What is Mine is not Yours: Further Insight on what Access-Based Consumption says about Consumers
ISBN: 978-1-78190-810-5, eISBN: 978-1-78190-811-2
Publication date: 6 December 2013
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to explore the interaction between access-based consumption (ABC) and consumer culture in the specific context of baby products, and connect the two streams of consumer research and design theory, by associating ABC with product service systems (PSS) which are seen as desirable as they offer a promise of sustainability.
Methodology/approach
Within an action research approach consisting of the establishment of a pilot service provision, we conducted ethnographies including in-depth interviews and focus groups.
Findings
The adoption of access-based provisions is constrained by low compatibility with consumer culture. Consumers are concerned with the provision’s ability to satisfy their needs, what this mode of consumption says about them, and the extent to which it associates them with communities of practice.
Research limitations
The limitations are the typical ones of action research, which is linked to a unique, researcher-generated context where the researcher is also a participant, and therefore are difficult to generalize.
Research implications
The large-scale implementation of PSS underpinning ABC is problematic as it challenges consumers’ needs for self-expression and affiliation; however, we found that consumers in this specific context are responsive to the environmental efficiency of PSS.
Originality/value
Our research explores the intersection between consumer research and design, and consumers’ response to sustainable business models which underpin ABC.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgment
The Authors would like to thank the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for the support they have given to this research, and reviewers who helped us develop this contribution.
Citation
Catulli, M., Lindley, J.K., Reed, N.B., Green, A., Hyseni, H. and Kiri, S. (2013), "What is Mine is not Yours: Further Insight on what Access-Based Consumption says about Consumers", Consumer Culture Theory (Research in Consumer Behavior, Vol. 15), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 185-208. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0885-2111(2013)0000015012
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited