Consumers' expectations for product lifetimes of consumer durables

Abstract

Product lifetimes are a relevant topic of discussion towards establishing a circular economy, particularly in terms of the reduction of environmental impacts by improving product longevity. Various researchers have developed models to estimate actual lifetimes and have reported case studies for some product categories (e.g. electrical and electronic equipment, and vehicles). However, actual lifetimes may not necessarily meet consumers' expectations. Therefore, an integration of the two perspectives-actual and expected product lifetimes-should prove helpful in optimizing product lifetimes. We proposed different definitions of expected product lifetimes from the consumer perspective and then investigated consumer expectations of the product lifetimes of consumer durables according to these definitions. Several types of EEE were examined as case studies, and questionnaire surveys were conducted. We found that expected lifetimes varied according to the definition used. Expected product lifetimes should be measured by using clearly defined terms to analyse the gaps between actual product lifetimes and consumer expectations.

Durable Goods Drive Two-Thirds of Global Households’ Final Energy Footprints

“…Progress toward sustainable consumption (SDG12) is measured by the deployment of the “10-Year Framework of the Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production”, which calls for increasing lifetimes, reparability, and efficiency of durable goods. However, short-lived durables are not the only driver of planned obsolesce but also consumer psychology, primed by advertising efforts that create a “must have” or “must upgrade” effect . Further, we show the EF/cap of durables is strongly coupled to income and thus efficiency gains alone do not guarantee reduced EF. , …”

“…We assume that durable goods last more than 1 year, while non-durables last less than 1 year . To gain information on the nature and function of goods in our model, we refer to the descriptions by the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) .…”

“…We assume that durable goods last more than 1 year, while non-durables last less than 1 year. 31 To gain information on the nature and function of goods in our model, we refer to the descriptions by the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC). 32 The full inventory of EXIOBASE goods, including their classification as a concordance matrix, rationale, and match-up with ISIC are available in the Supplementary Data file.…”

“…Durable-related goods were expected to be elastic as 50–70% are consumed for status reasons . A significant portion of the EF of durables might be driven by the “upgrade” culture and planned obsolescence , rather than by deploying poverty-alleviating household infrastructures. ,, …”

Defining ‘Resilient Design’ in the Context of Consumer Products

“…A means of environmental sustainability is making products more durable, thereby minimising the need for new products. Product durability is also a precondition for recent sustainability approaches based on ideas of the 'sharing economy' and the 'circular economy' (Rogers at al., 2015;Oguchi et al, 2016). Since consumer products are often replaced long before they become physically non-functioning, the emotional durability aspect in particular has received increased attention in recent design literature (Cooper, 2004;van Nes and Cramer, 2005;Mugge et al 2005;Chapman, 2009;Fletcher, 2012;Salvia et al, 2015).…”