Using the Values-Practice Framework to adopt lifetime optimising behaviours: the case of maintenance

The influence that consumers have on the lifespan of products has attracted increased attention in recent years. Studies have provided an overall understanding of the factors that influence consumer attitudes and behaviours towards product longevity, categorised around the physical properties of a product, and individual and societal characteristics. However, such studies do not yet adequately explain how people could adopt product lifetime optimising behaviours. To fill this gap, the paper analyses a range of studies on what influences product lifetimes, focusing on maintenance activities. It proposes the use of the Values-Practice framework derived from two theoretical positions, social psychology and social practice theory, to consider how to facilitate the adoption of lifetime optimising behaviours. To build this framework, it analyses studies that classify factors influencing attitudes and behaviours towards product lifetimes and then links these to the ‘meaning’, ‘competence’ and ‘material’ elements of practice. The framework could be used as a tool to aid designers under stand the different elements and factors that engage people in maintenance activities. The paper concludes by considering the research requirements for the future application of the framework

Sharing values: the relationship between value(s) and meanings in collaborative consumption

Collaborative consumption (also referred to as the ‘collaborative economy’, or the ‘sharing economy’) is an emerging socio-economic model based on sharing, bartering, gifting, swapping, renting, lending and borrowing enabled by network technologies and peer communities (Botsman and Rogers 2011). When enabling shared access to under-used assets and thereby making use of spare capacity, it reduces the environmental impact of consumption and prevents unnecessary waste. Often underpinned by belief in openness, inclusivity and the commons, sharing may additionally encourage meaningful interactions and trust between strangers (Stokes et al. 2014). The aim of the research project which informs this paper was to investigate how consumers’ values may contribute to the acceptance, adoption and wider diffusion of collaborative consumption. Drawing from two different, if not contrasting, theoretical perspectives to understand consumer behaviour, social psychology and social practice theory, the exploration was conducted through a mixed methods study using Ecomodo, a UK-based online sharing platform, as a case study. Initial quantitative research was carried out to measure its users’ values through Schwartz's Portrait Value Questionnaire (cf. Schwartz et al. 2012). A subsequent strand of qualitative research was carried out to explore values in the specific context of collaborative consumption. This paper focuses on this latter phase and presents findings from 10 semi-structured interviews which uncovered the values associated with alternative ways of consuming in the areas of transportation, holiday accommodation, clothing and consumer goods. In particular, it explores the relationship between individual values and socio-cultural meanings and the potential benefits of combining psychological and sociological insights in order to understand consumer behaviour. Finally, it considers the importance of engaging values in order to move away from individualistic and wasteful consumerism towards sharing and more sustainable patterns of consumption

Understanding consumer influences on product lifetimes: the Individual-Practice Framework

In the field of sustainability, understanding consumer influences on product lifetimes is deemed essential to reduce the environmental impact of consumption. The aim of the research project which informs this paper was to investigate different ways of thinking about how consumers’ values may contribute to the acceptance, adoption and diffusion of collaborative consumption – an economic model based on sharing, lending, swapping, gifting, bartering, or renting products and services enabled by network technologies and peer communities (cf. Botsman and Rogers, 2011). By making it possible to obtain use of goods without owning them, these alternative patterns of consumption have some potential to prevent new purchases, intensify product usage and promote reuse of possessions that are no longer wanted, thus contributing to longer product lifetimes. The relationship between values and the participation in collaborative consumption was explored through mixed methods research drawing from two different, if not contrasting, theoretical perspectives to understand consumer behaviour: social psychology and social practice theory. Drawing on their possible complementarity, the investigation was structured in two subsequent and interactive phases: a quantitative data collection and analysis, followed by a qualitative strand of research. The initial quantitative study measured individual values through use of Schwartz's PVQ-R3 tool. Results were followed up through semi-structured interviews facilitated by a series of visual prompts. This paper presents the resulting Individual-Practice Framework, which uniquely combines insights from social psychology and social practice theory to examine and explain the interrelation between the individual, his/her personal values, and specific combinations of the ‘material’, ‘meaning’ and ‘competence’ elements that sustain social practices

Do I share because I care? The role of values in the acceptance, adoption and diffusion of collaborative consumption

Collaborative consumption is an emerging socio-economic model based on sharing, bartering, gifting, swapping, renting, lending and borrowing, enabled by new technologies and peer communities. When providing access to underutilised or idle assets, it promotes efficient use of resources, reduces their environmental burden and can rebuild social capital. For this potential to bring economic interests in line with positive environmental and social impact, collaborative consumption has been considered a promising approach towards more sustainable consumption. Nevertheless, its market uptake is still quite limited and further research is necessary to identify and understand the conditions that could support its wider introduction and scaling up. This thesis investigates how consumers’ values may contribute to the acceptance, adoption and diffusion of collaborative consumption. Drawing from two different, if not contrasting, theoretical perspectives to understand consumer behaviour – social psychology and social practice theory – the research explores the possibility that individual values influence, and are influenced by, the ‘meaning’ element of social practices, thereby facilitating or hindering participation. The examination was conducted through mixed methods research using Ecomodo, a UK-based online community marketplace for lending and borrowing, as a case study. Initial quantitative data collection and analysis was conducted to measure 63 Ecomodo users’ values through Schwartz’s Portrait Value Questionnaire. These results were followed up with 10 semi-structured interviews facilitated by a series of visual prompts. Findings suggest that variation between the values held by users of Ecomodo and by a representative sample of the UK population may be partly responsible for Ecomodo’s failure to become mainstream. In particular, the research found that there is a mutual relationship between individual values and the meanings that underlie practices (e.g. lending and borrowing). However, considerations around 4 ‘value’, the perceived convenience and practicality of a certain behaviour/practice, also play a role in determining participation in collaborative consumption. This led to the advancement of the Individual-Practice Framework, which complements approaches from social practice theory with insights from social psychology, as a configuration able to offer an alternative perspective to understand consumer behaviour. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the implications for sustainable design and possible practical applications of this framework

A Typology of Digital Sharing Business Models: A Design Science Research Approach

The digitally enabled sharing economy, also called the “digital sharing economy” (DSE), has changed patterns of consumption by introducing new choices and channels for provision and receipt of services. The DSE encompasses sharing systems whose business models may vary distinctly from platform to platform. Although business models in the context of the sharing economy have been studied so far, we have observed that the current literature does not provide an approach that covers all the possible business models (in the broadest sense of the term) that (potentially) exist within the scope of the DSE. The present paper, therefore, aims to propose a typology of business models in the DSE that covers a wide space of models – even those which may not involve “business” in the commercial sense. This is achieved through an iterative inductive process based on a design science research approach. The typology can assist in positioning the current and future sharing systems in the DSE by systematically classifying their business models. It is intended to serve as a guiding tool for the sustainability assessment of platforms from both resource and socio-economic perspectives. The present study can also enable researchers and practitioners to capture and systematically analyse digital sharing business models based on a structured, actionable approach

Towards an Education for the Circular Economy (ECE) : Five Teaching Principles and a Case Study

The circular economy (CE) concept is seen by many as a novel pathway to sustainable development. A few scholars have started outlining educational approaches and tools that lecturers can use to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy. This paper aims to contribute to this nascent body of literature on education for the circular economy (ECE) by describing and critically discussing a course designed to introduce undergraduates to the CE concept. The course design adopted the pedagogical principles of constructive alignment and problem-based learning, as well as interactivity, non-dogmatism, and reciprocity. Seven exercises were developed for it: a drill game, buzzword bingo, a teardown lab, an eco-industrial park simulation, policy instruments, a circular party and circular futures. The course received an excellent rating by the participating students (with feedback collected for each module at the end of every module as well as for the entire course at the end of the course). The ECE approach outlined in this paper can be utilized and further developed by lecturers keen to incorporate the CE concept into their teaching. Overall, this paper hopes to encourage lecturers to share additional best practices regarding CE teaching with the intention of fostering a discussion on how to best approach ECE