Access-based services as substitutes for material possessions: the role of psychological ownership

Abstract

Access-based services—in which consumers do not physically own material goods but gainaccess to services by registering with the provider—have risenin popularityas an alternative to individual ownership and conventional consumption.Yet,companies still face key challenges in promoting theseservices. Prior research indicates that consumersassign significant importance to their material possessions; the current study investigates how psychological ownership, or the mental state of perceiving something as one’s own, attainedthrough access-based services might lead customers toincrease their service useand forgomaterial ownershipand consumption. With four studies,using cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental data, as well as combined self-reportswith usage data,we theorize and demonstrate this effect. Firms that offer access-based services can increase customers’ service psychologicalownership, which acts as a psychological substitute for physical ownership and increases access-based service use. The results suggest ways managers can leverage the psychological power of ownershipfeelings,rather than try to fight the lackof actual ownership,in access-based consumptioncontexts.