ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain.
Sec. Sustainable Consumption
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsus.2025.1681357
This article is part of the Research TopicGlobal Excellence in Sustainability: EuropeView all 11 articles
Behavioral Readiness for Circular Economy in Albania: A Consumer Perspective
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Shkoder "Luigj Gurakuqi", Shkoder, Albania
- 2University "Isa Boletini" Mitrovice, Kosovo, Mitrovice, Albania
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Background: The transition to a circular economy is critical in achieving sustainable consumption, particularly in emerging economies such as Albania. While circular economy strategies have gained attention in policy and academic discourse, their success heavily depends on consumer engagement. Albania presents a unique context as a post-socialist, EU-inspiring country with evolving infrastructure and limited consumer exposure to circular economy practices. Objective: This study investigates the readiness of Albanian consumers to engage with circular and sustainable practices, examining behavioral drivers, perceived barriers, and the influence of socio-demographic variables. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among respondents in North Albania, employing a structured questionnaire based on behavioral theories. Statistical analysis including regression models and structural equation modeling (SEM) is realized to assess relationships among latent variables. Results: Employment status, income and education significantly predicted circular economy knowledge and behavior. Key practices like sufficiency-driven consumption and donation of goods were associated with socio-economic variables, while motivational drivers such as environmental concern and practicality were more universally distributed. SEM results confirmed significant impacts of knowledge, behavior and practices on circular economy readiness, while preferences and influences had weaker predictive power. The findings inform context-specific policy and business interventions to support circular economy adoption in emerging economies. Conclusion: Behavioral engagement in circular economy in Albania is shaped by both structural constraints and evolving socio-cultural values. Policy and business strategies must consider contextual realities and co-create circular solutions with customers to ensure adoption. The findings contribute to the behavioral understanding of circular economy readiness in emerging economies and provide a basis for targeted interventions in similar contexts.
Keywords: Circular economy, sustainable consumption, consumer behavior, emergingeconomies, Albania, Behavioral Science
Received: 07 Aug 2025; Accepted: 07 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Dionizi, Kalaj and Avdullahi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Brikene Dionizi, brikene.dionizi@unishk.edu.al
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