Oksana Mont
Professor
Consumer acceptance and value in use-oriented product-service systems : Lessons from Swedish consumer goods companies
Author
Summary, in English
In order to make our production and consumption systems more sustainable, there is a need to further explore and support novel business models with higher sustainability potential. Use-oriented product-service systems (u-PSS) are considered a promising alternative to traditional ownership-based business models, as they may result in lower environmental impacts. The presence of u-PSS in consumer goods markets, however, is still small. This is due in part to the nature of the products and lack of consumer acceptance of u-PSS. Lately, however, companies in Sweden have begun offering u-PSS for consumer goods, thereby challenging earlier findings. Understanding about how companies encourage consumers to select u-PSS over ownership-based options is still lacking. We investigate this question by conducting interviews with and analysing websites and publicly available company reports of seven Swedish companies from three consumer goods sectors: clothing, eyewear and furniture. We found that, while consumer barriers to u-PSS found in previous studies—uncertainty and trust, economics and costs and desire to own—persist, tailoring elements of u-PSS business models to different markets, sectors and consumer segments can help address these barriers and ensure u-PSS resonate with consumers. The study also applies the concept of consumer perceived value to show how emphasising different dimensions of value—financial, functional, emotional and social—provided by u-PSS may help increase their acceptance and adoption.
Department/s
- The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
Publishing year
2020-10-01
Language
English
Publication/Series
Sustainability (Switzerland)
Volume
12
Issue
19
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
MDPI AG
Topic
- Economics
Keywords
- Consumer acceptance
- Consumer goods
- Consumer perceived value
- Sweden
- Use-oriented product-service systems
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 2071-1050