Renting clothes online in Portugal

: influence of consumer characteristics and service delivery on attitude

Abstract

In recent years, novel consumption patterns have emerged, with consumers becomingincreasingly aware of their impact on the environment. This has led to the rise of a new mindset and culture, in which consumers pay to use and experience goods and services instead of owning them, designated as access-based consumption.Spurred by the success of this business model internationally and the gap existent in the Portuguese market, this study aims to identify the effect of individual consumer and service characteristics on the attitudinal development process and consumers' intention to adopt this disruptive service.This study aimed to empirically test the effect of both consumer characteristics – fashionleadership, need for uniqueness, ownership importance, and environmental awareness – andservice delivery features – importance of fast delivery and cleanliness of the rented products –on attitude toward renting clothes online on a monthly subscription basis. Besides, the effect of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control on participants´ intention wasalso scrutinized. This research was based on the Theory of Planned Behavior.The results from the survey indicated that fashion leadership, environmental awareness,importance of ownership, and ability to offer a fast delivery directly influenced consumer´s attitude. Additionally, attitude and subjective norm revealed a positive effect on the intentionto participate in the renting system.The present research can inform fashion subscription service managers regarding whichconsumer and service dimensions should be considered, in order to accurately attract andconvert the appropriate consumer segments and streamline their marketing campaigns accordingly.

Date of Award	27 Jan 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Iolanda D'Amato (Supervisor)