How to postpone purchases of a new mobile phone? Pointers for interventions based on socio-psychological factors and a phase model of behavioural change

Ohnmacht, Timo; Thao, Vu Thi; Schaffner, Dorothea; Weibel, Christian

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.07.292

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Although the investigated samples are very different in type, there is a diffused tendency in studying the behaviours of households [122,123], students [124,125] and consumers of basic necessities (including green products) [126,127] or electrical and electronic devices [128,129], mainly mobile phones and tablets [73,96,101].…”

Section: Type Of Investigated Personnelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Systematic Literature Review of Concepts and Factors Related to Pro-Environmental Consumer Behaviour in Relation to Waste Management Through an Interdisciplinary Approach

2020

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Although there has been a steady increase in the number of studies on consumer behaviour in relation to sustainable development, there is limited focus on the product disposal phase. This systematic literature review intends to: (1) clarify how concepts related to pro-environmental consumer behaviour are understood and analysed in the academic literature on waste management; (2) discover any interplay between pro-environmental consumer behaviour and generic consumer behaviour, and the conditions and factors that favour it. A typical systematic literature review methodology was applied to the papers available on Web of Science, Science Direct and EBSCO (Elton Bryson Stephens Company) host between 1975 and 2019, leading to the selection of 699 final papers. The findings reveal that: (1) Although scholars tend to create a variety of pro-environmental consumer behaviour models depending on their specific field of inquiry, all approaches can be traced back to a limited number of reference theories; (2) The overall level of interplay between pro-environmental consumer behaviour and generic consumer behaviour is limited, nevertheless a favourable context or a supportive institutional-legal framework can significantly influence it; (3) A plethora of conditions and factors favour this type of interplay, involving social psychology, laws, economics, institutions and more; (4) Several critical issues appear in the analysed papers, especially some scholars’ assumptions to be able to identify all key factors. It follows the need for a more interdisciplinary approach, a deeper analysis of the effectiveness of the intervention measures at the governmental and institutional level, and a clear classification of factors and conditions (as proposed by this review).

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Section: Type Of Investigated Personnelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other quite recurring types of waste are plastics [86][87][88][89][90], metal cans [91][92][93], and batteries [94][95][96], besides the purchase of green products [97][98][99] or electronic products [100,101], considering waste management impacts the acquisition phase too.…”

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confidence: 99%

A Systematic Literature Review of Concepts and Factors Related to Pro-Environmental Consumer Behaviour in Relation to Waste Management Through an Interdisciplinary Approach

2020

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“…Discarding of the mobile phones well within their functional lifespan has emerged as a major issue in the world today. While a mobile phone could have a potential lifespan of over 10 years (Ohnmacht, Thi Thao et al 2018), it is very unlikely in the present-day world that anyone would use his/her phone for that long. For instance, the average lifespan of mobile phones in Australia and Japan is estimated to be approximately between 2 to 2.6 years (Golev, Werner et al 2016), it is 23 months in Hong Kong (Deng, Giesy et al 2017) and in general, between 12 and 24 months in most of the developed countries (Ohnmacht, Thi Thao et al 2018).…”

Section: 2major Reasons For Replacement/new Purchasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…While a mobile phone could have a potential lifespan of over 10 years (Ohnmacht, Thi Thao et al 2018), it is very unlikely in the present-day world that anyone would use his/her phone for that long. For instance, the average lifespan of mobile phones in Australia and Japan is estimated to be approximately between 2 to 2.6 years (Golev, Werner et al 2016), it is 23 months in Hong Kong (Deng, Giesy et al 2017) and in general, between 12 and 24 months in most of the developed countries (Ohnmacht, Thi Thao et al 2018). Today, such short lifespans of Respondents of mobile phones are restricted not only to the developed countries alone with emerging economies such as India, China and Nigeria record considerable decrease in the life of the phones in their respective countries (Ohnmacht, Thi Thao et al 2018).…”

Section: 2major Reasons For Replacement/new Purchasementioning

confidence: 99%

The journey from products to waste: a pilot study on perception and discarding of electronic waste in contemporary urban India

Borthakur

Singh

2020

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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During the recent past, electronic waste (E-waste) has emerged as a major category of toxic waste in both global North and global South. Particularly, the emerging economies such as India is a major contributor to the E-waste volume in the world today. Accordingly, we attempted to carry out this study to evaluate the journey of equipments from 'electronic products' to 'electronic waste' in the city of New Delhi in India. The purpose was to carry out an exclusive pilot study with the potential to replicate the same at a larger scale in major Indian metropolis which are mostly the hubs of intense E-waste generation. The case of mobile phones (both smartphones and feature phones) was considered as the key representative. A structured questionnaire survey was carried out with 334 purposively selected respondents in the city of New Delhi. Among several other noteworthy findings, we observed that there exists a gap among purchase behaviour of mobile phones, awareness on E-waste and disposal behaviour of these phones. For instance, the relatively high knowledge/awareness about E-waste is yet to be reflected in consumers' responsible purchase and disposal behaviour. We argue that creating awareness among citizens is central to a sustainable E-waste management system and effective policy instruments.

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“…The fact that the lifespan of mobile phones is getting shorter especially among the young adults calls for more attention in this regard. For instance, although Swiss people in general substitute their mobile phones (meant for both private and business uses) after three years, with an average lifespan of only 1.9 years, the young Swiss are inclined to substitute their mobile phones more frequently (Ohnmacht et al 2018). As an emerging economy and an aspiring young society, urban Indian youth too could have the tendency to replace their mobile phones than their older compatriots.…”

Section: Significance and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding consumers’ perspectives of electronic waste in an emerging economy: a case study of New Delhi, India

Borthakur

Singh

2022

Energ. Ecol. Environ.

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Obsolete electronics or E-waste has observed significant escalation in the recent years. Young adults, in particular, are one of the largest consumers of electronic equipments in the contemporary world, although research on their perceptions, awareness and disposal behavior of E-waste has been far and few in between. Considering the growth trajectory of E-waste in the emerging economies, a study has been carried out in the capital city of India, New Delhi with 1039 respondents in the age group of 18-22. Contemplating its aggressive generation, obsolete mobile phone was considered as a representative of E-waste. Both purchase and disposal behaviors of mobile phones were evaluated through the lens of theoretical frameworks such as conspicuous consumption and throwaway society. The concepts of planned and premature obsolescence were also explored. A structured questionnaire survey was carried out through a respondent driven snowball sampling method. We observed that the functional need is the foremost consideration while deciding to purchase a new mobile phone within our study sample. Over 49% of our respondents change their mobile phones between 1 and 3 years. This corresponds to the fact that mobile phones are discarded very much within their actual functional lifespan. Overall, it could be concluded that the major attributes of conspicuous consumption and a throwaway society are still not dominant in our study sample. The experiences of India's E-waste have the potential to provide important insights for policy formulation and sustainable management particularly in other emerging economies and developing countries.

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How to postpone purchases of a new mobile phone? Pointers for interventions based on socio-psychological factors and a phase model of behavioural change

Cited by 16 publications

References 41 publications

A Systematic Literature Review of Concepts and Factors Related to Pro-Environmental Consumer Behaviour in Relation to Waste Management Through an Interdisciplinary Approach

A Systematic Literature Review of Concepts and Factors Related to Pro-Environmental Consumer Behaviour in Relation to Waste Management Through an Interdisciplinary Approach

The journey from products to waste: a pilot study on perception and discarding of electronic waste in contemporary urban India

Understanding consumers’ perspectives of electronic waste in an emerging economy: a case study of New Delhi, India

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