Increasing the service components of products may contribute towards sustainable consumption and enable customisation of products, but changes conditions for communication. In a study on functional sales, participants in two focus groups were presented with four hypothetical examples. The participants were found to question the motives and capabilities of the producer and were quite sceptical to the offers. This text explores if this may be explained by how the offers were presented and interpreted, and by inherent problems with communicative aspects of dematerialised products. Dematerialisation changes the conditions for communication at different stages of the product usage lifecycle. A physical artefact may embody meaning which helps the user interpret the product and its consequences. In use it may enable sending messages to others. Over time products also become associated with personal meanings which may be important in long term use and attachment. Dematerialisation changes the conditions for all of these.
5 pages