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Secondbrand Exchange: When Traditional Retail Brands Resell Used Products, Peter Silverstein, Catherine Armstrong Soule, Sara Hanson

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2023

This paper explores the novel context of secondbrand exchange, wherein traditional “firsthand” retail brands directly engaging in the reselling of their own previously used items. This research is the first to investigate how and why traditional brands engage in secondhand activities and to consider the influence of this strategy on consumer judgements about new products, used products, and the brand. The authors outline four consumer motives (frugality, sustainability, fashionability, and durability) for purchasing used items that are mapped onto strategic positioning for secondbrands. A framework of item transformation is introduced from refresh to renew to remake. Next, using brand extension, …