User Strategies for Prolonging Product Lifetimes: A New Starting Point for Circular Conceptual Design

Louise Møller Haase () and Line Sand Lythje
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Louise Møller Haase: Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark
Line Sand Lythje: Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: Product life extension is recognized as an important tool for creating more sustainable production and consumption patterns; yet, there is a lack of studies with comprehensive insights into how consumers interact with products throughout the product’s life span, or knowledge about the strategies consumers apply to change their behaviors and avoid premature disposal. The purpose of this study is to explore the motives and strategies users apply that positively affect product lifetimes, which provides much-needed input on the consumer’s perspective in the circular economy. The study applies a qualitative ethnographic research methodology on 26 households, in which we investigated how differently motivated users engaged with products in their homes; how they approached, developed, and modified products to fit personal needs, and, eventually, end up prolonging product lifetimes. The study contributes a new perspective on user research in the circular economy and suggests a new paradigm for circular conceptual design. Specifically, the study shows how existing user strategies for product longevity can be identified and used as a starting point for designing products and services that prolong product lifetimes.

Keywords: product longevity; product life extension; consumer behavior; sustainability; circular economy; conceptual design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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