ABSTRACT
Progress towards sustainable consumption requires a better understanding of the influence of consumer behaviour on product life-spans. Attempts to increase the life-span of household products through eco-design will be ineffectual if consumers are not making full use of the utility provided by them. The study of consumer influences on product longevity is, however, in its in fancy. Disposal behaviour has received some attention in the context of waste management, but the impact on product life-spans of acquisition preferences and use-related behaviour has not been addressed systematically in academic research. This chapter presents key results from research on three categories of household product: everyday footwear, large household appliances and upholstered chairs. The findings demonstrate that consumers exert considerable influence upon product life-spans and reveal substantial differences in behaviour between the three categories of product and across the different stages of consumption. A range of factors that affect consumer influences upon product life-spans are classified and used to construct a theoretical framework within which to explore these influences. This is used to identify the most significant barriers to optimizing product life-spans from a consumer perspective and propose possible solutions.
