por What is perceived obsolescence?
The perceived obsolescence It is a marketing strategy to increase sales, in which the consumer is induced to think that a product that is still functional is perceived as obsolete, because it does not comply with the prevailing style or fashion trend 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 significant social and environmental impact. It highlights a growing demand for raw materials and fossil energy, to produce a large amount of solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
To get a consumer to throw away a good that still works, corporations use advertising, movies, television, among other tools, as a means of social manipulation.
Definition
Perceived obsolescence (psychological or desirability) is that the consumer perceives 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 The object is considered to be no longer desirable because fashion trends indicate that it is outdated or obsolete.
Consequently, the good loses the symbolic value associated with the social and personal identification of the consumer. Therefore, it is not a question of 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 better.
One of the authors who most popularized this term was the American industrial designer Clifford Brooks Stevens. He argued that perceived obsolescence seeks to implant in the consumer the desire to have 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From the point of view of perceived obsolescence, an object is obsolete when another appears that allows it to be more fashionable and have greater social acceptance.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», whose characteristic is a massive consumption of goods and services.
Within this economic system, it is necessary to look for mechanisms that increase the rate of acquisition of goods. One of these strategies is to generate the perception in the consumer that what he owns is obsolete.
In the consumer society, real needs have been replaced by desires. In this scheme, perceived obsolescence becomes a tool used by businessmen to generate in the consumer the desire to replace a good that does not satisfy them.
In this sense, apparently innovative design changes are introduced in relation to the functionality of the product. However, these changes do not bring real improvements but the sensation of needing what is most current, or following the fashion trends.
Advertising
In order to promote consumption, manufacturers use marketing and advertising as tools to work on consumer psychology. With these mechanisms, he is induced to purchase a certain product capable of satisfying his desires.
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 the new versions of a product offer real advantages over the previous ones. In addition, advertising tools are designed to influence different social strata.
In this sense, companies have a defined target for which they manufacture their products, and which delimits 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
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 accepted by others.
Within the consumer society, to be accepted in a given social environment, we need to acquire certain products. In this area, we perceive as obsolete all those goods that are not socially considered updated or modern.
Additionally, the psychological components that drive a consumer are complex and may be influenced by neurological drives. For example, it has been shown that when faced with something new, we generate dopamine, which causes a state of excitement and pleasure in the person.
Consequences
One of the big 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, among others, is required. It is estimated that by 2030, all the reserves of most of these minerals on the planet will have been exhausted.
Another consequence is that it generates a large amount of waste. In the case of electronic waste, a production of 50 million tons per year is estimated.
Most of the electronic waste is deposited in landfills located in Africa and Asia, where it is not properly processed. In this way, quite toxic wastes accumulate, which cause damage to health, such as lead, mercury and cadmium.
The textile industry, associated with the fashion sector, is also one of the most polluting. Currently, more than 80,000 million articles of clothing are sold per year, associated with the practice of perceived obsolescence.
It is thought that the textile industry is responsible for 20% of the toxins discharged into water sources. This occurs because the necessary treatments are not carried out to eliminate contaminants from sewage.
On the other hand, wardrobe changes generate approximately 16 million tons of textile waste annually. Over 70% of these discarded clothing items end up in 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. 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. Subliminal advertising generates stimuli that are unconsciously perceived to induce the acquisition of a product.
Among some interesting initiatives, an independent body has been created in Spain 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 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 choose 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 (head of the research division), they proposed a sales system based on small changes in the appearance of the cars.
Thus, General Motors initiated the policy of producing an annual car model and stimulating replacement before it was necessary. For this, they developed advertising campaigns on 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, General Motors managed to surpass its competitor in less than 15 years, due to its success in stimulating sales. The strategy gave such good economic results that it was adopted by the other automotive companies, and is maintained today.
Fashion industry
The textile industry encourages the consumer to change their wardrobe before it is necessary, from a functional point of view. The new collections of fashion designers, the trends that change so quickly, «force» the consumer to renew their wardrobe frequently.
This happens even if the clothes are in perfect condition, but feel outdated, or out of fashion, because they no longer have the new style. So, several times a year, millions of people change their clothes, even if it is not necessary.
One of the basic tools of the consumer society, as has been seen, is advertising.
References
Espeleta-Ríos, AM Planned obsolescence in consumer goods and market dynamics. Master’s thesis in Consumption and Commerce, Faculty of Commerce and Tourism, Complutense University of Madrid.
Rodríguez-García, GC Planned and perceived obsolescence in the field of ICT. Final degree project. Advertising Campus María Zambrano. University of Valladolid.
Vázquez-Rodríguez, GA Planned obsolescence: history of a bad idea. Herreriana.