Purpose: This study examines the influence of technology readiness on purchase behaviour toward sustainable Internet of Things (IoT) products. Specifically, it explores how technology readiness dimensions, including optimism, innovativeness, discomfort, and insecurity, affect perceived value, attitudes, and purchase intention while shaping consumer behaviour in a digital landscape. Design/methodology/approach: Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the research assesses responses from a structured survey aimed at consumers of sustainable IoT products. The model analyzes the direct and indirect relationships between the technology readiness constructs and consumer attitudes and behaviours. Findings: The findings reveal that optimism and innovativeness positively impact perceived value and purchase intention, while discomfort and insecurity act as barriers. Moreover, a perceived value significantly mediates the relationship between technology readiness and purchase intention, reinforcing its critical role in influencing purchase behaviour. Research limitations/implications: This study has several limitations, including a focus on a relatively young demographic (ages 18–25), which may not fully represent older populations with potentially different levels of technology readiness, and its geographical specificity, which limits the broader applicability of the results to regions with varying technological infrastructures and cultural attitudes towards sustainability. Practical implications: Businesses and policymakers can leverage these insights to design targeted marketing strategies that enhance consumer optimism and innovativeness while addressing discomfort and insecurity to foster the adoption of sustainable technologies. Originality/value: This study expands the understanding of consumer readiness for sustainable technologies and underscores the importance of perceived value in promoting sustainable consumption behaviours in the digital age.

In an era marked by the importance of sustainability and technological integration, this paper explores the drivers behind sustainable consumption in a rapidly evolving market, focusing on Romanian consumer perspectives towards sustainable products driven by the relationship between the circular economy and the Internet of Things (IoT). Leveraging structural equation modelling, we conduct a thorough survey to investigate the roles of shaping purchase behaviors within the context of the circular economy and IoT integration. The findings reveal that while environmental attitudes significantly influence purchase intentions, price sensitivity and perceived value play a crucial role in shaping consumer choices. From a theoretical perspective, this study highlights the interplay between sustainability concerns and market dynamics, contributing to the broader understanding of sustainable purchase behavior. From a managerial perspective, the results provide actionable insights for businesses to design value-aligned strategies, ensuring that sustainable products are both accessible and appealing to a diverse consumer base. This dual focus on theory and practice offers a roadmap for fostering responsible consumption in a competitive marketplace.

Background/Objectives: The transition toward healthier and more sustainable diets has increased the need for reformulated bakery and confectionery products formulated with alternative ingredients. However, validated instruments for assessing consumer acceptance of these products remain limited. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically validate a multidimensional assessment framework integrating food choice motives, green (environmental) values, health consciousness, perceived nutritional value, willingness to pay a premium, and purchase intention. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 504 consumers in Romania using an online questionnaire. The instrument was developed by adapting established scales and by developing a new Perceived Nutritional Value scale. Dimensionality was evaluated using exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analyses. Temporal stability was assessed in an independent test–retest subsample (n = 30; 14-day interval), and the proposed conceptual model was evaluated using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with 5000 bootstrap resamples. Robustness was examined through a sensitivity analysis excluding respondents younger than 18 years (N = 441). Results: EFA (KMO = 0.933) and CFA (CFI = 0.965, TLI = 0.959, RMSEA = 0.061, SRMR = 0.033) supported the proposed six-factor structure. All constructs demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α: 0.898–0.938), convergent validity (AVE: 0.790–0.889), discriminant validity (HTMT < 0.77), and good-to-excellent test–retest reliability (ICC: 0.82–0.91). Perceived nutritional value was positively and significantly associated with both willingness to pay and purchase intention, and willingness to pay partially mediated the association between perceived nutritional value and purchase intention. The structural model explained 46.1% of the variance in purchase intention; all hypothesized relationships were supported, and the findings remained stable in the sensitivity analysis. Conclusions: The proposed framework demonstrated good psychometric performance and provides a theory-informed measurement framework for assessing consumer acceptance of reformulated bakery and confectionery products. It may support future nutrition research, consumer studies, and the evaluation of food reformulation strategies aimed at promoting healthier and more sustainable dietary choices.

Background/Objectives: Bakery and confectionery products reformulated with alternative ingredients are increasingly present in the retail food environment, but their contribution to healthier diets depends on whether consumers eat them. This study examined how health consciousness and perceived nutritional value relate to the recent consumption of such products among Romanian consumers, whether food neophobia weakens these associations, and whether consumption differs across dietary patterns. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of 504 consumers (February to April 2026) measured health consciousness, perceived nutritional value, health and natural-content food choice motives, food neophobia and 30-day consumption on five-point scales. Regression-based mediation and moderated mediation with 5000 bootstrap resamples and Kruskal-Wallis tests were adjusted for age group, sex and education. Results: The scales were reliable (alpha 0.77 to 0.94) and the measurement model fitted acceptably (CFI = 0.968; SRMR = 0.039). Health consciousness partially mediated the association between motives and perceived nutritional value (indirect effect 0.14, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.24). Perceived nutritional value fully mediated the association between health consciousness and consumption (indirect effect 0.17, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.23; direct effect 0.04). The neophobic and neophilic items formed two uncorrelated facets: neophobia lowered consumption directly (β= -0.18) without moderating the mediated path (index of moderated mediation 0.04, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.08), whereas openness to new foods raised it (β = 0.21). Consumption did not differ across dietary patterns (p = 0.130) but declined with age. Conclusions: Perceived nutritional value is the channel through which health orientations reach the consumption of reformulated bakery products. Food neophobia is an additive barrier rather than a condition on that channel, so credible nutritional information and familiar product formats are complementary levers for widening uptake.

Research and policy debates on sustainable Internet of Things (IoT) products often focus on adoption: whether consumers will purchase devices marketed as efficient, recyclable or environmentally responsible. This Perspective shifts attention to the conditions that keep connected products in use after purchase. We define circular-use capability as an ecosystem-level, configurational capacity arising from the alignment of product architecture, digital infrastructure, market services and institutional arrangements. Its four dimensions – functional continuity, serviceability, transferability and recoverability – are complementary rather than simply additive: a critical deficit in one dimension can become the binding constraint on continued use. The concept extends repairability and product-life-extension perspectives by integrating physical serviceability with software support, cybersecurity, platform continuity and secure ownership transfer. Romania is used as an illustrative context rather than an empirically assessed national case. Circular-use capability is an enabling capacity, not evidence of sustainability; its environmental value depends on realised use extension, displacement, rebound and lifecycle impacts.