Design for Divestment in a Circular Economy: Stimulating Voluntary Return of Smartphones through Design

Abstract

For the transition toward a circular economy, it is essential that products are returned for reuse, refurbishing or recycling. In order to address the lack of literature on the topic from a user perspective, this paper explores how users can be stimulated to return used smartphones. Taking a Research through Design approach, we developed a novel set of "design for divestment" principles. Divestment is the process users experience when separating from a product. After introducing a conceptual model of divestment based on an extension of the Consumer Decision Process model by Blackwell, Engel, and Miniard, we describe seven empirical studies (i.e., design projects) into smartphone divestment. The studies explore factors that influence a successful divestment process. We report on a highly complex process with interrelated factors changing over time. While it is impossible to define a blueprint for an ideal divestment process, several patterns emerged such as the need to emotionally support users, to give them confidence regarding data security, and to provide information at the right moment. These unique insights contribute to consumer research (i.e., circular consumption); and by translating the insights to ten design principles for divestment, a novel contribution is made to the field of design research. benefit when returning a high-quality product? Related to the quantity of return flows, how can we create a "culture of return," where users routinely seek appropriate modes of disposition after use, e.g., donating at collection points or selling through a take-back scheme?Within the context of CE, this study focuses on design for divestment from a user perspective. It addresses these questions from a Research through Design (RtD) approach. From a design point of view, it is interesting to observe the imbalance between the extensive care put into the design of product purchase and product use experiences, and the careless way in which the final phase of consumption is often designed. We thus ask, can design contribute to creating more valuable and valued divestment processes from the user perspective?Following Gregson, Metcalfe, and Crewe [14] and Glover [15], we use the term divestment to refer to the final phase of the consumption cycle of purchase, use, and divestment. Divestment represents the combination of physical separation and mental and emotional separation processes that users go through when ending the use cycle of a product (see Table 1). Divestment is depicted here as the combination of disposition (i.e., physical separation) and detachment (i.e., mental and emotional separation of the product).

An Insight into Reverse Logistics with a Focus on Collection Systems

“…Poppelaars et al [101] investigated the effect of product design on consumer behavior to return the product. Pisitsankkhakarn [102] studied the factors that can improve consumer purchase intention of the remanufactured product, such as quality of the product, product physical appearance, the packaging that explains product knowledge, and the product price.…”

Key Competencies for Design in a Circular Economy: Exploring Gaps in Design Knowledge and Skills for a Circular Economy

“…As the dominant business models are those in which the ownership of the physical product is transferred to users, these same users are central when it comes to the voluntary return of products. Poppelaars et al [39] argue that designers should be aware of the key steps in the divestment process in order to help users part with their product. Circular User Engagement highlights a new dimension of the design process as designers need to engage users in the circular economy and speed up the acceptance and adoption of both owned and access-based circular products.…”

What Brought Me Here? Different Consumer Journeys for Practices of Sustainable Disposal through Takeback Programmes

“…This process is also more complex than just getting rid of the product since it also requires the customer to separate from the product both mentally and emotionally. As Poppelaars et al [25] point out, the term disinvestment is used for the final phase of the consumption cycle, since it represents the combination of the physical, mental, and emotional separation processes that customers go through when finalising the use stage of a product. Disinvestment is seen as the combination of discarding (physical separation) and detaching (mental and emotional separation from the product).…”

“…In this sense, and supported by the importance of disposal behaviours, we propose an integrative framework of the theory with the aim of designing the customer's disposal journey. In this proposition, recognition of the problem and the search for and assessment of disposal options are present at the pre-disposal stage [30], as are the intrinsic and extrinsic factors [2,29] and the detachment process [25]. As intrinsic factors, we consider product condition, lifespan, size, style, value, colour, etc.…”

“…The disposal period includes disposal behaviour [25] (in this study, disposal by way of takeback programmes) and the frequency and amount of the product discarded [12]. As we see later, this varies according to the type of product.…”