Renting with urgency: How product acquisition mode shapes consumers’ propensity to sublet?

Enhancing resource utilization and achieving sustainable social development have become pressing global concerns. However, little research has examined how the mode of product acquisition influences consumers’ tendencies in product disposition. The current study begins to fill this gap by examining this unaddressed research question. Across nine studies and one supplementary meta-analysis, the present research identifies a novel rental-subleasing effect. Specifically, Study 1 longitudinally tracks consumers’ actual behaviors and shows that renting (vs. purchasing) a product increases their propensity to sublet it. The subsequent five online experiments (Studies 2a-2c, 3a, and 3c) and two laboratory experiments (Studies 2d and 3b) further replicate this effect and demonstrate that it is driven by the urgency of utility maximization (Studies 3a, 3b, and 3c). Furthermore, we show that the rental-subleasing effect is moderated by resource scarcity (Study 4). Specifically, we find that this effect disappears (vs. remains) under resource-scarce (vs. the control) conditions. Among these studies, we vary the product stimuli (e.g., bike, skateboard, and camping tent), change the sample sources (e.g., student and non-student samples), and use multiple methods (e.g., field experiment and lab experiment). Finally, using a single-paper meta-analysis as a supplementary analysis, the current study further confirms the robustness of the effect of product acquisition mode on consumers’ propensity to sublet products. Together, these findings advance the understanding of how product acquisition modes shape consumer disposition behavior and offer practical implications for fostering circular and sustainable consumption.