Consumer’s perception about luxury apparel consumption in the sharing economy

Abstract

As the sharing economy has grown with a rapid pace in past few years, with uberization occurring in all many services. Fashion has become one such area, where sharing economy has taken root, and is flourishing all over the world. Many designer brands are finding way to collaborate with businesses to operate rental platforms. Customers are also getting versed with the sharing of clothes. Luxury Fashion market has seen rise of rentals, and it has become an alternative to purchase of clothes for many consumers. Companies such as Rent the Runway, Lending Luxury, and Girl Meets Dress have seen success in this growing sector. In India, FlyRobe, Date the Ramp and Liberent are operating in this space. This study is conducted to understand the consumer’s motivations and inhibitors about luxury apparel renting in Indian Context. It also tries to understand the impact of Covid-19 on consumer attitude. Hypothesis were defined based on the exploratory analysis, and data was collected through online surveys. Structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed hypothesis. It was found from the study that attitude towards collaborative consumption has significant positive impact on behaviour/ renting intention. Trust on platforms ability, economic benefits and positive emotions while engaging in rental fashion positively and significantly impact the attitude towards collaborative consumption.