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Cited by 19Sustainable Supply Chain ManagementGreen IT and SustainabilityRecycling and Waste Management Techniques

Consumer-oriented interventions to extend smartphones’ service lifetime

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Bieser, Jan C.T., Blumer, Yann, Burkhalter, Linda, Itten, René, Jobin, Marilou, Hilty, Lorenz M.·2022·Cleaner and Responsible Consumption
DOI 10.1016/j.clrc.2022.100074
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Abstract

A promising strategy to reduce smartphones' environmental footprint is to increase their service lifetime, thereby reducing the demand for resource-intensive production of new devices. Most of the existing literature focuses on production-oriented measures, such as improving repairability, but what remains missing is a systematic overview of consumer-oriented interventions to extend smartphones' service lifetime. In this study, we applied the consumer intervention mapping approach by systematically identifying consumer decision situations along the smartphone life cycle and interventions that encourage consumers to make smartphone lifetime-extending decisions. We identify two main mechanisms to achieve lifetime extension: retention by increasing the time during which a user keeps a device, and recirculation by passing on a device to an additional user. Altogether, we identified 26 different types of interventions to induce consumers to make smartphone lifetime-extending decisions and structure these according to consumer-influence techniques, e.g., informing consumers about retention/recirculation options and environmental impacts caused throughout device life cycles, persuading consumers by creating emotional attachment, nudging consumers through product labels for secondhand devices, simplifying execution of lifetime-extending decision options through take-back programs, and incentivizing lifetime-extension through buy-back programs. These interventions' success in achieving lifetime extensions and reducing environmental impacts in practice depends on the degree to which they actually extend smartphones' service lifetime and reduce production of new devices (displacement rate), induction and re-spending effects associated with the interventions, and the interventions’ implementation feasibility, which conflicts of interest in the smartphone ecosystem often challenge.

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  • Enhancing smartphone durability, encouraging people to keep their devices for a longer period, and increasing awareness about WEEE are potential strategies for promoting extended smartphone lifespans, which can substantially decrease CO2 emissions.

    “Enhancing smartphone durability, encouraging people to keep their devices for a longer period, and increasing awareness about WEEE are potential strategies for promoting extended smartphone lifespans, which can substantially decrease CO 2 emissions [47,48]; hence, these strategies play a crucial role in environmental sustainability initiatives.”

    From Unveiling Environmental Potential in Smartphone Repair Practices in Vientiane Capital, Laos (2025) · cites this paper as [47]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Bieser, J. C. T., Blumer, Y., Burkhalter, L., Itten, R., Jobin, M., & Hilty, L. M.
Affiliations
  • University of Zurich (CH)
  • ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (CH)
Corresponding author
Bieser, Jan C.T.
ORCID
Venue
Cleaner and Responsible Consumption
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022-12
Volume
7
Pages
100074
ISSN
2666-7843 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.clrc.2022.100074
OpenAlex
W4293801853
Cited by
19
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
FWCI
2.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Cleaner and Responsible Consumption (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften digital collection (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Funders
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (407340_185630)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Green IT and Sustainability
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Recycling and Waste Management Techniques
Keywords
smartphones, device retention, take-back programs, product labels, emotional attachment, environmental footprint, displacement rate, consumer behavior, sustainable consumption

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