Drivers of luxury rental platform adoption

Abstract

The luxury fashion industry is undergoing a structural transformation driven by the rise of circular business models such as rental and resale. In particular, rental models are an example of access-based consumption that promises sustainability and increased affordability, while simultaneously challenging core luxury principles of exclusivity, ownership, and symbolic value. This tension raises a central question: what drives consumer adoption of luxury fashion rental platforms? This thesis used an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design to investigate the drivers that influence the adoption of luxury rentals. In the qualitative phase, twelve interviews with industry experts from global luxury brands were analyzed using thematic analysis.These insights created the development of hypotheses and measurement constructs for the quantitative phase. An online survey of 549 respondents was analyzed using binary logistic regression to assess the relative influence of functional, social, and symbolic motives on adoption behavior. The findings indicated that adoption of luxury rental platforms is primarily driven by social and symbolic factors. Positive social influence emerged as the strongest predictor of adoption, followed by prestige access motives, highlighting the importance of social approval and status signaling. By integrating theories of planned behavior, conspicuous consumption, and value-based motivation, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of circular luxury consumption and provides actionable implications for rental platforms and luxury brands navigating access-based business models.

Date of Award	4 Feb 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Peter V. Rajsingh (Supervisor)