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Designing Environmentally Sustainable Product–Service Systems for Smart Mobile Devices: A Conceptual Framework and Archetypes

Author

Listed:
  • Hang Su

    (LeNSlab Polimi, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, 20158 Milan, Italy)

  • Alessandra C. Canfield Petrecca

    (LeNSlab Polimi, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, 20158 Milan, Italy)

  • Carlo Vezzoli

    (LeNSlab Polimi, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, 20158 Milan, Italy)

Abstract

Smart Mobile Devices (SMD)—including hardware devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and wearables; the software systems that animate them; and the data-communication infrastructure that connects them—pose increasing sustainability challenges due to their short lifespans, high resource demands, and growing e-waste. While Sustainable Product–Service Systems (S.PSS) have been applied in various sectors to support environmental goals, limited research has addressed their application in the context of SMD. This study aims to explore how S.PSS can be tailored to support sustainability in the SMD sector. For that, it combines a literature review with a multiple-case analysis of seventeen commercial offerings to develop a conceptual framework refined through six expert interviews. Cases were coded using the classical PSS typology and other sector-specific criteria and subsequently clustered in a polarity diagram to identify designable patterns, underpinning the conceptual framework. The study contributes an S.PSS-SMD framework comprising a sector-tailored classification and sixteen archetypal models, operationalized in an archetypal map with potential opportunities. Theoretically, the study offers a sector-grounded operationalization that extends S.PSS design theory to digital product–service ecosystems. It provides a strategic decision aid for designing business models, service bundles, stakeholder roles, and lifecycle responsibilities to pursue win–win environmental and economic sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Hang Su & Alessandra C. Canfield Petrecca & Carlo Vezzoli, 2025. "Designing Environmentally Sustainable Product–Service Systems for Smart Mobile Devices: A Conceptual Framework and Archetypes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-34, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8524-:d:1756041
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Arnold Tukker, 2004. "Eight types of product–service system: eight ways to sustainability? Experiences from SusProNet," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 246-260, July.
    2. Vivian S. C. Tunn & Ellis A. Van den Hende & Nancy M. P. Bocken & Jan P. L. Schoormans, 2021. "Consumer adoption of access‐based product‐service systems: The influence of duration of use and type of product," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(6), pages 2796-2813, September.
    3. Flora Poppelaars & Conny Bakker & Jo Van Engelen, 2018. "Does Access Trump Ownership? Exploring Consumer Acceptance of Access-Based Consumption in the Case of Smartphones," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, June.
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