Refurbished smart phones – the Millennial or Gen X choice

Millions living on the Indian sub-continent aspire to ownership of the technological breakthroughs, smartphones, tablet computers, etc that are now almost ubiquitous in other countries. The question of sustainability arises as does the notion of a so-called “green” economics when considering the huge numbers involved.

A new report in the International Journal of Green Economics, discusses one aspect of technology that might allow such issues to be addressed to some extent. Namely, the idea that a large proportion of the population with disposable income is keen to own and use such technology but also quite well aware of the consequences in terms of material resources, waste and pollution, and climate change. Might those born in the two to three decades from the mid-1960s onwards, the so-called “Generation X” and their successors the “Millennials” perhaps be more inclined to take a refurbished mobile phone rather than a brand-new gadget in the name of “saving the planet”.

Prathamesh Mhatre formerly of Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences in Bangalore and Hosur Srinivasan Srivatsa of the M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, in Karnataka, India, point out that in the face of consumer pressure born of environmental concern, many companies have been forced to implement refurbishment, recycling, and reuse strategies. This not only gives them a new market but will hopefully have the benefits that consumers are hoping to see in terms of an improved environment.

The team surveyed people born after the so-called “Baby boom” of 1946 to 1964, thus during the approximate periods 1964 to 1980 and then onwards to about 1997, representing “Generation X” and the “Millennial” generation. They looked at purchase intention of people in those two groups living in metropolitan cities of India and analysed their data using Structural Equation Modelling.

“Attitude towards refurbishment, perceived risk and perceived benefit have a significant impact on the purchase intention of Generation X consumers,” the team found. Gen X consumers seek direct benefits from purchasing refurbished phones, in other words. “By contrast, the results for Millennials show that product knowledge, perceived risk, attitude towards refurbishment and subjective norm significantly impact their purchase intention, the team reports. The results contradict earlier studies that suggested that behavioural control does not affect purchase intention and suggests that theoretical models do not always assess different demographics correctly.

Mhatre, P. and Srivatsa, H.S. (2019) ‘Modelling the purchase intention of millennial and Generation X consumers, towards refurbished mobile phones in India’, Int. J. Green Economics, Vol. 13, Nos. 3/4, pp.257–275.