Promoting access-based consumption practices through fashion renting: evidence from Italy

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to extend the research on fashion renting (FR) by investigating how personal and social motives (i.e. “subjective norms”, “perceived behavioural control”, “sustainable orientation” and “FR benefits”) affect consumers’ attitudes and intentions towards it. In addition, personality traits are investigated as potential antecedents of FR, resulting in the proposal of an overall framework that combines the theory of planned behaviour with the trait theory approach.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected in Italy from a sample of 694 consumers, mainly females (88%), with an average age of 28.8 years and coming from all over the country. The collected data were then processed via structural equation modelling.

Findings

The results indicated that intention towards FR is influenced by attitude, which, in turn, is affected by social norms, perceived behavioural control, sustainable orientation and FR benefits. Furthermore, only fashion leadership acts as a direct antecedent of FR attitude, while the need for uniqueness and materialism plays critical roles as predictors of personal and social motives. Subjective norms and perceived behavioural control also serve as mediators of the significant relationships between personality traits and attitudes towards FR.

Practical implications

The study provides useful implications for fashion rental companies in attracting consumers and offers a foundation for further research on transforming traditional consumption into a more sustainable one.

Originality/value

The study presents new knowledge on the rental phenomenon in the fashion sector by responding to the call to deepen the analysis of factors that influence consumers’ adoption of FR from the perspectives of personal and social motives and personality traits.

Citation

Savelli, E., Francioni, B., Curina, I. and Cioppi, M. (2024), "Promoting access-based consumption practices through fashion renting: evidence from Italy", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 61-77. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-02-2023-5843

1. Introduction

Over the last decade, the massive social and environmental impact of the fashion industry has increasingly attracted overall attention towards its unsustainable consumption and production processes (Kumar et al., 2022). Currently, the fashion industry represents the second-largest cause of global pollution and it is responsible for many environmental hazards (Adamkiewicz et al., 2022). Moreover, it is also involved in many social and ethical issues. For instance, several fashion companies cut their costs by sourcing from manufacturers operating in countries with lower salary ranges (Fung et al., 2021). This evidence suggests the necessity for companies to quickly change their strategies and move towards a more sustainable business model.

By contrast, more and more greenwashing episodes emerge today, with several companies communicating the realisation of often false sustainable actions (Jedrzejczak, 2020). This reveals the current weakness and inconsistency of fashion companies’ sustainable approaches, thus, underlining the necessity to intervene in this regard (Tarai et al., 2020; Thorisdottir and Johannsdottir, 2019).

However, extant research also focuses its attention on the contradictory nature of the consumers’ behaviours (Carrington et al., 2021). Indeed, although the information era has increasingly educated consumers about ethical fashion issues, they are often reluctant to pay higher prices for eco-friendly products (Park and Lin, 2020; Jedrzejczak, 2020).

In particular, Busalim et al. (2022) recently called for a greater understanding of consumers’ attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable fashion since previous studies are both fragmented and inconclusive. Notably, literature emphasised the need to provide more knowledge on value-led consumerism (De Klerk et al., 2019), which is grounded in access-based consumption practices characterised by the absence of products’ transferring ownership (Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012). This new model of transaction represents not only an emerging consumption pattern but also a valuable practice that support the transition towards a more sustainable system (Lawson et al., 2016).

In the fashion industry, fashion renting (FR) represents one of the main practices of access-based consumption (Lang, 2018; Lang et al., 2020; Lee and Chow, 2020) and it is recognised as imperative for fashion manufacturers “to effectively upgrade their business models to attain sustainable development of fashion and ecology” (Xu et al., 2022, p. 3). FR can also encourage consumers to enjoy the use of products without the burden of ownership (Philip et al., 2015).

Despite its increasing relevance, FR is in its early stage of emergence and requires further investigation. Notably, from the literature emerges “a need to identify, analyse and summarise the factors influencing consumers to adopt fashion renting” (Jain et al., 2022, p. 1525), as existing studies are quite scarce and usually focused on one or few drivers (e.g. sustainable, hedonic and utilitarian motives). Therefore, a holistic view of FR usage is currently required from the consumer’s perspective (Becker-Leifhold and Iran, 2018).

Moreover, Jain et al. (2022) highlighted the need to expand the use of behavioural theories for explaining the consumer intention to engage in FR. Indeed, past research has extensively adopted the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991), which does not consider how consumers use fashion to express their identities (Lang and Armstrong, 2018a). Therefore, research suggested the necessity of analysing the role of personality traits as potential FR motivators (Jain et al., 2022; Lang and Armstrong, 2018a, 2018b) since they may play a critical role in affecting “the way consumers respond to different market strategies and how they consume particular products or services” (Lang and Armstrong, 2018a, p. 38).

Lastly, literature emphasised the paucity of studies investigating the effect of possible mediating variables in the relationship between attitude towards adopting FR and its antecedents (Baek and Oh, 2021; Jain et al., 2022).

Within this scenario, the present study combines the TPB constructs with the trait theory perspective to investigate the personality traits’ impact on both consumers’ attitudes and intentions towards FR and personal and social motivations, by also examining the possible mediating effects.

To achieve these objectives, the paper conducted an empirical study based on a sample of 694 Italian respondents. The selection of Italy derives from the relevance of its fashion industry in national and foreign contexts.

Overall, the contribution of the study is fourfold:

1. provide additional knowledge on the emerging practice of rental phenomenon applied to the fashion sector (Jain et al., 2022; Lang et al., 2020);

2. deepen the analysis of the factors influencing consumers’ adoption of FR by integrating both personal and social motives and personality traits into an overall framework (Jain et al., 2022);

3. examine the possible mediating effect of personal and social motives on the relationship between personality traits and FR attitude (Jain et al., 2022); and

4. offer evidence from Europe, especially Italy, since prior research has mainly focused on North America (Jain et al., 2022). Managerially, the study provides useful implications for fashion firms, especially in terms of both communication strategies supporting FR acceptance and adoption, and the implementation of effective rental services that satisfy consumers’ needs and expectations.

The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 “Background and Hypotheses Development” describes access-based consumption in the fashion industry, followed by an explanation of the integrated framework, combining TPB and trait theory. Section 3 “Methodology” details the research instrument, data collection and processing. Section 4 “Results” presents the measurement and structural models. In Section 5 “Discussion and Implications”, theoretical and practical insights are explored. The article concludes with a concise summary in Section 6 “Conclusions”, providing a comprehensive overview, limitations and directions for future research.

2. Background and hypotheses development

2.1 Access-based consumption in the fashion industry: a focus on fashion renting

Literature defines access-based consumption as “market-mediated transactions that provide customers with temporarily limited access to goods in return for an access fee, while the legal ownership remains with the service provider” (Schaefers et al., 2016, p. 3). Although it is encompassed within the umbrella of collaborative consumption (CC) (Albinsson et al., 2019) – which is part of the broader sharing economy concept (Hamari et al., 2016) – access-based consumption differs, as CC could also imply ownership exchanges, such as second-hand purchasing, reselling or swapping (Botsman and Rogers, 2010).

Several studies (e.g. Lang, 2018; Möhlmann, 2015) have investigated the motivations and barriers to engage in access-based consumption. For instance, Lawson et al. (2016) grouped positive drivers as economic and environmental consciousness and status consumption, whereas possessiveness and materialism as potential deterrents.

FR has been often included among the different forms of access-based consumption (Kumar et al., 2022; Jain et al., 2022), and it is expected to be the future of fashion, having great potential to achieve sustainable objectives (Lang et al., 2020). Indeed, renting represents a way to reduce the environmental load and the amount of waste caused during the production and use of fashion items.

Although FR has only recently emerged as a specific research domain, different studies have investigated the antecedents of this practice, including hedonic (e.g. Noe and Hyun, 2020), personal (e.g. Lang and Armstrong, 2018b) and utilitarian motives (e.g. Jain et al., 2022), besides sustainable ones (Jain et al., 2022). The latter, in particular, have been discussed along their different dimensions, namely:

• environmental, since the life cycle of fashion products is extended;

• social, as FR allows consumers to access both high-quality clothes (e.g. luxury items) and fashionable items suiting their personal and social needs; and

• economic, since FR allows the reduction of the excessive consumption of clothing (Lang et al., 2020).

However, the current adoption of rental practices in the fashion context is still shallow (Jain et al., 2022), thus, underlining the necessity to deeply investigate the influence of personal, social and other motivations on consumers’ attitudes and intentions towards them. In response to this stimulus, the present study proposes a broad framework of analysis integrating the TPB constructs with the trait theory perspective, as explained in the next section.

2.2 Theory of planned behaviour and trait theory: an integrated framework

The TPB framework has been often used in the context of sustainable clothing consumption, as well as in relation to access-based and FR practices (e.g. Bong Ko and Jin, 2017; McNeill and Venter, 2019). It bases on a few core concepts (i.e. attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control) that can explain the individual’s behavioural intentions towards a certain topic (Ajzen, 1991). In this study, the original TPB framework has been slightly modified to better fit the research objective. Specifically, the focus is primarily on attitude instead of intention, as it better captures consumers’ perceptions towards FR. Moreover, besides considering subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, we added additional constructs to capture a considerable portion of the variation in intention or behaviour (Ajzen, 1991; Rise et al., 2010).

Therefore, this study investigates the role of sustainable orientation and FR benefits as potential motives for engaging in FR. On the one hand, we chose sustainable motives because FR is deeply related to sustainable practices (Jain et al., 2022); thus, personal orientation towards sustainability can influence consumers’ attitude towards this practice. On the other hand, we investigated FR benefits, as different studies have found that relative advantages represent major elements of a behaviour’s functional performance (Lee and Chow, 2020). Lastly, drawing from the trait theory perspective, the framework includes three additional variables as external factors, namely, fashion leadership, need for uniqueness and materialism. We choose these personality traits since they are “highly relevant to apparel consumption and having the greatest potential for providing insights into consumer intentions toward sustainable consumption” (Lang and Armstrong, 2018a, p. 39). According to Lang and Armstrong (2018a), the selected personality traits play a critical role in promoting new and sustainable models of consumption, such as FR. In particular, they have been studied in the general context of CC (Arrigo, 2021; Lang and Armstrong, 2018b), but more investigation might be useful in the specific FR domain (Jain et al., 2022). By integrating trait theory with TPB, this study provides new insights into the FR research area, improving knowledge about the relative importance of specific variables and their mutual relationships.

2.3 Hypotheses development

The basic assumption of TPB is that a certain behaviour is essentially determined by the individual’s intention to perform it. Also the sustainable fashion consumption literature (e.g. Brandão and da Costa, 2021; Iran et al., 2019; Rotimi et al., 2023) considered intention as critical to catch the motivational factors influencing a certain behaviour (Ajzen, 1991, p. 181).

Moreover, the TPB framework claims for a strong relationship existing between an actual behaviour, the individual’s intention and his/her attitude, intended as the degree of favourable or unfavourable evaluation or appraisal of the behaviour in question (Ajzen, 1991). Past research on fashion and sustainability (e.g. Valaei and Nikhashemi, 2017) often considered attitude as a predictor to measure consumers’ intentions and behaviours. For instance, Hussain et al. (2017) found that the willingness to purchase counterfeit items is largely explained by consumer’s attitudes. Lira and Costa (2022) demonstrated that individuals who have a positive pro-environmental attitude towards fashion products tend to consume slow fashion. Starting from this assumption, and based on a general rule of the TPB, the first hypothesis emerges as follows:

H1.

Consumers’ attitude towards FR adoption positively influences the intention to adopt it.

Besides this relationship, we investigated the role of subjective norms and perceived behavioural control on attitude towards FR.

About subjective norms, they can be conceptualised as personal motivations related to the individual’s social sphere, since they represent “the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform a behavior” (Ajzen, 1991, p. 188). Prior literature has extensively demonstrated the positive influence of subjective norms on consumers’ attitudes and behaviours (e.g. Ajzen, 1991; Khare, 2015). For instance, by focusing on the cosmetic sector, Aufi and Aji (2021) confirmed a positive relationship between subjective norms and consumers’ attitudes towards using halal cosmetics. Building on these premises, we can assume the following hypothesis:

H2.

Subjective norms positively influence attitude towards FR adoption.

Regarding perceived behavioural control, in addition to the original TBP paths, recent literature has corroborated the key role of this construct as an antecedent of attitude (e.g. Adam, 2023). Notably, when individuals recognise that they can easily assume a certain behaviour, they favourably view the behaviour itself and are more likely to engage in it (Adam, 2023; Tillema et al., 2010). With a specific focus on the fashion sector, Lang and Armstrong (2018b) hypothesised that perceived behavioural control has a positive influence on consumers’ intentions to adopt sustainable clothing product–service systems. However, by considering the strong mutual relationship between intention and attitude, we can suppose an equivalent positive influence of perceived behavioural control on attitude. Thus, we postulate our third hypothesis as follows:

H3.

Perceived behavioural control positively influences attitude towards FR adoption.

As introduced earlier, this study provides an extension of the TPB framework by adding two personal motives, namely, sustainable orientation and FR benefits. Concerning sustainable orientation, some studies have found that sustainable benefits do not represent the first reason leading individuals to adopt rental practices (e.g. McNeill and Venter, 2019). However, a growing number of scholars have recently corroborated the key role of individuals’ sustainable orientation (Jain et al., 2022; Lang and Armstrong, 2018a; Lee and Huang, 2020) in influencing their attitude towards CC (e.g. Böcker and Meelen, 2017) and FR practices (Blas Riesgo et al., 2023). Specifically, Blas Riesgo et al. (2023) found that consumers with a high level of sustainable orientation prefer to rent clothes with respect to buying new ones. Therefore, we can hypothesise that the more the consumers are prone to sustainable consumption, the higher they are likely to engage in FR. Thus:

H4.

Consumers’ sustainable orientation positively influences their attitude towards FR adoption.

With regard to perceived FR benefits, past literature highlighted that when consumers understand the benefits related to a specific behaviour, they tend to respond positively to the behaviour itself (Lee and Huang, 2020). By specifically focusing on FR, flexibility (e.g. Armstrong et al., 2016; Lang, 2018), self-expressiveness (e.g. Lang et al., 2016; Lee et al., 2021), economic and financial convenience (e.g. Helinski and Schewe, 2022; Lang, 2018; Lang et al., 2019), ease of use (e.g. Lang et al., 2020) and environmental reasons (Lee and Huang, 2020) have been usually recognised as the most important benefits. Notably, Lee and Chow (2020) demonstrated that the perceived advantages of participating in FR are positively related to consumers’ attitudes towards this practice. Based on the above, the fifth hypothesis emerged as follows:

H5.

FR benefits positively influence attitude towards FR adoption.

Besides improving the TPB framework with other personal motives, this study adopted the trait theory perspective by investigating the role of personality traits in explaining individual attitude towards FR. In this respect, the present study follows the arguments proposed by Lang and Armstrong (2018a), who selected three personality traits in the FR context: fashion leadership, need for uniqueness and materialism. Fashion leadership and need for uniqueness are specifically related to the individual openness dimension, as they represent the desire to explore the unfamiliar (Lang and Armstrong, 2018a). Conversely, materialism falls within the neuroticism dimension, thus, identifying consumers who are driven by extreme and unnecessary impulses and desires (Mulyanegara et al., 2009). Prior research has analysed the relationship between these personality traits and customers’ attitude towards FR by providing interesting and, sometimes, contradictory results.

Concerning fashion leadership, Lang and Armstrong (2018a) discussed its positive relationship with FR attitude. In detail, they underlined how people with high levels of fashion leadership are more inclined to accept new fashion styles and consumption models.

As for need for uniqueness, contradictory results emerged, with some studies demonstrating a negative impact of this trait on FR attitude (e.g. Lang and Armstrong, 2018a) and others detecting a positive one (e.g. Ruan et al., 2022). Following the study of Shao et al. (2019), we supposed that consumers with high levels of need for distinctiveness desire to express their self-identity through unique products. Hence, FR is promising since it improves the consumers’ ability to build a distinctive self-identity and communicate a unique image.

Lastly, previous studies (e.g. Manchiraju, 2013) have underlined how materialistic individuals tend to “place ownership of products at the center of their lives” (Lang and Armstrong, 2018a, p. 40). Given that FR promotes temporary possession at the expense of permanent ownership (Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2010), it is plausible to conclude that the more the consumers are materialistic, the less likely they are to adopt this practice. All these observations allowed to draw the following hypothesis:

H6.

Attitude towards FR adoption is (H6a) positively influenced by fashion leadership, (H6b) positively influenced by need for uniqueness and (H6c) negatively influenced by materialism.

Personality traits can also influence the personal and social motivations included in the TPB framework (Lang and Armstrong, 2018b). By focusing on subjective norms, the extant literature has identified the positive impact of fashion leadership on them (Lang and Armstrong, 2018b). Indeed, this personality trait has often been associated with the sphere of social influence. According to Hahn and Lee (2014), fashion leaders are highly influenced by media advertising as well as by people who are important for their fashion lives such as bloggers and influencers. Similarly, need for uniqueness is positively related to subjective norms since the desire for uniqueness is always bound by the search for social assimilation and approval (Simonson and Nowlis, 2000). Indeed, “uniqueness is sought only to the point of avoiding social isolation or strong disapproval” (Ruvio, 2008, p. 446). Conversely, based on previous studies (e.g. Sreen et al., 2020), we postulated a negative impact of materialism on subjective norms. For instance, Joung (2013) conceptualised materialistic consumers as individualistic, self-centred, open to compulsive buying consumption, and not inclined to listen to the opinions of others. Consequently, it is likely that the more the consumer are materialistic, the less they consider the others’ opinion. The following hypothesis accounts for the above relationships:

H7.

Subjective norms are (H7a) positively influenced by fashion leadership, (H7b) positively influenced by need for uniqueness and (H7c) negatively influenced by materialism.

With regard to perceived behavioural control, previous studies have focused on the relationship between this construct and fashion leadership. For example, Lang and Armstrong (2018a, 2018b) assumed that consumers with high levels of fashion leadership might be more likely to adopt specific behaviours in the fashion context, such as FR. This allowed us to assume that consumers, who are fashion leaders, are more likely to develop specific knowledge and actionable beliefs towards FR. Similarly, previous literature has also investigated the influence of need for uniqueness on the consumers’ perception towards specific behaviours (e.g. Mohammadi et al., 2021; Seo and Lang, 2019). However, only a few studies have examined this relationship in the apparel industry, especially with a focus on CC and FR practices (Lang and Armstrong, 2018a). In this study, following McCoy et al. (2021) and Lang and Armstrong (2018a), we supposed that customers with high levels of need for uniqueness tend to develop more favourable behavioural preferences and perceptions of FR. Regarding materialism, previous research (e.g. Lang and Armstrong, 2018a), identified a negative impact of this personality trait on perceived behavioural control. Indeed, materialistic consumers place possession at the centre of their lives, thus, contrasting with the main FR characteristics, such as consumption reduction and lack of ownership (Johnson et al., 2016). Based on the above, we postulated the following hypothesis:

H8.

Perceived behavioural control is (H8a) positively influenced by fashion leadership, (H8b) positively influenced by need for uniqueness and (H8c) negatively influenced by materialism.

As for sustainable orientation, the extant literature assumed that fashion leadership has a positive influence on it. In particular, the willingness to be a fashion leader influences the adoption of new fashion items (Lang and Armstrong, 2018b), as well as the overall acceptance of new social trends occurring in the fashion industry (Kang and Park‐Poaps, 2010). This allows individuals to be even more distinctive and to feel better appreciated by society. In this respect, fashion leadership can encourage pro-sustainable behaviour (e.g. Cho and Workman, 2014), as the attention to ecological and sustainable issues currently represents one of the main social trends (Khandual and Pradhan, 2019). Similarly, previous research confirmed that people characterised by high levels of need for uniqueness tend to be more sensitive to environmental and sustainable issues. Indeed, consumers searching for uniqueness present a higher level of green purchasing attitudes and behaviours (Lin and Huang, 2012). Conversely, we hypothesised a negative impact of materialism on sustainable fashion orientation since materialistic consumers tend to support the overconsumption phenomenon, which represents one of the main obstacles to the development of a sustainable fashion orientation (Lang and Armstrong, 2018a; Manchiraju, 2013).

On this basis, the next hypothesis can be formulated as follows:

H9.

Fashion sustainable orientation is (H9a) positively influenced by fashion leadership, (H9b) positively influenced by need for uniqueness and (H9c) negatively influenced by materialism.

Lastly, regarding FR benefits, based on previous studies, we expected a positive impact of all the investigated personality traits. About fashion leadership, Lee and Huang (2020) detected how fashion-conscious consumers tend to access trendy products through CC and online FR since they better perceive the relative advantages and benefits of these practices. Similarly, Nikhashemi and Delgado-Ballester (2022) have provided evidence on how need for uniqueness leads to perceived emotional values, while Cakarnis and D'Alessandro (2015) showed that materialistic consumers tend to be more motivated to learn and deepen information about products and services and their respective benefits to make a better selection. Thus, the next hypothesis emerges as follows:

H10.

FR benefits are (H10a) positively influenced by fashion leadership, (H10b) positively influenced by need for uniqueness and (H10c) positively influenced by materialism.

Overall, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, sustainable orientation and FR benefits are expected to be significant predictors of attitude towards FR adoption, as well as outcomes of personality traits. Based on this framework, it is plausible to suppose a mediating role of such personal and social motives on the relationships between the investigated personality traits and attitude towards FR adoption. To the best of the author’s knowledge, prior research has not yet investigated this type of relationship. However, it is worthy of consideration as it allows for a better prediction of how and why personal and social motives and personality traits interact each other, leading to specific FR outcomes.

Thus, the last hypothesis can be postulated as follows:

H11.

Subjective norms (H11a), perceived behavioural control (H11b), sustainable orientation (H11c) and FR benefits (H11d) mediate the relationships between personality traits (i.e. fashion leadership, need for uniqueness and materialism) and attitude towards FR.

Figure 1 shows the conceptual model and the relative hypotheses.

3. Methodology

3.1 Instrument, measures and data collection

The paper adopted an online self-administered questionnaire specifically addressing the Italian consumers. Notably, we selected Italy due to the significance of its fashion industry in both domestic and international contexts. Indeed, fashion represents about 12% of the entire national manufacturing sector in terms of value added and 14% of total employment (PwC and Edison Foundation, 2022) [1]. Moreover, Italy has established itself as the world’s leading producer of luxury fashion products, generating about 80% of global luxury. Lastly, the country presents an interesting research setting since sustainability is becoming increasingly relevant in consumers’ choice of fashion items, especially for the youngest generations (PwC and Edison Foundation, 2022) [2].

Concerning the questionnaire, it specifically investigated:

• the relevance of sustainable issues in fashion clothing choices;

• the personality traits influencing fashion clothing consumption;

• the attitudes and behaviours toward FR adoption. In this section, we introduced a brief explanation of the FR phenomenon with the final aim of ensuring that each respondent understood the concept in the same way. An additional section; and

• examined the respondents’ socio-demographic attributes to provide an overall description of the sample profile.

To guarantee a careful completion of the survey, the questionnaire included probe questions (Stylianou, 2008). For instance, to assess sustainable orientation, besides the 5-item scale drawn from Chakraborty et al. (2022), respondents were asked to rate: “How important is sustainability when choosing a fashion item?”. All the questionnaire items were drawn and adapted from well-established sources to improve the measurements’ validity and reliability (see Appendix) and measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5).

Data were collected from February to May 2023 through the Google Forms online platform. Computer-assisted self-completion interviewing is a survey that is designed to be fulfilled by respondents themselves, without the need for an interviewer’s assistance. It is one of the main instruments for gathering data through social survey designs (Bryman and Bell, 2015). Modern research has increasingly adopted this method, as it yields more spontaneous and honest reporting. As a result, it enhances the possibility of accurately measuring genuine consumer feelings and emotions. Moreover, it is “an even more valued tool to obtain information from respondents living in different parts of a country or around the world, simply and at a low cost” (Evans and Mathur, 2005, p. 197). In this study, the online questionnaire has been placed on an easy-to-remember domain and disseminated through popular social networks like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Telegram. This type of data collection was consistent with the aim of the research since online administration allows for reaching a wide, non-probability sample that is particularly helpful when the research aims to test proposed linkages and construct relationships (Hair et al., 2017). Notably, by capturing the diversity of respondent profiles, non-probability samples can specifically analyse emerging and innovative phenomena (Zikmund et al., 2013), such as FR.

The study adopted the snowball sampling technique based on the initial use of the researchers’ social networks to establish contacts and further capture an increasing chain of participants. Before starting the questionnaire, the respondents acknowledged an informed consent statement and were aware that they were free to discontinue participation at any time. Moreover, they were fully informed about the objective of the study and that the researcher would ensure the anonymous dissemination of both preliminary and final results.

The final sample was composed of 694 valid responses. The time frame for data collection was large enough to reach an estimated minimal number of participants. Specifically, ex ante power analysis, conducted through G*Power software version 3.1, suggested a minimum number of 148 responses required (power = 0.95; f ² = 0.15, α error probability = 0.05), based on nine predictors resulting from our conceptual model (Faul et al., 2009). The sample size was also adequate with respect to a general rule of thumb applied to the structural equation modelling (SEM) approach (Kim et al., 2007), suggesting a minimum number of 10–20 cases per parameter estimated (Hair et al., 2010).

Table 1 provides the descriptive statistics of the sample.

Respondents were mainly young (mean age: 28.8), coming from all parts of Italy, and mostly engaged in studying (attending a bachelor’s or master’s programme) or working. Many of them were students working part-time to improve their conditions. Accordingly, the yearly gross income of the sample was typically less than €20,000 (23.34%) and no more than €30,000 (20.89%). Not surprisingly, most respondents were females (78.96%), thus, corroborating previous studies in the fashion industry, which indicated that females tend to be both more inclined to make decisions in apparel shopping (Xiao et al., 2023) and more prone to sustainable consumption than men (Becerra et al., 2023).

3.2 Data processing

The relationships among variables were analysed via SEM based on the PLS-PM approach. This method is particularly appropriate when there is a lack of both generally accepted analytical theory and empirical evidence, as in the case of FR (Knechel and Mintchik, 2022). Specifically, compared with other techniques based on covariances, PLS is less rigid in terms of both the measurement scales and the distribution of variables’ indicators, thus, justifying its employment in exploratory works (Chin, 2010).

Data were checked for normality, observing the skewness and kurtosis values, as well as for multicollinearity and common method bias. To examine the hypothesised framework, the PLS-SEM method was applied by performing the measurement and the structural model (Hair et al., 2014). The latent variables were measured reflectively based on the corresponding attributes.

Age, education and yearly income were considered as control variables to investigate their potential role as antecedents of FR adoption (Jain et al., 2022). Despite Lee and Chow (2020) empirically demonstrated that such variables have no significant impact on FR in the online context, Jain et al. (2022) recently highlighted the need to expand the demographic scope of the research on FR in light of new, emerging social trends. For instance, they noted how prior studies often focused on females and young people (e.g. Kim and Jin, 2021; Lang & Armstrong, 2018a, 2018b; Lee et al., 2021), while the fashion retail market is potentially growing also for males and the elderly population, given their increasing inclination towards fashion and interest in their appearance (Bain, 2020; IANS, 2017).

Data analysis was conducted using R 3.5.0 statistical software.

4. Results

4.1 The measurement model

Following Hair et al.’s (2017) guidelines, Cronbach’s alpha values and composite reliability (CR) were computed to assess model reliability. Alpha values above the threshold of 0.70 and CR values greater than 0.70 suggested good internal consistency and CR for each construct. Convergent validity was evaluated via factor loadings and average variance extracted (AVE). Notably, loading values above 0.50 and z-values above 1.96 (with p-value < 0.000) suggested that each construct explained over 50% of the indicator’s variance. AVE values ranging from 0.507 to 0.759 further met the accepted criterion for convergent validity (Hair et al., 2017) (Table 2).

Moreover, the data showed adequacy of discriminant validity (Table 3), since the square root of the AVE of each construct was greater than the square of its inter-constructs correlation (Hair et al., 2017).

An acceptable good model fit was returned by the measurement model as the main goodness-of-fit values (i.e. the ratio of the chi-square and degrees of freedom = 3.376, comparative fit index = 0.918, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.908 and root mean square error of approximation = 0.059) were above the required threshold values (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988).

4.2 The structural model

The results of the path analysis (Table 4) revealed that consumers’ intention to be engaged in FR was positively influenced by their attitude (β = 0.462, p < 0.000), thus, confirming the basic assumption of TPB proposed in H1. Attitude was positively related to subjective norms (H2: β = 0.196, p < 0.000) and perceived behavioural control (H3: β = 0.216, p < 0.000), as well as to both the individual orientation towards sustainability (H4: β = 0.082, p < 0.01) and FR benefits (H5: β = 0.259, p < 0.000). Hence, the more the consumers are driven by sustainable values when choosing fashion clothes, and the more they are aware of the potential advantages associated to rental practices, the more they are likely to get involved in FR instead of clothing ownership.

Regarding personality traits, fashion leadership was positively related to attitude (β = 0.164, p < 0.01), subjective norms (β = 0.327, p < 0.000) and perceived behavioural control (β = 0.242, p < 0.000), supporting H6a, H7a and H8a. Conversely, there were no relationships between fashion leadership and the other antecedents of attitude – that is, sustainable orientation and FR benefits – thus, rejecting both H9a and H10a. Need for uniqueness had no relationship with attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control; thus, H6b, H7b and H8b are not supported. By contrast, the more the consumers are in search of uniqueness, enjoying being original and expressing their personal style and image, the more they are interested in sustainable issues (β = 0.296, p < 0.000) and can perceive the potential advantages of FR (β = 0.212, p < 0.000). Hence, H9b and H10b are supported.

Lastly, materialism was not related to attitude, subjective norms and FR benefits, rejecting H6c, H7c and H10c. Conversely, it was significantly related to perceived behavioural control (β = −0.079, p < 0.05) and personal orientation towards sustainability (β = −0.304, p < 0.000), with negative sign, meaning that the more the consumers seek to acquire material possession of clothes they wear, the less they both perceive to be able to engage in FR and are attracted by sustainability issues. This led to the acceptance of both H8c and H9c.

Regarding the mediation analysis (H11), according to Hair et al. (2014), mediation occurs when (i) the dependent variable (i.e. attitude) and the investigated mediators (i.e. subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, sustainable orientation and FR benefits) are significantly related to the independent ones (i.e. fashion leadership, need for uniqueness and materialism) and (ii) the indirect effects between the dependent and independent variables (after having introduced the mediators) are significant. In this study, only fashion leadership was positively related to FR attitude. Moreover, fashion leadership did not relate significantly to both sustainable orientation and FR benefits. This suggested to:

1. not consider both H11c and H11d; and

2. limit the mediation analysis to the relationship between fashion leadership and FR attitude by considering subjective norms (H11a) and perceived behavioural control (H11b) as potential mediators.

In this respect, the indirect effects were both significant (see Table 5), and the mediation intensity was measured by the variance accounted for (VAF) index (Hair et al., 2014), which revealed that the mediating role was higher for subjective norms (64%) than for perceived behavioural control (47%).

After introducing the control variables (i.e. age, education and yearly income), the path analysis did not change, thus, leading to exclude the possibility that demographic differences influence consumer attitude towards FR practice.

Finally, we calculated the coefficient of determination (R²) for assessing the variance in the endogenous variable explained by the exogenous ones and the overall model predictivity. Following Hair et al. (2017), the R² values were considered acceptable since they were between 0.50 and 0.75, indicating a moderate model’s explanatory power (Table 2).

5. Discussion and implications

The results highlight the key role of attitude towards FR as a predictor to measure consumers’ intention, thus, corroborating previous studies based on the TPB framework (e.g. Ajzen, 1991; Valaei and Nikhashemi, 2017).

By specifically focusing on the antecedents of FR attitude, the findings also confirm that both individual and social motivations positively relate to attitude. Consistent with prior research of Lee and Chow (2020), and the basic assumptions of TPB (Ajzen, 2011), this study detects the significant role of subjective norms and perceived behavioural control as antecedents of FR attitude, suggesting the relevance of favourable perceptions and beliefs towards FR as well as of others’ opinion on one’s intention to adopt such practice. Furthermore, the positive influence of sustainable orientation and FR benefits on FR attitude corroborates prior studies (e.g. Lee and Huang, 2020; Lee and Chow, 2020) showing that the positive attitude towards FR increases when consumers are:

• more concerned about environmental and social issues; and

• more conscious about the potential benefits related to FR (Helinski and Schewe, 2022; Jain et al., 2022; Lang et al., 2020; Lee and Chow, 2020).

Regarding personality traits, fashion leadership emerges as a precursor of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control by confirming previous studies (e.g. Lang and Armstrong, 2018a, 2018b). However, no significant relationships have been found between this construct and sustainable orientation and FR benefits. A reasonable explanation could be that fashion leaders do not consider sustainability as an emerging trend, but rather as a well-established and familiar practice. Moreover, being a fashion leader does not necessarily imply a better understanding of the FR benefits. Indeed, for these consumers, the main concern is following new trends, regardless of their associated benefits and advantages.

As for the other personality traits (i.e. need for uniqueness and materialism), the results show non-significant relationships with FR attitude. This could be explained in the light of the fact that FR is not extensively practiced, making it difficult to determine the impact of these traits on it.

Conversely, findings underline how consumers characterised by high levels of need for uniqueness tend to be more prone towards sustainable topics and able to identify the main advantages and benefits related to the FR practice. Meanwhile, the desire for distinctiveness does not relate to both subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, suggesting that the need for uniqueness:

1. is not always driven by the aim of achieving social acceptance, as it can simply be just a way to build its own identity; and

2. does not always lead to favourable behavioural preferences of FR.

Moreover, the negative impact of materialism on perceived behavioural control and sustainable orientation suggests that materialistic consumers are less inclined to shape favourable perceptions towards FR (Lang and Armstrong, 2018a). Similarly, these consumers are not guided by sustainable values in their apparel consumption patterns (Lang and Armstrong, 2018a; Manchiraju, 2013). By contrast, the non-significant relationships between materialism and subjective norms and FR benefits could be explained in light of the fact that materialistic consumers are not necessarily self-centred as they may also be inclined to listen to others’ opinions. Moreover, the perception of FR benefits does not always increase when consumers are particularly involved in material possession. Indeed, materialistic consumers are likely to be more interested in possessing a product rather than acquiring knowledge about what they are actually buying.

Finally, concerning the mediation analysis, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control mediate the relationship between fashion leadership and FR attitude. This provides an interesting extension of TPB, suggesting that fashion leadership positively relates to FR attitude, especially when individuals are exposed to social influences and perceive that they are able to use FR. Hence, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control are critical for improving the overall influence of fashion leadership on attitude towards FR.

5.1 Theoretical implications

Theoretically, this study closes multiple research gaps characterising the field of FR. Firstly, it enriches the knowledge on the rental phenomenon applied to the fashion industry, which so far has been scarcely investigated, despite its increasing attractiveness. Jain et al. (2022), in their systematic review of the literature on FR, highlighted an evolving trend in the phenomenon, with an important growth in publications from 2018 to 2020. However, FR is still considered to be in its nascent stage of development; therefore, the authors underscored an urgent need for new insights.

Secondly, this study provides a deeper understanding of the different personal and social motives influencing consumers’ attitude towards FR adoption. The extant literature has mainly focused its attention on consumers’ perceptions of various alternative models of clothing consumption, including the renting one, without providing an exhaustive explanation of the underlying motivations (Jain et al., 2022; Lang et al., 2020). Nonetheless, investigating such motives might be helpful in informing and shaping sustainable business practices and assisting FR providers in their attempts to attract new consumers.

Thirdly, this study enriches the basic TPB framework by including other personal motives (i.e. sustainable orientation and FR benefits) and combining the framework with the trait theory perspective. Again, this research direction has recently been recommended by Jain et al. (2022), who found that most of the past studies on FR used behavioural theories, such as TPB and the theory of reasoned action. These frameworks do not consider the role of personal characteristics, whose strength and intensity can account for behavioural differences. Hence, the inclusion of personality traits in the analysis of FR antecedents provides a better understanding of consumer profiles, especially those more likely to accept FR, thus, supporting marketers’ efforts to promote FR as a more sustainable model of consumption.

Moreover, by examining the possible mediating effect of personal and social motives on the relationship between personality traits and FR attitude, the study addresses the call for deepening the investigation of the possible mediating effects in the analysis of the relationship between FR attitude and its antecedents (Baek and Oh, 2021). Finally, the study analyses a specific geographical setting (i.e. Italy), thus, expanding the extant literature beyond its focus on other contexts, particularly North America (Jain et al., 2022).

5.2 Practical implications

The managerial implications of this research mainly concern the communication area. In particular, the positive impact of subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and FR benefits on attitude allows underlining the key relevance of those communication channels enhancing word of mouth, persuasion practices and viral contents. In this respect, the use of social media platforms and interactive technologies, such as smartphones, would be advisable to create a social context that is more favourable to the adoption of FR. Likewise, communication strategies based on influencers could be more effective than those built on conventional media, including television, print media and radio. Indeed, influencers have the power to spread this practice (which is still underexplored by consumers) and, above all, transform FR into a trendy, original and self-expressive phenomenon. These channels can also allow the viral distribution of multimedia content aimed at communicating not only the FR benefits but also the ease with which it is possible to adopt this practice, thus, making its use perception more intuitive and accessible.

By focusing on the positive relationship between sustainable orientation and FR attitude, this research highlights the importance of increasing consumer interest in environmental/sustainable issues by means of communication initiatives specifically centred on the relevance of FR in reducing fashion waste, environmental pollution, excessive consumption of clothes and improving the overall accessibility to fashion products (Kumar et al., 2022).

Regarding personality traits, given the key influence of fashion leadership on social norms, attitude and perception to use FR practices, it could be interesting for retailers to use online (i.e. website, social media accounts) and offline communication channels (i.e. fashion magazines) to emphasise the trendy and cool advantages of renting practices, including the possibility of being the first to catch the latest fashion pieces. Furthermore, given that consumers with high levels of need for uniqueness are more inclined to perceive FR practices in a favourable way, especially because of their sustainable nature, it could be interesting to target them with personalised communications primarily centred on the possibility of access, in a sustainable way, to unique and particular garments.

The negative impact of materialism on sustainable orientation and perceived behavioural control suggests that rental providers should adopt communication strategies aimed at reducing the materialistic inclination of consumers towards the purchase of clothes and accessories. Indeed, materialism leads consumers to own the clothes they wear. Consequently, only by reducing this attitude, firms can bring consumers closer to FR. Again, the adoption of influencer marketing campaigns might be valuable since materialistic individuals tend to show high admiration for people wearing fashionable clothes.

Besides the above initiatives, an effective and integrated communication strategy might also involve the distribution channels and, in particular, the point of sales management. Literature widely recognises the role of distributors as significant communication tools due to their informative power and natural role of attractor (Ståhlberg and Maila, 2012). Although our study did not consider the analysis of the distribution aspects related to FR (e.g. where consumers prefer/would prefer to rent clothes, what kind of distribution services they would appreciate, etc.), it can be assumed that both physical points of sale and virtual platforms should be managed to facilitate consumers’ search for rental clothes and properly inform them about their benefits. For instance, concerning the virtual platforms, these should be as user-friendly as possible by using:

• clear photos of the products;

• comprehensive, relevant and convincing descriptions of the clothing and accessories for rent;

• reviews and ratings of other customers; and

• precise and detailed information on the costs and methods of renting them.

Similarly, fashion shops should be used as physical windows to encourage FR practices. They could contribute to creating awareness about FR, building positive images and identifying potential customers. In particular, personal salespersons should be properly trained to inform consumers about FR advantages, which so far are not so manifest in the society.

6. Conclusions

This paper provides a comprehensive understanding of consumer intention and attitude towards sustainable and access-based consumption using the mode of FR. The findings improve knowledge of the phenomenon by investigating the potential antecedents of FR attitude under a comprehensive framework of analysis, which combines typical constructs of the TPB with the trait theory perspective, and other extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. The results inform fashion rental providers on how they could improve attractiveness towards consumers and lay the basis for shaping more ethical business practices. Notwithstanding these contributions, the study has some limitations. Firstly, FR was generically analysed without specifying the product type and time of use. For instance, consumers could differentially perceive its advantages, displaying different attitudes towards it in the case of luxury clothes and accessories, as well as when renting apparel for special occasions. Secondly, economic and context constraints were not considered, although they could influence the relationship between consumers’ desire for new clothes and their attitude towards adopting FR (Lang et al., 2016). This suggests introducing such factors into future research and considering their potential role in mediation and/or moderation. Third, this study used attitude towards FR as a precursor of action (Ajzen, 2011), which allowed us to comprehend how people evaluate a specific behaviour, since attitude has been strictly related to perception (Schiff, 1970). Nevertheless, future studies could also measure the current behaviour of consumers and apply longitudinal methods to real-life scenarios. Finally, expanded research is needed to uncover more information across a wider sample of consumers, as well as from different countries, to support our conclusions and to allow for cross-sectional studies and more detailed sub-group comparisons.

Figures

Figure 1

The conceptual model

Table 1

Sample profile (no. 694)

Demographic attributes	No.	%
Gender
Female Male Not specified	548 142 4	78.96 20.46 0.58
Age
Mean value	28.8
Geographic area
Northern Italy Central Italy Southern Italy	133 487 74	19.16 70.17 10.66
Occupation
Student Student-worker Employee Self-employed Entrepreneur Unemployed	353 96 178 38 11 18	50.86 13.83 25.65 5.48 1.59 2.59
Education
Less than high school High school graduate Bachelor degree Master degree/PhD	30 448 186 30	4.32 64.55 26.80 4.32
Yearly gross income
<20.000€ 21.000–30.000€ 31.000–50.000€ 51.000–70.000€ >71.000€ Not specified	162 145 112 40 28 207	23.34 20.89 16.14 5.76 4.03 29.83

Notes:

Northern Italy includes Liguria, Lombardia, Piemonte, Valle d'Aosta, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto. Central Italy includes Lazio, Marche, Toscana and Umbria. Southern Italy includes Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardegna and Sicilia (www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/nord-centro-mezzogiorno-italia/)

Source: Authors’ own creation

Table 2

The measurement model: reliability and convergent validity

Construct	Item	Factor loading	St-err	p-value	Cronbach’s α	CR	AVE	R2
INT	INT1	0.709	0.027	0.000	0.898	0.904	0.759	0.682
	INT2	0.873	0.029	0.000
	INT3	0.903	0.033	0.000
ATT	ATT1	0.706	0.037	0.000	0.815	0.817	0.527	0.743
	ATT2	0.692	0.035	0.000
	ATT3	0.760	0.036	0.000
	ATT4	0.736	0.040	0.000
SN	SN1	0.740	0.037	0.000	0.829	0.832	0.625	0.600
	SN2	0.824	0.028	0.000
	SN3	0.671	0.029	0.000
PBC	PBC1	0.550	0.037	0.000	0.830	0.835	0.507	0.657
	PBC2	0.712	0.041	0.000
	PBC3	0.698	0.029	0.000
	PBC4	0.612	0.026	0.000
	PBC5	0.770	0.033	0.000
SOR	SOR1	0.930	0.036	0.000	0.890	0.889	0.616	0.610
	SOR2	0.922	0.037	0.000
	SOR3	0.905	0.035	0.000
	SOR4	0.863	0.041	0.000
	SOR5	0.814	0.040	0.000
BEN	BEN1	1.012	0.035	0.000	0.909	0.914	0.728	0.584
	BEN2	1.066	0.034	0.000
	BEN3	0.979	0.034	0.000
	BEN4	0.782	0.038	0.000
LEAD	LEAD1	0.895	0.035	0.000	0.909	0.911	0.720	–
	LEAD2	0.848	0.030	0.000
	LEAD3	0.784	0.029	0.000
	LEAD4	0.905	0.032	0.000
UNIQ	UNIQ1	1.061	0.039	0.000	0.924	0.925	0.755	–
	UNIQ2	1.037	0.037	0.000
	UNIQ3	1.090	0.037	0.000
	UNIQ4	1.126	0.039	0.000
MAT	MAT1	0.950	0.043	0.000	0.868	0.976	0.595	–
	MAT2	0.754	0.041	0.000
	MAT3	0.682	0.038	0.000
	MAT4	1.092	0.039	0.000
	MAT5	1.173	0.043	0.000

Source: Authors’ own creation

Table 3

The measurement model: discriminant validity

Construct	INT	ATT	SN	PBC	SOR	BEN	LEAD	UNIQ	MAT
INT	0.871
ATT	0.376	0.726
SN	0.542	0.340	0.791
PBC	0.696	0.368	0.604	0.712
SOR	0.268	0.233	0.288	0.285	0.785
BEN	0.513	0.463	0.371	0.536	0.232	0.853
LEAD	0.272	−0.045	0.281	0.358	0.070	0.180	0.849
UNIQ	0.193	0.031	0.156	0.250	0.233	0.270	0.630	0.869
MAT	0.181	0.012	0.163	0.197	−0.068	0.239	0.694	0.510	0.771

Note:

Italic values indicate square root of AVE for each construct

Source: Authors’ own creation

Table 4

The structural model

Hypothesis	Path	Estimate	Sd-err	z-value	p-value	Result
H1	ATT > INT	0.462***	0.051	8.987	0.000	Supported
H2	SN > ATT	0.196***	0.039	4.990	0.000	Supported
H3	PBC > ATT	0.216***	0.064	3.383	0.001	Supported
H4	SOR > ATT	0.082**	0.030	2.739	0.006	Supported
H5	BEN > ATT	0.259***	0.029	8.851	0.000	Supported
H6	H6a: LEAD > ATT	0.164**	0.055	2.970	0.003	Supported
	H6b: UNIQ > ATT	−0.026	0.035	−0.763	0.445	Not supported
	H6c: MAT > ATT	0.040	0.044	0.898	0.369	Not supported
H7	H7a: LEAD > SN	0.327***	0.059	5.554	0.000	Supported
	H7b: UNIQ > SN	−0.017	0.038	−0.466	0.641	Not supported
	H7c: MAT > SN	−0.089	0.048	−1.857	0.063	Not supported
H8	H8a: LEAD > PBC	0.242***	0.040	5.984	0.000	Supported
	H8b: UNIQ > PBC	0.023	0.024	0.935	0.350	Not supported
	H8c: MAT > PBC	−0.079*	0.031	−2.511	0.012	Supported
H9	H9a: LEAD > SOR	0.095	0.071	1.333	0.183	Not supported
	H9b: UNIQ > SOR	0.296***	0.049	6.095	0.000	Supported
	H9c: MAT > SOR	−0.304***	0.062	−4.912	0.000	Supported
H10	H10a: LEAD > BEN	−0.003	0.076	−0.046	0.964	Not supported
	H10b: UNIQ > BEN	0.212***	0.051	4.145	0.000	Supported
	H10c: MAT > BEN	0.115	0.065	1.780	0.075	Not supported

Notes:

*p-value < 0.05; **p-value < 0.01; ***p-value < 0.001

Source: Authors’ own creation

Table 5

Analysis of indirect effects and mediating effect assessment

Effects	Coefficient	St. err.	z-value*	p-value
Path estimations without mediator
LEAD > ATT	0.026*	0.034	0.747	0.045
LEAD > SN	0.235***	0.035	6.688	0.000
LEAD > PBC	0.208***	0.027	7.748	0.000
Indirect effects
Indirect effect 1: LEAD > SN > ATT	0.064***	0.017	3.741	0.000
Total	0.100*	0.053	1.868	0.042
Indirect effect 2: LEAD > PBC > ATT	0.052**	0.017	3.040	0.002
Total	0.111*	0.052	2.143	0.032

	VAF1	Mediating role
H11a: Mediation via SN	64%	Partial mediation
H11b: Mediation via PBC	47%	Partial mediation

Notes:

VAF = indirect effect/total effect × 100. VAF < 0.20: no mediation; 0.20 < VAF < 0.80: partial mediation; VAF > 0.80: full mediation Hair et al. (2014); *p-value < 0.10; **p-value < 0.05; ***p-value < 0.01

Source: Authors’ own creation

Table A1

Constructs and items

Construct		Item
Code	Description	Code	Description	References
INT	Intention to adopt FR	INT1	I intend to rent fashion clothes within the next six months	Ajzen (2002); Lang and Armstrong (2018a)
		INT2	During the next six months, I plan to experiment with or regularly do FR
		INT3	I will try to adopt FR during the next six months
ATT	Attitude towards FR	ATT1	FR is harmful vs beneficial	Ajzen (2002); Lang and Armstrong (2018a); Lee and Chow (2020)
		ATT2	FR is unpleasent vs pleasant
		ATT3	FR is bad vs good
		ATT4	FR is worthless vs valuable
SN	Subjective norms	SN1	People who are important to me agree with my attention towards FR	Ajzen (2002); Lang and Armstrong (2018a); Lee and Chow (2020)
		SN2	People who are important to me think that I should rent fashion clothing
		SN3	People in my life whose opinion I value rent fashion clothes
PBC	Perceived behavioural control	PBC1	I believe I have the ability to use FR even if I have to pay more	Lang and Armstrong (2018a)
		PBC2	If it were entirely up to me, I am confident that I would be able to use FR
		PBC3	It is possible for me to rent clothes every week
		PBC4	It is easy for me to rent clothes every week
		PBC5	If I wanted to, I could rent clothes every week
SOR	Sustainable orientation	SOR1	Given a choice, I will buy products which cause less pollution	Chakraborty et al. (2022)
		SOR2	Given a choice, I prefer recyclable products
		SOR3	I make conscious efforts to buy products which have less pollutants
		SOR4	I prefer not to buy products from environmentally irresponsible firms
		SOR5	I have switched to other products due to environmental concerns
BEN	Perceived benefits of FR	BEN1	Renting fashion items would enable me to get the apparel I want more quickly	Lee and Chow (2020)
		BEN2	Renting fashion items would enhance my effectiveness in getting the apparel I want
		BEN3	Renting fashion items would enable me to get the apparel I want more easily
		BEN4	Renting fashion items would enable me to get the apparel I want more cheaply
LEAD	Fashion leadership	LEAD1	I am aware of fashion trends and want to be one of the first to try them	Lang and Armstrong (2018a)
		LEAD2	I am the first to try new fashion; therefore, many people regard me as being a fashion leader
		LEAD3	it is important for me to be a fashion leader
		LEAD4	I am usually the first to know the latest fashion trends
UNIQ	Need for uniqueness	UNIQ1	I often look for one-of-a-kind products or brands so that I create a style that is all my own	Lang and Armstrong (2018a)
		UNIQ2	I often combine possessions in such a way that I create a personal image for myself that cannot be duplicated
		UNIQ3	I often try to find a more interesting version of ordinary products because I enjoy being original
		UNIQ4	I am often on the lookout for new products or brands that will add to my personal uniqueness
MAT	Materialism	MAT1	I admire people who own fashion clothes	Lang and Armstrong (2018a)
		MAT2	Some of the most important achievements in life include acquiring material possessions
		MAT3	The things I own say a lot about how well I’m doing in life
		MAT4	I like to own fashion clothes that impress people
		MAT5	I like a lot of fashion clothes in my life

Sources: Authors’ creation based on constructs and items previously adopted in the studies of Ajzen (2002), Lang and Armstrong (2018a), Lee and Chow (2020) and Chakraborty et al. (2022)

Notes

1 www.fashionnetwork.com/news/Italy-s-fashion-sector-forecast-to-climb-back-to-pre-pandemic-levels-in-2023,1368000.html

2 www.pwc.com/it/it/publications.html