Does Access Trump Ownership? Exploring Consumer Acceptance of Access-Based Consumption in the Case of Smartphones

Abstract

Value creation in a circular economy is based on products being returned after use. In the case of smartphones, most are never returned and tend to be kept in drawers. Smartphone access services (e.g., leasing or upgrade) have been experimented with in the Netherlands but have been largely unsuccessful. This study explores the reasons why consumers rejected these access-based smartphone services and is one of the very few to address this topic. The findings are compared with the case of car access services, which are socially better accepted, to identify potential areas for improvement. The qualitative study consists of in-depth interviews with consumers (n = 18) who either adopted and used a smartphone or car access service, or had considered a new smartphone or car but did not choose access-based consumption. The findings of this small-scale study suggest that the main reasons for the rejection of smartphone access services are a lack of awareness, misunderstanding of terms and conditions, and unsatisfactory compensation for their sacrifice of not owning. Smartphone access providers could thus clearly communicate customers' rights and responsibilities, offer an excellent service experience (especially during repair) by taking over the burdens of ownership, and stimulate the societal logic shift from ownership to access.

Predicting consumer adoption of branded subscription services: A prospect theory perspective

“…This is in line with findings that purchase decisions involving risk can be influenced through information during the editing stage of Prospect Theory (Creyer, ). This mirrors consumer desire for more information on PSS exhibited in qualitative studies to reduce uncertainties (Catulli, Cook, & Potter, ; Överholm, ; Poppelaars, Bakker, & van Engelen, ), which has also been observed in practice, although it is not known to what effect (Chamberlin & Boks, ; Chian Tan, Cahalane, Tan, & Englert, ).…”

“…Looking at classical models of consumer decision‐making explored in the context of PSS, Poppelaars, Bakker, and van Engelen () assert that a consumer determines during an initial adoption phase whether to buy an (unfamiliar) PSS and a later acceptance phase whether to continue using the PSS. The use Practice and Consumer Culture Theory have benefitted understanding the latter more than the former as not all insight from about value‐in‐use may also be known to the consumer when considering first purchase.…”

“…Although PSS have been claimed to offer increased convenience to the consumer as providers undertake some of the duties in product acquisition and disposal (Poppelaars, Bakker, & van Engelen, ), this may also become a drawback depending on the context. In the context of fashion, Armstrong, Niinimäki, Kujala, Karell, and Lang () find shopping as an activity in itself brings satisfaction to consumers as it fulfils needs around renewal and socialising, common also in fashion library contexts (Pedersen & Netter, ).…”

“…The success of sustainable PSS in business‐to‐consumer (B2C) markets has been limited (Tukker, ), and exceptions tend to focus on temporal consumer needs and consumer personas with narrow use‐regimes such as car‐sharing providers (Lee, Geum, Lee, & Park, ; Poppelaars, Bakker, & van Engelen, ). One reason for the lack of success of more radical PSS on the service side of the spectrum in larger markets is a seemingly low willingness of consumers to adopt them.…”

“…First, although these studies have advanced the understanding of the range of drivers and barriers to consumer adoption, the relative importance of these is unknown as initial studies have largely utilised qualitative approaches (e.g. Catulli, Cook, & Potter, , ; Cherry & Pidgeon, ; Linder & Williander, ; Poppelaars, Bakker, & van Engelen, ; Rexfelt & Hiort af Ornäs, ). In the case of quantitative studies, scholars have divided their attention between a number of different PSS options to map which barriers affect which PSS configurations (e.g.…”