Smartphones: 7 out of 10 French people no longer want to see new models coming out each year

After hardware obsolescence and software obsolescence, HOP begins its crusade against marketing obsolescence. Little known cousin of the family, marketing obsolescence encompasses all advertising techniques pushing to renew our devices. After trying to identify the ins and outs of the problemthe association has delivered A long report of around sixty pages To shed light on the public debate on the issue.

Aware of the difficulty of taking a step back on an economic model firmly based on marketing and advertising, Hop ordered a survey which illuminates in an interesting way our purchasing habits in terms of new technologies, and particularly the renewal of smartphones.

Slow the pace of smartphones

We learn, for example, that, in a quarter of the renewal acts, the old smartphone was perfectly functional and that it is the new features and technological innovations of the new models that grow mainly (56 %) in renewal. But behind this personal attraction for novelty hide powerful advertising logics, including marketing obsolescence (sometimes called “psychological” or “aesthetic” obsolescence).

On this subject, the French and the French surveyed also have a fairly clear opinion: 66 % declare themselves overexposed to advertising and even more (73 %) support the idea that advertising “should be supervised by an independent authority and be subject to an before distribution“. We notice a very special distrust of terms like”innovation” Or “progress“, omnipresent in the world of new technologies.”In the world of smartphones particularly, the different obsolescences are sometimes nested“Note Julie Caillard, study manager for advocacy at HOP.

Concretely, 69 % of the population consider that a new generation of smartphone “should not go out less than two years before the previous release“. This is the whole model of the industry or almost which is therefore returned to the strings. A logic perfectly connected with the fact that The majority of phones in circulation in the country now have more than two years And that the “ideal” use duration would be around 6 years for a phone, according to the survey.

The reign of “technowashing”?

Echoing the now well -known strategies of Greenwashing, Hop tries to impose the term “technowashing” that designates “Marketing artifices that give the illusion of technological progress“. As an example, the association is based On a study by the UFC Que Choisir Who indicates that only 40 % of people are sure to see a difference between the UHD and Full HD definition despite the marketing promise of a revolutionary image quality. “”Consumption incitement is not only the result of these deceptive practices“Storms, however, Julie Caillard,”It is omnipresence that encourages overconsumption“”

Without positioning itself as opposed to consumption as such, Hop militates for a stricter supervision of a market which has taken on gargantuan proportions. “”In 2024, annual expenses amount to 35.8 billion euros in France, and $ 1,000 billion worldwide“, Note the report. On average, one person is exposed to”1,200 to 2,200 advertisements per day“and 15,000”commercial stimuli“” argue hop.

A generalization of Adblock?

“”We are not against the principle of advertising, but we would like to limit this advertising omnipresence and redistribute space to enhance more virtuous actors who do not necessarily push the consumption of material goods. Some cities have already taken the plunge», Argue hop, referring to the policies set up in Grenoble, in particular. And why not, in the long term, set up a right not to be requested by advertising?

To avoid an overembarly, the association issues around thirty proposals, including the recognition of marketing obsolescence in the law, the effective regulation of the advertising sector and the establishment of a “Sustainable marketing roadmap“By the public authorities.

In the digital world, the association also proposes to generalize advertising blockers on the Internet and the prohibition of advertising targeting via geolocation. Developments that will have to be done step by step since “Many sectors are dependent on advertising and resale of data“Recognizes the association.

“The fault must change camp”

“”The fault must change camp: it is not up to consumers to be pointed out, but professionals to review their practices“, Says Laetitia Vasseur, co-founder of Hop. For the association, the recent law on fast-fashion is an ersatz of good idea, but which is not going away. To be effective, the law should be completely framed”the frequency of renewal of models and collections“, pleads hop. At first, the association would like”specifically target unacceptable practices that explicitly push for renewal or devalue old products“.

“”Deeply anchored culturally, the link between consumption, desire and novelty seems particularly complex to question“, Confidences the report, however. If supervising advertising and making the innovation police seems to be a gargantuan task, Julie Caillard specifies:”Our goal for the moment is to inform about the subject, objectify and offer avenues of solution. We are aware that everything will not change overnight“.

The inscription of a new marketing obsolescence offense remains the horizon targeted by the association. After all, France was The first country to do planned obsolescence in laweven if no conviction has yet been pronounced on this basis.

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