Motives Towards Consumer‐to‐Consumer Online Marketplaces: A Latent Profile Analysis of Users' Relationships With Home and Material Possessions

Consumer-to-consumer online marketplaces (C2CM) represent a growing phenomenon whose underlying psychosocial dimensions have been scarcely studied so far. The present study aims at identifying the patterns of psychosocial drivers underlying the main motives towards their use—that is, sale-related, purchase-related and well-being- and QoL-related—using a person-centred approach based on individuals' relationships with their home and personal possessions. An online questionnaire was administered to 318 adult participants, to detect motives towards C2CM, psychological home, clutter quality of life (QoL), self-extension tendency, person- and thing-orientation, economic insecurity, sustainable worldviews and satisfaction with life. The latent profile analysis revealed two profiles of relationships with home and personal possessions: eco- and socially-oriented (68.39%) and uninterested in material possessions (31.61%). Age and gender were not associated with profile membership. Eco- and socially-oriented individuals showed higher satisfaction with life and stronger motives towards C2CM use to sell and purchase items, also focusing on well-being and QoL. The results suggest that embedding several layers and focuses (the home, personal relationships, the whole ecosystem) in one's lifespace may represent a protective factor for individuals—who experience higher satisfaction with their life—but also for natural ecosystems at large. Indeed, this perspective may make individuals more careful about the short- and long-term impacts of their actions, motivating them towards C2CM and circular economy at large.