Why do and why don't consumers use fashion rental services? A consumption value perspective

Purpose The study utilized the consumption value theory to explore the motivational factors that define and differentiate the users and nonusers of fashion rental services Design/methodology/approach A focus group was conducted to generate an initial list of measurement items. These items were refined through a pretest and then used in a self-administered online questionnaire to collect data from a total of 300 users and 300 nonusers. The collected data were analyzed using factor analysis to identify the factors that define users and nonusers. A MANOVA was then conducted to explore the differences in the identified factors between users and nonusers. Findings Using factor analysis, nine factors were extracted across the five consumption values (functional, social, emotional, conditional and epistemic). MANOVA revealed a significant difference between users and nonusers across all factors. Further analyses suggested that the most differentiating factors are two emotional value factors and one social value factor. Originality Despite existing studies of fashion rental services, it is debatable whether the phenomenon is fully understood since previous studies primarily focus on consumers who engage in fashion renting services – there is a lack of focus on nonusers. This study provides unique contributions by exploring the phenomenon from both the user's and the nonuser's perspective.