We are replacing the things we buy more quickly than ever before. UK households buy a new mobile phone on average every one to two years. In 2021, we also bought 60% more clothing than 15 years earlier, but kept items for only half as long. Around one in five of us buys new clothes every two weeks. This has resulted in vast amounts of waste (see our previous blog on How did we become so wasteful?). 

Sometimes, this is because we have bought cheap goods that have fallen apart quickly. Other times, items are not designed to be reparable, or the manufacturer has decided to no longer support a particular model or piece of software (known as ‘planned obsolescence’). 

But much of the time, we simply want the newest version. 

Four in 10 Germans said that they changed their phone within three years, because they wanted a better device. A further 28% changed phones because their provider offered them an upgrade. Their old phone still worked perfectly well. 

We are encouraged to see the latest version as significantly better than what we currently have, even if the improvements are marginal. This is known as ‘psychological obsolescence’. Christine Frederick first suggested the concept back in 1928 in her book Selling Mrs Consumer. She identified three reasons to upgrade, with psychological obsolescence being the ultimate reason: 

The technical phase. Leaps in technology mean that new products are technically superior to their predecessors. As a result, we swapped vinyl records for CDs and are now replacing petrol and diesel cars with electric vehicles. 

The practical phase. Two products are integrated into one, making the new product more convenient, e.g. increasing storage capacity on a smartphone means we no longer need a separate iPod. But it can also mean things are less repairable. We end up having to refit an entire kitchen because an integrated cooker, dishwasher or fridge has failed. 

The aesthetic phase. There are few technical or practical differences between the old or the latest version; it is simply a matter of styling. We are encouraged to discard the previous version, because the new one is more ‘beautiful’ or is in this year’s colour. This is the heart of psychological obsolescence. 

Psychological obsolescence affects some types of products more than others, such as clothing, small electricals and homewares. 

We hold on to other products for longer. Luxury goods are prized as ‘investments’. We perceive them as special and worth looking after, because we have had to save up for them. We cannot afford to replace them quickly. Meanwhile, ‘workhorse’ products are valued for their functionality. Few people change their lawnmower or vacuum cleaner regularly because they want the latest style or colour. 

The trend towards psychological obsolescence started in the car industry, with manufacturers releasing regular ‘facelifts’ to encourage consumers to buy a new vehicle. It was abundantly clear to your neighbours if the car parked outside your house was not the latest version. 

However, the car industry has also shown us an alternative approach. The Volkswagen Beetle and the Mini have become so iconic that they have been redesigned only once in their lifetime. They are desirable for their classic looks. They shifted from being replaceable to ‘investments’. 

The music industry may be taking a similar direction, with fans returning to vinyl for the music that they want to listen to again and again — partly because of the warmer sound which is closer to the live experience. Though still far behind streaming revenues, US sales of vinyl outstripped CDs for the first time in almost four decades in 2022 and accounted for over 70% of physical music sales the following year. 

To reduce waste and reverse the trend towards ever shorter product lifecycles, more products need to make this shift. As consumers, according to Toronto Metropolitan University’s Lloyd Alter, we have to learn to differentiate between design, which offers us meaningful change, and style, which provides only the illusion of change, even though it can be tough to resist fashion trends. For brands, the shift could give rise to a design classic, unlocking premium prices and lifetime customer loyalty.