Title: Consumer acceptance of fuel-cell systems in electronic products

Authors: Bas Flipsen; Christos Spitas; Anne Raangs

Addresses: School of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628CE Delft, The Netherlands ' School of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628CE Delft, The Netherlands ' School of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628CE Delft, The Netherlands

Abstract: Introducing a fuel-cell powered power source in a portable electronic device could increase the run time of the device. It will also introduce problems such as higher run costs. One important property for the user when he/she is buying a device is the 'runtime on one charge'. Batteries are limited in this and the time-to-use on a full charge is decreasing with increasing functionality. When the user is making the transition to fuel-cells, he/she has to be willing to change their behaviour from grid-connected to cartridge-based charging. This paper investigates the willingness of the consumer to change to a cartridge-based electronic device. To test the willingness of the consumer, the conjoint analysis is used and the results show that the user finds volume the most important property influencing his/her buying behaviour. This research also shows the value and limitations of the conjoint analysis as a tool to evaluate new technologies.

Keywords: fuel cells; consumer acceptance; conjoint analysis; electronic products; portable devices; cartridge-based electronics; willingness of change; volume; new technology evaluation.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2013.056592

Journal of Design Research, 2013 Vol.11 No.3, pp.263 - 277

Accepted: 06 May 2013
Published online: 28 Jun 2014 *

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