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Cited by 19Sustainable Supply Chain ManagementRecycling and Waste Management TechniquesSustainable Design and Development

Consumer practices regarding the purchase, use, willingness to repair, and disposal of small electric and electronic equipment: A Spanish survey on kettles

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Sandez, Sonia, Ibáñez‐Forés, Valeria, Pérez‐Belis, Victoria, Juan, Pablo, Bovea, María D.·2023·Journal of Industrial Ecology
DOI 10.1111/jiec.13444
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Abstract

Repair is one of the main strategies to extend the lifetime of products in the circular economy framework. With the aim of identifying current consumer practices toward the purchase, use, and end of life of electric and electronic equipment (EEE), including willingness to repair, maintenance, and final disposal, a survey is designed and implemented online, taking kettles as an application case. Regarding current strategies for extending the lifespan of these items, a general lack of maintenance and low levels of reparability or reuse have been detected. Disposal patterns show that nearly half of all kettles disposed of were still functioning. Nevertheless, a future willingness to repair these items has been identified, either by users themselves or at repair centers, if the manufacturer provides the means to do so. Finally, the results reveal that when consumers purchase a kettle, the price and then the energy efficiency score are the main priorities affecting their purchasing decisions, taking priority over the reparability score. These results can help in the design of more focused and direct strategies to promote the reparability of small household appliances, encourage the authorities to regulate the new reparability score in a more efficient way, and improve the way that information is transmitted to users/consumers.

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  • A survey in Spain revealed limited engagement in maintenance practices and a relatively low inclination to pursue repairs.

    “For example, a survey in Spain revealed limited engagement in maintenance practices and a relatively low inclination to pursue repairs.”

    From Designing for Repair and Extended Lifespan: Consumer Expectations and Economic Constraints (2026) · cites this paper as [23]

    The Conclusions report a general lack of kettle maintenance and low rates of repair or reuse in the Spanish survey. But they also report an openness to future repair if manufacturers provide the means; the Repair patterns section says 82.3% would repair under that condition. The claim captures low current repair activity but overstates it as a generally low inclination to pursue repairs. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Similar category-specific repair confidence gradients have been documented in European consumer surveys.

    “The pattern also aligns with Sandez [23] and McQueen [28], who document similar category-specific repair confidence gradients in European consumer surveys”

    From Designing for Repair and Extended Lifespan: Consumer Expectations and Economic Constraints (2026) · cites this paper as [23]

    In §3.2.4, Repair patterns (page unavailable), the Spanish kettle survey reports differences in willingness to attempt repair by gender and education. It does not report repair confidence or compare confidence across product categories, so it supports variation in repair attitudes but not the attributed category-specific confidence gradients. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Almost half of all kettles disposed of in Spain were still in working order.

    “Almost half of all kettles disposed of were still in working order [23].”

    From Designing for Repair and Extended Lifespan: Consumer Expectations and Economic Constraints (2026) · cites this paper as [23]

  • The consistency of the findings across the behavioral, economic, and functional dimensions and their alignment with independently published repair behavior studies provides convergent external validation that partially mitigates the limitations of single-method, single-time-point designs.

    “Furthermore, the consistency of the findings across the behavioral, economic, and functional dimensions-and their alignment with independently published repair behavior studies [10,11,23,24,30]-provides a form of convergent external validation that partially mitigates the limitations inherent in single-method, single-time-point designs.”

    From Designing for Repair and Extended Lifespan: Consumer Expectations and Economic Constraints (2026) · cites this paper as [23]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Sandez, S., Ibáñez‐Forés, V., Pérez‐Belis, V., Juan, P., & Bovea, M. D.
Affiliations
  • Universitat Jaume I (ES)
  • Universitat Politècnica de València (ES)
  • Department of Mechanical Engineering and Construction Universitat Jaume I Castellón Spain
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Industrial Ecology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-10-04
Volume
27
Issue
6
Pages
1613-1625
ISSN
  • 1088-1980 (ISSN-L)
  • 1530-9290
DOI
10.1111/jiec.13444
OpenAlex
W4387331195
Cited by
19
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2
FWCI
4.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Industrial Ecology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RiuNet (Universitat Politècnica de València) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Repositori UJI (Universitat Jaume I) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Generalitat Valenciana (ACIF/2020/334, GV/2020/172)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Recycling and Waste Management Techniques
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Sustainable Design and Development
Keywords
consumer practices, kettles, product repairability, product life extension, circular economy, end-of-life disposal, household appliances, purchase decision, energy efficiency, product maintenance, reuse, Spanish consumers

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