Perceived risks and enjoyment of access-based consumption: identifying barriers and motivations to fashion renting

Abstract Access-based consumption, a growing trend in today’s society, provides the consumer with an opportunity to have access to new and diverse products without the burden of ownership. As one form of access-based consumption in the fashion industry, fashion renting still lacks development and popularity. The purpose of this study is to identify how perceived risks and frugal shopping affect the attitudes, perceived enjoyment and further behavioral intention toward the adoption of fashion renting. An online survey was conducted with 452 participants in the United States. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. The results confirmed the negative influences of three perceived risks (financial risk, performance risk, psychological risk) and the positive influences of frugal shopping on attitude toward and perceived enjoyment of fashion renting. Additionally, perceived enjoyment and attitudes were both found having positive influences on consumers’ intention toward fashion renting. This study contributes to existing literature by discovering the effects of perceived risks on attitude and perceived enjoyment of fashion renting and further fashion renting intentions. Managerial suggestions are also provided to promote fashion renting in the future.