Abstract
This paper presents design approaches to induce behavioral shifts toward product sharing through a case study on laundry activities in Japan. Business models involving provision of temporary access to goods are garnering attention as a way to reduce environmental impacts from the current pattern of consumption. However, the success of such business models is a matter of consumer choice, and there exist hurdles for consumers to forego ownership and transfer to product sharing. To understand the forces that affect consumer behavior involving product sharing and to design effective interventions for behavioral shifts, we conducted in-depth interviews and a web survey. From the results, we specified the decision processes in a behavioral shift between home washing and laundromat use, and generated “implementation of a communal laundromat in an apartment building” as a promising way for consumers to shift toward laundromat use. Based on our calculation, the proposed approach has a potential to reduce environmental impact of a hypothetical community by 1.8% in greenhouse gas emissions and 16% in resource use relative to when only home washing is practiced. Our study provides an example of designing interventions for product sharing through reflecting actual usage patterns and consumer motivations.
Highlights
In recent years, business models involving provision of temporary access to goods are garnering attention as a way to transform current patterns of consumption and production toward sustainability [1,2]
The laundry activity in this paper focuses on washing of clothes because washing is done by electric appliances by default in Japan, and clothes are dried naturally by the majority
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Summary
Business models involving provision of temporary access to goods are garnering attention as a way to transform current patterns of consumption and production toward sustainability [1,2]. The measures taken by institutions have long focused on alternative patterns of production because of the complexity of consumer behavior [7,8] and the institutional reticence to engage with issues of consumer behavior and lifestyle [9] The former issue refers to the lack of well-founded understanding of consumer behavior and motivation. The latter refers to the hesitance of institutions to question the way modern society functions: intervening consumer behavior could contradict the sovereignty of consumer choice. Product sharing has been recognized as a hurdle of consumers [10,11,12]
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