exploited? This question lies in the center of the research project “From Consumer to ProsumerDevelopment of new trading mechanis
12、ms and auction cultures to promote sustainable consumption.” The project is intentionally linked with various streams of research and insights, especially concerning the intensification of use, lifestyle research, and life-cycle assessment, in the fields of information technology and telecommunicati
13、ons, and integrates them from the perspective of the research guiding question. After giving an overview of the scientific work on environmental attitudes and behavior in the context of internet based used goods trading, and an empirical look on internet usage in Chapter 2, the empirical results of
14、an online survey on online trading and sustainability are presented in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 draws conclusions from the empirical study and Chapter 5 focuses on the ecological assessment of used goods trading. The paper concludes with some remarks on the consequences of second-hand trade, online plat
15、forms, and consumer policy. 2. Internet-Based Used Goods Trading from a Subjective Perspective Sustainability researchers in the social sciences assume that environmentally-oriented behavior is supported to a non-negligible degree by positive attitudes toward the environment and by knowledge about t
16、he environment 1-7. Time and again, however, representative surveys of the population provide evidence for a discrepancy between concern about increasing environmental devastation and its consequences, as well as knowledge about the environment on the one hand, and environmental behavior that is in
17、line with such knowledge on the other. It is possible to identify groups of individuals who display environmentally-friendly behavior, but not the corresponding attitudes toward the environment (e.g., older single women), just as there are groups of individuals who display a high degree of ecologica
18、l awareness, but whose behavior is nonetheless not consistently environmentally oriented (e.g., families whose environmentally-friendly behavior is organized to the hilt, but who still drive a family car). Three bundles of characteristics that influence the sustainability of styles of consumption ha
19、ve emerged in the research 8: the households social situation (socio-demographic characteristics and time resources), consumer preferences (subjective preferences relating to the selection of products and behaviors), and actual consumption behavior. Socio-demographic characteristics that substantial
20、ly influence differences in terms of sustainable consumption patterns include age, educational level, gender, marital status, and income, with women, well educated people, and parents striving for consistency of attitudes and behavior.Grunenberg and Kuckartz 1 were able to identify the group they ca
21、lled the “environmentally committed” in their study, which was representative for Germany. “A group that takes environmental problems more seriously and is actively committed to solving them. Entirely consistent pro-environment behavior is not demanded of this group; that would require, for example,
22、 that these individuals would not just eat exclusively organically-grown food, but would also sell their cars and take bicycling vacations.” (Grunenberg/Kuckartz, p. 204 1). The following indicators were used to define the group of environmentally-committed individuals: membership in an organization
23、 promoting conservation or environmental protection; donation to such an organization in the previous year; familiarity with the term “sustainable development;” high willingness to pay for improved environmental protection; frequenting of information about environmental problems from specialist peri
24、odicals; environmental mentality type 1 (motto: “Be a role model when it comes to environmental protection!”); declared shared responsibility for environmental protection (statement: “It isnt difficult for an individual person to do something for the environment!”) (Grunenberg/Kuckartz, p. 204 1). M
25、embers of this group are often in the familial phase of life, have a relatively high level of education, often live in major cities or small communities, seldom in medium-sized towns or villages, tend to come from West Germany, as a rule have a higher professional position (senior staff, upper-middl
26、e-level or upper-level civil servants, the professions), have a medium to high, but not very high income, and tend to live in quiet neighborhoods in single- or two-family houses. Regarding their political preferences, the authors ascertained a more pronounced interest in politics in general, and a c
27、lear focus on post-materialist values.As to trading in used goods as a specific area of consumption, a study of West Berlin showed that buying and selling used goods is linked fairly rarely to ecological motives 9. Pragmatic reasons for selling used goods are mentioned more frequently, for instance
28、“making room” or “getting rid of items we no longer need.” In contrast, when purchasing used goods, financial motives are more important. The proportion of men who buy and sell used goods is somewhat higher than that of women. The average age is 36. More than two-thirds of those offering goods on th
29、e second-hand market have a job. Housewives and students comprise 10% of sellers each, the unemployed and pensioners about 5% each. The sellers often live in multi-person households, and live less commonly alone. Among the buyers of second-hand goods, 29.4% are in the 19- to 25-year age group and 35
30、.7% are in the 26- to 35-year group. Most people have a job (61%), and students form 15% of the buyers, which is substantially higher than their proportion of the sellers. Educational levels are above-average among buyers, too, as is the proportion of individuals living in multi-person households.3.
31、 Online Trading and SustainabilityEmpirical ResultsTaking the example of eBay, the above mentioned relationships were more closely looked at with an online survey that was carried out by the authors in November, 2008. The survey was intended to gain insight into eBay users consumption patterns, thei
32、r attitudes, and their ways of dealing with used products on eBay. The survey was directed to private eBay users who use the site, both for buying and selling, and who carried out at least one transaction during the preceding 12 months. In total, 2,511 valid questionnaires were analyzed. In contrast
33、 to Germanys total population, more men (57.1%) than women responded, more persons who live with their partners (73.4%), and more people living in households of three or more (52.4%). The sample also displays a relatively high educational (49.4% level A) and employment status (49.2% working full tim
34、e), and the respondents tend to live in or near urban areas. The age distribution of the respondents (biggest cluster 4049 years old; 29.8%) and their income distribution (40% medium to low income) are comparable with the overall population. More women (45.1%) than men (34.0%) of the sample live in
35、households with children; the proportion of men increases with increasing age. The women who buy or sell on eBay have lower incomes. 48.7%, of all female eBay buyers earn less than 2,000 Euros per month compared to 39.8% of all male eBay buyers. Compared to the group of Internet users mentioned abov
36、e, the sample analyzed here differs only in relation to income, with Internet users displaying higher incomes. The following subjects will be approached: Attitudes toward the environment and motives for trading on eBay, attitudes of eBay users regarding used products and their handling of used produ
37、cts. Then, a typology of consumer patterns of eBay users that was derived from the data will be presented.4. Conclusions from the Empirical Study The results of the survey show that environmental aspects play only a minor role for the majority of the surveyed eBay users when trading used products. W
38、hen concerning their motivations in particular, other aspects have been more important to date: practical and financial considerations, as well as having fun trading on eBay. Opportunities to make trading on eBay more environmentally friendly lie in providing information about the environmental rele
39、vance of used goods trading, e.g., directly on the eBay platform. In addition, the broad range of motivations that eBay speaks to offers good starting points for creating alliances of motivations that connect ecological aspects with other aspects of use. A concrete strategic point of intervention is
40、 the option to provide opportunities for climate-neutral shipping on the eBay platform, and eBay users have indicated a high willingness to use such an option. The survey also made it possible to identify various starting points for intensifying used goods trading. When developing communications str
41、ategies in this regard, the value of used goods for others should be emphasized more strongly. This could happen, for example, by pointing more clearly to the quality, as well as the monetary value, of used products in such communications. Interesting approaches that take this direction include qual
42、ity tests of used products, as well as tools with which users can learn about the prices they can get for used products. The test lab introduced by eBay in mid-2008 is an interesting approach. Certain used products were tested here to show their value in relation to the value of new products.The res
43、ults highlight the significance of situations of change in life for trading used products. Such phases, for example, the birth of ones first child or retirement can (under certain circumstances) function as times when people start trading used goods, or they can be situations in which the willingnes
44、s to buy and to sell second-hand products is especially high.An important aspect for used goods trading is that the effort invested in selling the product must be financially worthwhile. The responses showed, however, that this is not always the case. This aspect must be taken into account when deve
45、loping measures to intensify used goods trading. Another finding: a central problem of used goods trading lies in the fact that many buyers are unsure of the quality of the products for sale (lack of warranties, doubts about whether the products are in fact in proper working order). In order to addr
46、ess this concern, it is important to develop mechanisms that increase trust in second-hand products and reflect their quality. Initial starting points include initiatives to refurbish used products. One example for this is the initiative which purchases, refurbishes and then resells used cell phones
47、 and provides a warranty. Identification of the five consumption patterns in online used goods trading contributed to structuring the various behavior patterns of private eBay users. Above all, the fact that the respondents differences in socio-demographic characteristics are very small is remarkabl
48、e. The five types do differ significantly, however, regarding their attitudes and their behavior on eBay. They also differ with respect to their concern for the sustainability-related contexts of eBay trading. The environmentally oriented buyers of used goods and the prosumers, as different as they
49、may be, are those upon whom we pin our hopes for sustainability. Although the former group displays a certain consistency in terms of attitudes and behavior, which is also characterized by increasing awareness of sustainability, it is the prosumers who treat new and used products with care in order to resell them, thereby contributing to lengthening of the life spans of products, even if they are not aware of this effect.中文译文二手物品网上交易资源效率的贡献:eBay用户的实证研究Jens Clausen , Birgit Blttel-Mink , Lorenz Erdmann ,Christi
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