Retro Video Gamers and the User-Led Product Life Extension Process

While users are key to the transition to a circular economy, their role as innovators in Product Life Extension (PLE) strategies remains understudied. Using a netnographic approach, this study finds that users undertake two types of PLE activities, those that restore the product to its original working condition, and those that modify the product beyond its original capabilities. Results show users create complex electrical components to upgrade and enhance the product’s capabilities, with the “look and feel” of the product being as important as its working condition. Restoration and modification activities help address both the product’s technological and psychological obsolesce.