PERCEIVED OBSOLESCENCE: FACTORS, CONSEQUENCES, AND EXAMPLES - ENVIRONMENT - 2024

The perceived obsolescence is a marketing strategy to increase sales, where it induces consumers to believe that a product that is still functional is perceived as outdated, because it does not meet the style or trend prevailing fashion at that time.

This type of obsolescence stimulates the consumption of goods and services, generating additional profits for the corporate sector, at the expense of a significant social and environmental impact. There is a growing demand for raw materials and fossil energy to produce a large amount of solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

Perceived obsolescence induced by the change in fashionable cell phone models. Source: Tinh tế Photo

To get a consumer to throw away a good that is still functional, corporations make use of advertising, cinema, television, among other tools, as a means of social manipulation.

One of the earliest examples of perceived obsolescence is found in the automotive industry. In 1923, the General Motors company began to produce annual models of cars with slight design changes. Later, through advertising campaigns, the consumer was encouraged to change models, even if the other was still fully functional.

Another emblematic example is the fashion industry that bases its operation on the practice of perceived obsolescence. People change their wardrobe every season not out of a functional necessity, but to follow fashion trends.

Definition

Perceived obsolescence (psychological or desirability) consists of the consumer perceiving that a product is worn out even though it is still functional. The object is considered to be no longer desirable because fashion trends indicate that it is outdated or obsolete.

In this case, the good loses the symbolic value that is associated with the social and personal identification of the consumer. Therefore, it is not about satisfying a need for use, but a psychological need.

In this way, it seeks to artificially induce in the consumer's mind the need to replace a product with a new version. Advertising tools are used to persuade people that this new model has innovations that make it more fashionable.

One of the authors who most popularized this term was the American industrial designer Clifford Brooks Stevens. The author suggested that the perceived obsolescence seeks to implant in the consumer the desire to own something a little newer before it is really necessary.

From the point of view of perceived obsolescence, an object is obsolete when another appears that allows you to be more fashionable and have a greater social acceptance. Therefore, the consumption of goods is promoted above the essential needs of consumer use.

Factors involved

Consumer society

One of the most advanced states of the capitalist economic model is the so-called “consumer society”, which is characterized by a massive consumption of goods and services.

Within this economic system, it is necessary to seek mechanisms that increase the rate of acquisition of goods. One of these strategies is to generate the perception in the consumer that what they own is obsolete.

In the consumer society real needs have been replaced by desires. In this scheme, perceived obsolescence becomes a tool used by entrepreneurs to generate in the consumer the desire to replace a good that does not satisfy them.

In this sense, design changes are introduced that are apparently innovative in relation to the functionality of the product. However, these changes do not bring real improvements but the feeling of needing what is most current, or following fashion trends.

Advertising

In order to promote consumption, manufacturers use marketing and advertising as tools to work on consumer psychology. With these mechanisms, you are induced to purchase a certain product capable of satisfying your wishes.

Psychological manipulation is used to induce perceived obsolescence, by advertising the style of the new product, rather than its qualities. In this way, advertising campaigns are directed to try to satisfy the need for novelty.

This is achieved by inducing the consumer to believe that new versions of a product offer real advantages over previous ones. In addition, advertising tools are designed to influence different social strata.

In this sense, companies have a defined social stratum for which they manufacture their products and that limits the time of obsolescence. Generally, the products are designed for the population with greater purchasing power, who consider them functional for a very short time.

Subsequently, advertising campaigns are generated for consumers with lower purchasing power until the products lose value because they are no longer in fashion.

Human psychology

The perceived obsolescence has been designed based on the mental structure of the human being. People are social beings who need to be recognized by our peers, therefore we adopt behaviors that are accepted by others.

Within the consumer society to be accepted in a given social environment, we need to acquire those products that are considered fashionable. In this area, we perceive as obsolete all those goods that are not socially considered up-to-date or modern.

Furthermore, the psychological components that drive a consumer are complex and can be influenced by neurological impulses. For example, it has been shown that when faced with something new, we generate the hormone dopamine that causes a state of excitement and pleasure in the person.

Consequences

One of the great problems of the uncontrolled increase in consumption is the increase in the use of raw materials. The case of mobile phones is one of the most emblematic, since more than 1,500 million units are sold each year.

To make a mobile phone, a large amount of cobalt, lithium, tin, silver, cadmium, lead and coltan are required, among others. It is estimated that by the year 2030, all the reserves of most of these minerals present on the planet will have been exhausted.

Likewise, the consumption of goods as a consequence of the practice of perceived obsolescence generates a large amount of waste. In the case of electronic waste, a production of 50 million tons per year is estimated.

Most electronic waste is deposited in landfills located in Africa and Asia, where it is not properly processed. In this way, waste that is quite toxic and causes damage to health such as lead, mercury and cadmium accumulate.

The textile industry, associated with the fashion sector, is also one of the most polluting. Currently more than 80,000 million garments are sold per year, associated with the practice of perceived obsolescence.

It is estimated that the textile industry is responsible for 20% of the toxins that are discharged into the planet's water sources. This occurs because the necessary treatments are not done to remove pollutants from sewage.

On the other hand, wardrobe changes generate approximately 16 million tons of textile waste annually. More than 70% of these discarded garments go to landfills.

How to avoid perceived obsolescence?

In order to reduce and / or avoid perceived obsolescence, some individual or institutional measures can be taken.

Regulate advertising

One of the factors that most influences perceived obsolescence is advertising. One of the ways to regulate it is to establish legal regulations that lead to the restriction of some strategies that manipulate the psychology of the consumer.

In this sense, various countries have developed legislation to regulate advertising for the benefit of the user. The regulations restrict the use of some forms of advertising such as misleading and subliminal.

Misleading advertising misleads the consumer about the true characteristics of the product. For its part, subliminal advertising generates stimuli that are perceived unconsciously to induce the acquisition of a product.

Among some interesting initiatives, in Spain an independent body has been created that brings together advertising agencies, advertisers and the media. It is called self-control and its objective is to work for responsible, legal and honest advertising with the consumer.

Change in consumption patterns

The fundamental element to avoid being a victim of practices aimed at encouraging perceived obsolescence is a change in the consumption patterns of modern society.

We must learn to consume what is necessary to satisfy our real needs and to choose the products generated through ecological processes throughout its value chain.

Examples

Automotive industry (General Motors case)

One of the first documented cases of perceived obsolescence occurred within the automotive industry. In the 1920s, the General Motors company lagged behind its competitor, the Ford Motors Company.

In order to achieve the company's competitive advantage, its director Alfred Pritchet Sloan raised the need to change consumer policy. Together with Charles Kettering (director of the research division) they proposed a sales system based on small changes in the appearance of the cars.

Thus, General Motors began the policy of producing a yearly car model and encouraging replacement before it was necessary. For this, they developed advertising campaigns for radio, cinema and print media in order to promote the new models.

The advertising campaigns were based on the strategy of planned obsolescence. It was promoted that the new models were more modern and with better qualities than the older ones, although they fulfilled the same function.

In this way, the General Motors company managed to outperform its competitor in less than 15 years, due to its success in stimulating sales. The strategy paid off so well financially that it was adopted by the other auto companies and continues today.

Fashion industry

Fashion and perceived obsolescence. Source: Noura Alswailem

The functioning of the fashion sector is based on perceived obsolescence. Thus, the consumer is encouraged to change their wardrobe before it is necessary from a functional point of view.

To better understand how perceived obsolescence works in this industry, let's look at the following example:

A person has clothing and accessories in very good condition, which are fully functional. However, his social environment (friends, coworkers, family) generates tacit or explicit pressure to renew his wardrobe because he does not follow fashion trends.

Furthermore, this pressure is reinforced by advertising and the media through advertising campaigns. These messages are promoted by characters that generate trends in fashion such as actors, singers, designers or bloggers.

Associated with this pressure from the environment, a psychological state is generated marked by the desire to stay at the level of the desired social group. In such a way, that the wardrobe begins to be perceived as obsolete even when it fulfills the real function for which it was manufactured.

Therefore, the person discards clothes and accessories that are still in perfect condition and acquires others considered fashionable. This cycle repeats itself several times a year, as trendsetting designers produce different collections for each season.

As we can see, the fashion industry successfully uses perceived obsolescence to promote mass consumption of its products. This has made it one of the most profitable industries in the world today.

References

1. Espeleta-Ríos AM (2016) Planned obsolescence in consumer goods and market dynamics. Final Master's thesis in Consumption and Commerce, Faculty of Commerce and Tourism, Complutense University of Madrid. Madrid Spain. 113 p.
2. Rodríguez-García GC (2014) The planned and perceived obsolescence in the field of ICT. Final degree project. María Zambrano Advertising Campus. University of Valladolid. Segovia, Spain. 41 p.
3. Rodríguez M (2017) Obsolescence of products and responsible consumption. Public and social strategies towards sustainable development. Distribution and Consumption Vol. 1: 95-101.
4. Segurajáuregui-Álvarez L (2018) The various faces of obsolescence. Administration and technology for design. Production Processes and Techniques Department. Research, administration and technology for design area. Metropolitan Autonomous University. Azcapotzalco, Mexico. 101 p.
5. Vázquez-Rodríguez GA (2015). Planned Obsolescence: Story of a Bad Idea. Herreriana 11: 3-8.
6. Yang Z (2016) Planned Obsolescence. Degree work in Economics. Faculty of Economics and Business. University of the Basque Country. Bilbao, Spain. 33 p.