The Durable Use of Consumer Products: New Options for Business and Consumption / Edition 1

by Michel Kostecki

Overview

Do we need a new car or a new refrigerator every ten years? What happens to our PC which is exchanged for a new model every three years? Why do our shoes last only a year or so, while those of our great grandfather served for a generation? Are businesses deliberately marketing products in a way which encourages sub-optimal use and induces consumers to buy new products? More and more consumers respond ''yes'' objecting to the business practices which reduce the life span of a product or pay no attention to efficiency in con­ sumption. The growing concem with sub-optimal use of consumer durables arises as a response to the volume of waste, as wen as to the growing conviction that over-consumption is encouraged by marketing techniques and approaches that favor lesser durability and sub-optimal use. There are signs that those things will have to change. Firstly, client orientation - a condition sine qua non of marketing success in the saturated markets of rich countries - is gaining popularity. Consumers are better informed and more influential and "intelligent consumption" is on the rise. Buyers are becoming more and more hostile towards marketing manipulation, inducing them to consume faster, more and at higher prices. The public increasingly resists messages in advertisements (preventive resistance) which are pre­ dominantly persuasive (rather than educational or informative) and conceived to stimulate demand for the "new", the superficial and the fashionable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780792381457
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	06/30/1998
Edition description:	1998
Pages:	146
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

Preface. List of Tables and Figures. Part I: Concepts and Issues. 1. Marketing and the Durable Use of Consumer Goods: A Framework for Inquiry; M.M. Kostecki. 2. Product Durability and Re-take after Use; W.R. Stahel. 3. Product Durability and Marketing Strategies; M.M. Kostecki. 4. Product Stewardship and Useful Life Concept: The Challenges for Business; J.-O. Willums. 5. Sustainable Product Design; M. Charter. 6. Extended Product Responsibility in the US Electronic Industry; P.S. Dillon. Part II: Cases and Business Perspectives. 7. Kodak's Product Optimization Program; H.H. van Teffelen. 8. Rank Xerox Product Stewardship; I. Maslennikova. 9. Product Stewardship: The Case of Digital Equipment Corporation; R. Merlot. 10. Determinants of the Life Span of Household Equipment: The Case of Poland; M.M. Kostecki, et al. 11. Collector's Car and Marketing of New Vehicles: The Case of Daimler-Benz AG; B. Mc Crossan Maire, M. de Groot. 12. Conclusions; M.M. Kostecki. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.

Editorial Reviews

Examines the marketing aspects of product durability and the optimal use of consumer durables. Part I overviews theoretical issues surrounding durability, outlines approaches in conceptualizing the optimal use of durables, and looks at concepts of consumer marketing, product stewardship, and sustainable design. Part II offers case studies and hands-on advice. Of interest to managers, academics, government specialists, and consumer lobbyists. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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