TY - JOUR
T1 - Product repair in a circular economy
T2 - Exploring public repair behavior from a systems perspective
AU - Parajuly, Keshav
AU - Green, James
AU - Richter, Jessika
AU - Johnson, Michael
AU - Rückschloss, Jana
AU - Peeters, Jef
AU - Kuehr, Ruediger
AU - Fitzpatrick, Colin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Industrial Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Industrial Ecology.
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - Repair practices are driven not only by consumers’ internal motivation, but also by external infrastructural, social including cultural, financial, and political factors. We explore these factors with the goal of understanding the public repair of electrical and electronic products (e-products) from a systems perspective to help devise appropriate change interventions. We document (a) behavioral aspects, (b) techno-economic factors, and (c) intervention strategies aimed at promoting repair practices. To gauge this, a survey was administered among 922 volunteers across 14 countries with experience in repairing e-products at public repair events. Findings suggest that while behavioral constructs including personal values, beliefs, and attitudes toward product repair are the main proximal drivers of intention to repair, the ability to repair plays an important role. Further, these individual factors are influenced by the techno-economic settings such as access to repair services, economic benefits, and the ease of product repair stands out as the key enablers for product lifetime extension. As per intervention strategies, the results highlight economic incentives, regulatory requirements, and public awareness as the key drivers. However, influencing repair behavior directly may not always be the most effective strategy. New initiatives to improve involvement should focus on more repairable products, exploiting the innovative potentials of commercial as well as non-profit repair initiatives, education, and supporting the development of skills among volunteer repairers.
AB - Repair practices are driven not only by consumers’ internal motivation, but also by external infrastructural, social including cultural, financial, and political factors. We explore these factors with the goal of understanding the public repair of electrical and electronic products (e-products) from a systems perspective to help devise appropriate change interventions. We document (a) behavioral aspects, (b) techno-economic factors, and (c) intervention strategies aimed at promoting repair practices. To gauge this, a survey was administered among 922 volunteers across 14 countries with experience in repairing e-products at public repair events. Findings suggest that while behavioral constructs including personal values, beliefs, and attitudes toward product repair are the main proximal drivers of intention to repair, the ability to repair plays an important role. Further, these individual factors are influenced by the techno-economic settings such as access to repair services, economic benefits, and the ease of product repair stands out as the key enablers for product lifetime extension. As per intervention strategies, the results highlight economic incentives, regulatory requirements, and public awareness as the key drivers. However, influencing repair behavior directly may not always be the most effective strategy. New initiatives to improve involvement should focus on more repairable products, exploiting the innovative potentials of commercial as well as non-profit repair initiatives, education, and supporting the development of skills among volunteer repairers.
KW - attitude
KW - consumer behavior
KW - electrical and electronic equipment
KW - industrial ecology
KW - repair cafe
KW - right to repair
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85174076008&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jiec.13451
DO - 10.1111/jiec.13451
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85174076008
SN - 1088-1980
VL - 28
SP - 74
EP - 86
JO - Journal of Industrial Ecology
JF - Journal of Industrial Ecology
IS - 1
ER -