Abstract
Against a background of increasing concern about ethical and sustainability issues amongst younger people, this developmental paper identifies a need for research into the effect that the adoption of strategy of ’Planned Obsolescence’ by a manufacture has upon consumer purchasing decisions given the ethical, waste and sustainability issues associated with the practice.
A comprehensive review of existing literature relating to planned obsolescence has identified that almost all extant literature examines the phenomenon from the perspective of the manufacturer with little, if any, research examining the issue from the perspective of the consumer.
Given increasing interest in ethical and sustainability issues, particularly amongst younger more socially aware generations, this could be problematic for businesses adopting such a strategy and the lack of research into the subject from the perspective of the consumer represents a gap in current knowledge.
This developmental paper represents the first step in filling that gap.