IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/mktlet/v35y2024i3d10.1007_s11002-023-09708-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Renting as a coping strategy: the effect of unethical product attributes on the choice between renting and buying

Author

Listed:
  • In-Hye Kang

    (California State Polytechnic University)

  • Taehoon Park

    (Lutgert College of Business, Florida Gulf Coast University)

Abstract

Consumers are often faced with a choice to rent or buy. Beyond the economic attributes such as price, limited research has examined how specific product attributes influence consumers’ choices. We show that unethical product attributes influence consumers’ choice between renting and buying. Across six studies, we demonstrate that consumers are more likely to choose renting over buying when an unethical product attribute is present (vs. absent) because consumers anticipate feeling less guilt about renting (vs. buying) a product with unethical attributes. Consistent with the anticipated guilt mechanism, this effect is greater for consumers with higher guilt-proneness and with stronger self-brand connection. Taken together, we show that consumers use renting as a coping strategy to reduce negative emotions associated with using unethical products.

Suggested Citation

  • In-Hye Kang & Taehoon Park, 2024. "Renting as a coping strategy: the effect of unethical product attributes on the choice between renting and buying," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 335-351, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:35:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s11002-023-09708-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-023-09708-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11002-023-09708-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11002-023-09708-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. In-Hye Kang & Taehoon Park, 2022. "Cultural Differences in Consumer Responses to Celebrities Acting Immorally: A Comparison of the United States and South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 373-389, September.
    2. Fleura Bardhi & Giana M. Eckhardt, 2012. "Access-Based Consumption: The Case of Car Sharing," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(4), pages 881-898.
    3. Knox, George & Eliashberg, Jehoshua, 2009. "The consumer's rent vs. buy decision in the rentailer," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 125-135.
    4. Remi Trudel & Jennifer J. Argo & Matthew D. Meng, 2016. "The Recycled Self: Consumers’ Disposal Decisions of Identity-Linked Products," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(2), pages 246-264.
    5. Gino, Francesca & Ayal, Shahar & Ariely, Dan, 2013. "Self-serving altruism? The lure of unethical actions that benefit others," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 285-292.
    6. Amit Bhattacharjee & Jonathan Z. Berman & Americus Reed II, 2013. "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger: How Moral Decoupling Enables Consumers to Admire and Admonish," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(6), pages 1167-1184.
    7. Cotte, June & Coulter, Robin A. & Moore, Melissa, 2005. "Enhancing or disrupting guilt: the role of ad credibility and perceived manipulative intent," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 361-368, March.
    8. R Dustin Harding & Diogo Hildebrand & Thomas Kramer & Jannine D Lasaleta & Vicki G MorwitzEditor & Amna KirmaniEditor & Chris JaniszewskiAssociate Editor, 2019. "The Impact of Acquisition Mode on Expected Speed of Product Mastery and Subsequent Consumer Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 46(1), pages 140-158.
    9. Ozgun Atasoy & Carey K Morewedge & Vicki MorwitzEditor & Kristin DiehlAssociate Editor, 2018. "Digital Goods Are Valued Less Than Physical Goods," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(6), pages 1343-1357.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schaefers, Tobias & Leban, Marina & Vogt, Florian, 2022. "On-demand features: Consumer reactions to tangibility and pricing structure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 751-761.
    2. Paul Rogers, 2021. "Rented But MINE! Application of Psychological Ownership Theory to Access-Based Consumption and the Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 719-744, September.
    3. Francesco Pasimeni, 2020. "The Origin of the Sharing Economy Meets the Legacy of Fractional Ownership," SPRU Working Paper Series 2020-19, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    4. Sabrina V. Helm & Victoria Ligon & Tony Stovall & Silvia Riper, 2018. "Consumer interpretations of digital ownership in the book market," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 28(2), pages 177-189, May.
    5. Kathleen S. Micken & Scott D. Roberts & Jason D. Oliver, 2020. "The digital continuum: the influence of ownership, access, control, and Cocreation on digital offerings," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 10(1), pages 98-115, June.
    6. Atasoy, Özgün & Trudel, Remi & Noseworthy, Theodore J. & Kaufmann, Patrick J., 2022. "Tangibility bias in investment risk judgments," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    7. Küper, Inken & Edinger-Schons, Laura Marie, 2020. "Is sharing up for sale? Monetary exchanges in the sharing economy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 223-234.
    8. Kettle, Keri L. & Mantonakis, Antonia, 2024. "Look for the signature: Using personal signatures as extrinsic cues promotes identity-congruent behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    9. Domingo Gil-Giménez & Gladys Rolo-González & Ernesto Suárez & Gabriel Muinos, 2021. "The Influence of Environmental Self-Identity on the Relationship between Consumer Identities and Frugal Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-15, August.
    10. Sirieix, Lucie & Lála, Jan & Kocmanová, Klára, 2017. "Understanding the antecedents of consumers' attitudes towards doggy bags in restaurants: Concern about food waste, culture, norms and emotions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 153-158.
    11. Leah Warfield Smith & Randall Lee Rose & Alex R. Zablah & Heath McCullough & Mohammad “Mike” Saljoughian, 2023. "Examining post-purchase consumer responses to product automation," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 530-550, May.
    12. Lamar Pierce & Jason Snyder, 2015. "Unethical Demand and Employee Turnover," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(4), pages 853-869, November.
    13. Jose María Martín‐Martín & María S. Ostos‐Rey & Jose A. Salinas‐Fernández, 2019. "Why Regulation Is Needed in Emerging Markets in the Tourism Sector," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 78(1), pages 225-254, January.
    14. Asuamah Yeboah, Samuel, 2023. "Sustaining Change: Unravelling the Socio-cultural Threads of Sustainable Consumption," MPRA Paper 117981, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jun 2023.
    15. Pieper, Nadine & Woisetschläger, David M., 2024. "Customer misbehavior in access-based mobility services: An examination of prevention strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    16. Paolo E. Giordani & Francesco Rullani, 2020. "The Digital Revolution and COVID-19," Working Papers 06, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    17. Chris Hydock & Neeru Paharia & T. J. Weber, 2019. "The Consumer Response to Corporate Political Advocacy: a Review and Future Directions," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 6(3), pages 76-83, December.
    18. Alessandro Avenali & Yuri Maria Chianese & Graziano Ciucciarelli & Giorgio Grani & Laura Palagi, 2019. "Profit optimization in one-way free float car sharing services: a user based relocation strategy relying on price differentiation and Urban Area Values," DIAG Technical Reports 2019-04, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza".
    19. Danilov, Anastasia & Biemann, Torsten & Kring, Thorn & Sliwka, Dirk, 2013. "The dark side of team incentives: Experimental evidence on advice quality from financial service professionals," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 266-272.
    20. Dingju Zhu, 2020. "Big Data based Research on Mechanisms of Sharing Economy Restructuring the World," Papers 2001.08926, arXiv.org.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:35:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s11002-023-09708-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.