Sustainable Consumption Institute

German Reference:

Tröger, N., Wieser, H., Hübner, R. (2017). "Smartphones werden häufiger ersetzt als T-shirts. Die Nutzungsmuster und Ersatzgründe von KonsumentInnen bei Gebrauchsgütern", in C. Bala and W. Schuldzinski (Hrsg): Pack ein, schmeiß' weg? Wegwerfkultur und Wertschätzung von Konsumgütern, Beiträge zur Verbraucherforschung 6, Düsseldorf, S. 79-102: https://www.verbraucherzentrale.nrw/bzv6_5

Abstract

In the following article the core findings of a research project conducted on behalf of the Chamber of Labour in Vienna will be presented. Using a representative, online questionnaire plus qualitative interviews, the question was posed of how long products were used in private households and why these were then replaced. The investigation did not examine the products and their technical weaknesses alone, since a straightforward focus on the much-discussed “planned obsolescence” would have been too narrow. The approach adopted was to look at the perspectives of the consumers themselves. By analysing their reasons for the purchases and the influences on their decision to replace a product, a wide range of factors affecting the use-time of products have become apparent. The article summarizes the results of the study (Wieser and Tröger, 2015); the full report is available in German: http://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/resolver?urn=um:nbn:at:at-akw:g-...

The German original version was first published in: Bala, C., and Schuldzinski, W. (eds.). "Beiträge zur Verbraucherforschung Band 6: Pack ein, schmeiß' weg? Wegwerfkultur und Wertschätzung von Konsumgütern", Verbraucherzentrale NRW, DOI 10.15501/978-3-86336-914-9_5. Düsseldorf, 2017.

Link to full English version of article