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The accessor effect: How (and for whom) renters’ lack of perceived brand commitment dilutes brand image

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Abstract

To compete against disruptive startups such as Rent the Runway and Zipcar, many established brands have shifted from traditional ownership business models to access business models by providing short-term rentals of existing goods. Despite their growing popularity, surprisingly little is known about how access offers affect consumer responses. The current research addresses this gap and reveals unintended consequences of introducing branded access offers. Across four experiments, the authors find that consumers whose brand attachment reflects their identity as a member of a group (e.g., those with a high group-brand connection) think that access versus traditional (ownership-based) offers more negatively impact parent brand image. This accessor effect occurs because consumers with high group-brand connections are differentially sensitive to accessors’ perceived lack of brand commitment. Consistent with our perceived commitment account, the effect can be mitigated when access offer rental periods are longer (vs. shorter).

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Notes

  1. Throughout the remainder of this research, “consumer” refers to the people who respond to either a brand’s access or traditional ownership offer. These consumers may or may not be existing brand owners. Accessors are the users of a brand’s access offer and owners are the users of a brand’s traditional ownership offer.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Carlos Torelli, Aric Rindfleisch, Lan Chaplin, Katherine Lemon, and Martin Mende for their helpful comments on previous versions of this manuscript. We also extend thanks for helpful input provided by marketing seminar audiences at Florida State University, University of California Irvine, University of Louisville, and University of Texas Austin. The authors also thank Sahoon Kim and Daniel Chin for support in data collection. This research was funded by research support from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, the Bruce and Anne Strohm Faculty Research Fund, the University of Louisville College of Business, The PhD Project, and the Brands and Brand Relationships Conference. Support from the Gies Business Research Lab and Stephens Family YMCA is also gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. College of Business, University of Louisville, 110 W Brandeis Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, 40208

    Aaron J. Barnes

  2. Gies College of Business, University of Illinois, 515 Gregory Drive, Champaign, Illinois, USA, 61820

    Tiffany Barnett White

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Barnes, A.J., White, T.B. The accessor effect: How (and for whom) renters’ lack of perceived brand commitment dilutes brand image. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-024-01006-z

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