Consumer Household Materials and Logistics Management: Inventory Ownership Cycle

This paper examines the various stages and activities of consumers' management of owned possessions including acquisition, ownership, and disposition. Using a materials management perspective, more frequently found in industrial marketing, the authors develop a consumer model of management of household goods. Stages of the model are illustrated using consumer anecdotes collected as exploratory research. Implications for researchers, practitioners, educators, and policy makers are discussed in terms of how the materials management perspective can be used to help deliver better value in products and services to consumers by understanding the activities in each stage of ownership.