Design Strategies to Strengthen Epistemic Value in Consumer Electronics and Prolong Product Lifetime
H. Sun (TU Delft - Responsible Marketing and Consumer Behavior)
G. Granato (TU Delft - Responsible Marketing and Consumer Behavior)
R. Mugge (TU Delft - Responsible Marketing and Consumer Behavior)
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Abstract
The consumer electronics waste has become a serious environmental concern (World Health Organization, 2024). A significant factor driving this issue is “premature obsolescence,” which refers to the premature discontinuation of a product use or the premature replacement of a functioning product with a new one (Magnier & Mugge, 2022; Ylä-Mella et al., 2022). Current consumer replacement theory attributes this phenomenon to psychological value trade-offs, where consumers prematurely value new products over their current ones(Van den Berge et al., 2021). This shift is often driven by an attraction to novel features, updated designs, and the overall sense of novelty offered by new products on the market, while their owned devices increasingly lose appeal due to familiarity and boredom (Echegaray, 2016; Van den Berge et al., 2021). Although existing research highlights the importance of preserving the perceived value of owned products to combat premature obsolescence (Magnier & Mugge, 2022; Van Nes, 2016), effective design strategies are underexplored. This study aims to explore design strategies to preserve value of owned consumer electronics, focusing on strengthening their epistemic value to prolong product lifetime and reduce waste. [...]
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