To compete against disruptive startups such as Rent the Runway and Zipcar, many established brands have shifted from traditional ownership business models to access business models by providing short-term rentals of existing goods. Despite their growing popularity, surprisingly little is known about how access offers affect consumer responses. The current research addresses this gap and reveals unintended consequences of introducing branded access offers. Across four experiments, the authors find that consumers whose brand attachment reflects their identity as a member of a group (e.g., those with a high group-brand connection) think that access versus traditional (ownership-based) offers more negatively impact parent brand image. This accessor effect occurs because consumers with high group-brand connections are differentially sensitive to accessors’ perceived lack of brand commitment. Consistent with our perceived commitment account, the effect can be mitigated when access offer rental periods are longer (vs. shorter).

为了与 Rent the Runway 和 Zipcar 等颠覆性初创公司竞争，许多知名品牌已经从传统的所有权业务模式转向通过提供现有商品的短期租赁来获取业务模式。尽管它们越来越受欢迎，但令人惊讶的是，人们对访问优惠如何影响消费者反应知之甚少。当前的研究解决了这一差距，并揭示了引入品牌访问优惠的意外后果。通过四项实验，作者发现，品牌依恋反映了他们作为群体成员身份的消费者（例如，具有较高群体品牌联系的消费者）认为，与传统（基于所有权）相比，访问对母品牌形象产生了更多负面影响。之所以会出现这种访问者效应，是因为具有较高集团品牌联系的消费者对于访问者感知到的缺乏品牌承诺的敏感度不同。与我们感知的承诺账户一致，当访问提供的租赁期较长（相对于较短）时，可以减轻影响。