Consumer perspectives on product lifetimes: a national study of lifetime satisfaction and purchasing factors

Gnanapragasam, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8777-4847, Cooper, T ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8623-2918, Cole, C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5681-827X and Oguchi, M, 2017. Consumer perspectives on product lifetimes: a national study of lifetime satisfaction and purchasing factors. In: Bakker, C and Mugge, R, eds., PLATE: Product Lifetimes And The Environment 2017 - Conference Proceedings. Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, 8-10 November 2017. Amsterdam: IOS Press, pp. 144-148. ISBN 9781614998204464

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Abstract

The extension of product lifetimes of consumer goods has the potential to encourage sustainable consumption, reduce carbon emissions and facilitate a transition to a circular economy. However, current understandings of consumer perspectives on product lifetimes are limited. This paper presents the findings of the first national study of consumer satisfaction with product lifetimes across an exhaustive range of consumer durables. The research was undertaken in the United Kingdom where consumer satisfaction and purchasing factors were studied across eighteen product categories. These product categories were devised from academic and market research undertaken at Nottingham Trent University. In total, 2,207 participants completed the survey and the sample profile was similar to the United Kingdom's population with respect to age and gender. The results indicate that consumers appear generally satisfied with the lifetimes of their products and suggest that efforts to extend product lifetimes should focus on developing business and policy options. However, participants also emphasised that longevity, reliability and guarantee length were important factors in their purchasing decisions. Consumer interest in these factors could indicate that lifetime labelling and the promotion of longer guarantees by manufacturers and retailers may offer pathways to reduce energy and material consumption associated with short-lived products, facilitating movement towards a low carbon circular economy.

Item Type:	Chapter in book
Creators:	Gnanapragasam, A., Cooper, T., Cole, C. and Oguchi, M.
Publisher:	IOS Press
Place of Publication:	Amsterdam
Date:	November 2017
Volume:	9
ISBN:	9781614998204464
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3233/978-1-61499-820-4-144 DOI
Rights:	© 2017 Delft University of Technology and IOS Press. This article is published online with Open Access by IOS Press and distributed under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	28 Sep 2017 08:55
Last Modified:	14 Mar 2018 08:59
Related URLs:	Organisation
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/31728

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