Role of Consumer Minimalism and Psychological Ownership in Consumption Behavior

Abstract

In recent years, minimalism has become a trend and garnered academics and practitioners' interest. Consumer minimalism encourages mindful consumption and promotes concern for protecting the environment by reducing excessive purchases. Drawing on psychological ownership theory, this paper uses three studies to examine the interplay between consumer minimalism, psychological ownership, the ascription of responsibility towards the environment, and anticipated guilt in the context of furniture rental consumption behavior. Study 1 used Instagram post data to capture the latest trends in furniture rental on Instagram. In contrast, Study 2 (experiment) and Study 3 (survey) examined the mediation and moderation effects between consumer minimalism and rental consumption behavior. This study enriches the scarce literature on alternative consumption models by integrating the theory of psychological ownership with consumer minimalism and examining moderating roles of the ascription of responsibility and anticipated guilt.