Redefining Repair as a Value Co-Creation Process for Circular Economy: Facilitated Do-It-Yourself Repair

Serkan Bayraktaroğlu, Elif İdemen

Design for repair, maintenance, and upgrade has been increasingly recognized within industries striving to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Although strategies to extend product lifespan require effective collaboration between companies and consumers, existing studies tend to focus on consumer attitudes towards do-it-yourself repair or professional repair services. Therefore, this study aimed to better understand potential user responses to Facilitated Do-It-Yourself Repair (FDR), a company-facilitated process oriented towards value co-creation, as conceptualized for this study. As a part of the exploratory qualitative research, semi-structured in-depth interviews and two desktop walkthrough sessions were conducted. These sessions were designed by adapting prominent features of similar business cases to hypothetical scenarios across four distinct product categories. Revealed codes were used to develop a conceptual model illustrating how user attitudes towards FDR may elicit a sense of empowerment and influence user perceptions toward companies that provide FDR resources. Findings based on product category-driven evaluation criteria indicate that companies providing such an experience are seen as reliable, customer-oriented, environmentally friendly, innovative, distinctive, and justified in charging higher prices for the goods they provide. Additionally, this study identified five distinct user roles that occur during repair and upgrade activities, elaborating on the co-repairer as a potential collaborator. Moreover, this paper highlights potential design and managerial implications identified during the study.