Attachment to Green Products: A Case Study of Leather Slippers made from Reclaimed Materials

Abstract

Increasing product lifespan is recognised as a way to reduce the consumption of resources and materials that go
into producing consumer goods. Increasing the emotional bond an owner feels to their product through
encouraging product attachment is a strategy to achieve this. This study focusses on product attachment with
green products with the aim to inform product designers that are already seeking greater sustainability through
their use of green design principles.

A case study into relationships with one brand of slippers is undertaken through an online survey of 79 slipper
owners and 3 semi-structured interviews with selected survey respondents. Data from the survey is compared
with data from an existing 2008 study: ‘Consumer-Product Attachment: Measurement and Design Implications’
which investigates owner relationships with four categories of product: jewellery, lamp, clock and car; and is
written by Hendrik Schifferstein and Elly Zwartkruis-Pelgrim. A semi-structured interview with an industry
representative is also included.

The slippers are found to be a high-attachment product, though this is not predominantly due to their being made
from reclaimed materials. Other factors, in particular the fact that each pair is unique, are found to be more
influential. Overall a new form of attachment was identified: that of intellectual attachment whereby feelings of
attachment stem from an alignment to the ideology of a product.

It is suggested that a class of consumer exists that view their possessions within a wider political, environmental
and social context and that their feelings of attachment towards an object are affected by this. Tentative
guidelines for designers are suggested and areas for future research are recommended.

References:
Schifferstein, H., & Zwartkruis-Pelgrim, E. (2008). Consumer-Product Attachment: Measurement and Design
Implications. International Journal of Design 2 (3). 1-13.
Mugge, Ruth, Schifferstein, H., Schoormans, J., Ekstrom, K., & Brembeck, H. (2005). A Longitudinal Study of
Product Attachment and its Determinants (pp. 641–647). Presented at the European Advances in Consumer
Research Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden: EACR 2005.