The Value of Emerging Technologies for Enhancing Consumer Trust and Adoption of Repair Electronics

Consumers often replace electronic products prematurely due to performance issues (Van den Berge et al., 2021). Repair is a promising strategy to extend product lifetime by correcting faults to restore functionality (Pamminger et al., 2017) or realigning the product performance with users’ functional expectations via upgrades (Godfrey et al., 2022). However, repair activities declined over the past decades with 60% consumers disregarding repair when products malfunction (Magnier & Mugge, 2022). Recent consumer studies have revealed the barriers to repair. Consumers often struggle to diagnose product failures (Ackermann et al., 2018; Pozo Arcos et al., 2021), causing uncertainty about repair paths. Previous negative repair experiences further demotivate repair (Sonego et al., 2022), making consumers doubt its value (Svensson-Hoglund et al., 2022). The uncertainty about the availability of spare parts, clear repair instructions, and trustworthy repair services increase concerns about repair (Jaeger-Erben et al., 2021; Sonego et al., 2022). These lead to a lack of consumers’ trust, acceptance and adoption of repair practices. […]