Keywords

1 Introduction

The current global textile industry is associated with numerous sustainability challenges (Franco, 2017; Muthu, 2017) related to undesired environmental effects (Cousins et al., 2019; Islam & Islam, 2021), social problems (Akbar & Ahsan, 2021) and financial inequalities (Stigzelius & Mark-Herbert, 2009). The nature of the sustainability challenges can be described as global and interrelated (Boström & Micheletti, 2016; Zimon & Domingues, 2018). Ten percent of the world’s carbon emissions is caused by human needs for clothing, which makes the textile industry the second most polluting industry in the world (The World Bank, 2019). The textile industry causes severe environmental impacts from the production of hazardous substances in garments, mass consumption, and large volumes of textile waste. About 80% of a garment’s climate impact originates in the production phase (Mistra Future Fashion, 2019, 9) which points to needs for a transition, to minimize the needed production of textile.

1.1 Needs for a Transition in the Textile Industry

The transformation of the industry needs to take a triple bottom line approach (Elkington, 1999), acknowledging social, environmental, and economic dimensions of value creation with a vast number of stakeholder’s needs in mind (Fischer & Pascucci, 2016; Kozlowski et al., 2012). The needed transformation is, in most research projects, seen from a production perspective in development of new production methods (Muthu, 2017), new materials (Huang et al., 2021), new design practices (Karell & Niniimäki, 2020; Pal, 2017), recycling practices (Juanga-Labayen et al., 2022), cost structures for production (Harper, 2022) and business models (Gardetti, 2019; Nyvall et al., 2023). These needs are motivated by severe environmental impact from the clothing industry in every step of the life cycle for garments, and especially so in the production. The high climate impact from the production in a textile value chain where textiles are only used for a limited time by the consumer generate massive volumes of textile waste (Jönsson et al., 2013; Juanga-Labayen et al., 2022; Mistra Future Fashion, 2019, 9), which means that both production and consumption needs to be considered as one system. The needed transformation is sometimes presented as a new ontology, a circular economy (CE) that closes the linear value chains to create systems were resources are used more efficiently (Chen et al., 2021).

A contemporary report by researchers at Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2022) stated that a circular economy is based on three principles: design to eliminate waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems. In this report, it is also argued that rental as a business model keeps products at their highest value and decouples economic development from resource consumption. Rental is one way to be able to keep products and materials in use, so that every garment hopefully has a longer active lifetime, with more usages (Gueye, 2021). Despite SDG 12, focusing on both production and consumption, much effort has been placed on finding sustainable alternatives for production. This chapter therefore focuses on consumer perspectives in consumption.

The transition in focus in this empirical case study pertains to offering consumers to rent the needed textile product instead of purchasing it. To investigate customer perspective on renting clothes, more specifically clothes for outdoor activities, a research project was designed with the support of an outdoor cloths manufacturing company, Haglöfs, that has its own retail store in Stockholm. Their interest in consumer practices was key for the project. Before accounting for aims and outcomes of the empirical case, we want to provide a stage for understanding ambitions for circular economy in Sweden. This stage serves as a context for a presentation of the approach in terms of method and conceptual framework, followed by a presentation of the case study and the analysis and discussion of what it means for a transition in terms of social practice theory dimensions: materials, meanings, and competence.

1.2 Circular Economy for Resource Efficiency in Sweden

The global goals, the 17 SDGs, were agreed upon by 193 world leaders, to end extreme poverty, inequality, and climate change by 2030 (The Global Goals, 2022). Goal number 12 points to the importance of responsible consumption and production. Goal 12 aims for sustainable management and use of natural resources, responsible management of chemicals and waste, and promoting a universal understanding of sustainable lifestyles. Some things listed as sub-goals for SDG 12 relate to consumption formats, to buy second-hand, shop, eat and drink locally, and choose reusable products (The Global Goals, 2022).

In support of the SDGs, a Swedish policy was presented as a new proposal for climate impact connected to consumption (RK, 2022a, b, c). In April 2022, it was proclaimed that the Government Office of Sweden (RK, 2022a, b, c) has received a proposal for new climate targets on consumption and exports from the Environmental Objectives Committee’s partial report. The Committee proposes among other topics, that the climate policy framework should be supplemented with objectives on climate impact from consumption and the climate benefits from exports. The proposal sets targets for climate impact of consumption, a long-term goal of reaching a negative net release by 2045 (RK, 2022a, b, c). The ambition is that Sweden will take responsibility for consumption-related emissions globally and will be the first country in the world to have targets regarding consumption (Klimatkommunerna, 2022).

Political goals may serve as a first step, but the circular economy is also dependent on changes in attitude among consumers at large, and changes in production and consumption systems reflected in institutional economic systems (Rise, 2022c). This assumes challenging the traditional product dominant logic to open for a service dominant logic that has consumer needs, services, in focus (Brent et al., 2016). These thoughts are not new. Already in 2012, Bergman and Klefsjö, among others, argued for the needs to redefine value creation and quality, taking a consumer perspective.

According to The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s (2021, 8) report on sustainable textiles from 2020, almost nine out of ten people in Sweden from 17 years old, would consider renting or borrowing clothes. About 28% of the respondents in this study could consider renting or borrowing clothing if they knew it would make an environmental difference. The Mistra Future Fashion report (2019, 17) describes a discrepancy between attitude and action when looking at customer behavior in textile consumption. Most users in their research express an intent to consume more sustainably, but this attitude is not reflected in their actual behavior.

Looking at the statics from The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (2021, 8) which shows that there is a will to change consumption behavior among consumers at large if it comes with environmental benefits, renting could be one way to participate in working towards responsible consumption and production and the global goal number 12 (The Global Goals, 2022). As argued in The Mistra Future Fashion (2019, 17) report, where there is a discrepancy between attitude and action, there is a need for research on the customer perspective and the customer practices to learn more about how the rental model can be developed.

1.3 Research Focus and Aim

This case study investigates the consumer perspective on renting clothes, more specifically clothes for outdoor activities. The aim of the research project was to explain consumer perspectives on renting outdoor clothing. Implications of this study may pave the way for developing a more consumer focused rental business model in the industry.

Focus was placed on consumer attitudes of consumers that visited the Haglöfs retail store in Stockholm. They are not to be regarded as a randomized sample which means that the results cannot be generalized. A consumer study in Sweden in a Haglöfs retail store in other geographical locations, or at a different time of the year, may also provide a different consumer profile. The results are therefore seen as a case study of consumers at a particular place and time.

With an ambition to understand consumer’s practices, rental of clothes at a particular time, social practice theory (SPT) served these needs well. Questions were focused on the three elements of practice: materials, meanings, and competence with an open mind of additional elements that the SPT may not cover. The arguments for using SPT are presented in detail in the next section; they relate to ambitions to get an understanding that is bound to a context (practical settings of rental as an alternative to a purchase) as well as consumers’ understandings of motives for doing things the way they do (practices).

2 Approach

In this project the approach, choices related to a conceptual framework, collection and analysis of data were harmonized. The project focused on people, consumers, in a social setting seen as a case study with a fixed design; the project relied on both quantitative and qualitative data. Given an aim is to understand consumer practices, a survey was developed that explains the three dimensions of practice theory (further explained in Sect. 2.5).

2.1 Research Design

In this project, the selected unit of analysis, consumers visiting an Haglöfs’ outdoor retail store in Stockholm from end of April until middle of May, was made based on three criteria. The first criterion relates to Haglöfs’ long-standing history of working diligently with sustainability issues (Erdnüß, 2016). Second, their customers are interested in outdoor activities which is assumed to be associated with awareness of consumption aspects of sustainability (ibid.). The third criterion has to do with corporate support for conducting the study.

The context for the empirical data collection is described in terms of physical and social dimensions (Franklin & Blyton, 2011, 54). This case study is performed in a physical Haglöfs store in Stockholm and focuses on the customers in the store at the time. The social dimension is hard to capture in words. Photos were therefore taken with ambitions to capture the social ambiance, the context in which consumers, visiting the Haglöfs store, were offered to participate in the study (Byfors, 2022). The case study was chosen to explore possibilities and potentials with ambitions to contribute to the development of a service dominant logic business model based on rental practices.

Data collection was carried out in two steps. The first step, a traditional literature review, investigation in Statistics Sweden background data and review of internal corporate documents, gave an empirical platform for conducting the second step, a consumer survey. The survey was performed in a physical Haglöfs store in Stockholm from end of April until middle of May. The goal was to reach 100 customers to develop an understanding of their views on renting clothes for the outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking, camping, biking, and mountaineering. To inspire customers in the store to participate in the survey, a poll was made among respondent with a backpack from Haglöfs as a winners’ reward. The customers were not deliberately targeted or forced to do the survey; they were offered a chance to contribute, and they made their own choice to participate by scanning the QR code on the signs in the store. The signs in the store can be seen in Appendix A.

The survey (Appendix B) has a high level of structurization and a mix between a high and a low level of structuring, meaning the survey contains questions with fixed response options and open questions (Patel & Davidson, 2011, 76). Questions in the survey were developed with consideration of the theoretical perspective (Social Practice Theory, further presented in Sect. 2.5) and methodological recommendations from Patel and Davidson (2011, 78), for example, to avoid long sentences and leading questions, prerequisites, negations, etc. The questionnaire was developed with consideration of respondents’ assumed outdoor interests and with explanations of technical terms to make it easy to understand the questions (ibid., 79).

2.2 Quality Assurance of the Research Process

Quality assurance of a research project is visible in the many choices made, reflection along the way and in post project learning. Our efforts in this approach are further described in Table 1 where we explain how reliability and validity has been obtained.

Table 1 Quality assurance in a case study
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In addition to the validity and reliability dimensions in quality assurance, close attention has been given to ethical aspects relating to GDPR following university guidelines (Swedish Research Council, 2022) and social science research conduct in general (Patel & Davidson, 2011). Informed consent was obtained in a clear presentation of the project, how the data was going to be used and a possibility to withdraw for a respondent at any time. Confidentiality principles and the option to be anonymous unless a respondent wanted to be part of the back-pack lottery, served as principles for the data collection.

2.3 A Conceptual Framework

Value creation refers to meeting consumer needs of outdoor clothing in this project. Assuming the consumer does not have the clothing or can borrow it from a friend, the options are to buy a product or rent it, assuming that a rental-service is offered. The conceptual framework for this project therefore reflects the understandings of the current norm as buying and the added option of renting. The process of adding services to a product offer, from a corporate perspective, is referred to as “servitization” of a product service system (Baines et al., 2007; Baines & Lightfoot, 2014). In this project, the system is studied from a practical perspective focusing on practices that enable the rental alternative. A presentation of the concept of a service system is further presented below, followed by the consumer behavior model that focuses on practices, Social Practice Theory (SPT).

2.4 Servicification in a Product Service-System

“Servitization” captures the notion of adding services to non-service sectors of an economy of an industry. Trim (2021) describes in the article a three-sector model used to explain how industrial economies are structured, the primary sector with raw material extraction, the secondary sector with product manufacturing, and the tertiary sector with services. The primary and the secondary sector can servicify their role in the supply chain by delivering their goods to the next sectors themselves, instead of outsourcing to a tertiary sector business. Servitization does not have to be limited to extraction or manufacturing and this is now seen in the fashion industry, where services are also added to the products (Baines et al., 2007; Baines & Lightfoot, 2014). Product servitization can generate additional revenue in ways such as rental and resale models which generate multiple sales for a single product. Services can also help increase the lifetime of a product, for example by in-store repairs and brands can offer services such as taking responsibility for the product’s end-of-life stage, when it is no longer possible to resell or repair the product. Trim (2021) argues that servitization plays a very important role in fashion’s sustainability revolution.

Product Service-System (PSS), on the other hand, is a special case of servitization. A PSS can be seen as a market proposition that extends the traditional functionality of a product by additional services (Boehm & Thomas, 2013). This is more a sale of the use than the sale of the product. There is no transfer of ownership. The use is what the customer pays for, and the customer also benefits from not having to deal with the risks, responsibilities, and costs that follow with ownership of a product. The expectation is that PSS will have a lower environmental impact than a more traditional transaction (Baines et al., 2007; Cook et al., 2006; Tukker & Tischner, 2006) where the consumer owns the product after having bought it.

Studies of PSS in various industrial sectors suggest that there are several factors that needs to be included in an analysis of sustainability challenges (Table 2).

Table 2 Context-bound factors that may limit the use of product service-system development
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Table 2 suggests that some factors are directly related to the product-service itself and other factors are related to the context in which the system resides. Given the notion of a system (PSS), we need to set boundaries of this system to be able to compare alternatives. Since this project was developed to explain conditions for outdoor rental from a consumer perspective, the boundaries are decided by what the consumers spontaneously relate to as part of the rental offer.

2.5 Social Practice Theory

Social Practice Theory (SPT) offers a conceptual model for consumer behavior. It focuses on what consumers do in terms of practices in purchasing, use and disposal of products rather than focusing on consumer attitudes to explain behavior. SPT is an approach that combines the components in context bound daily routines to understand actions of human beings (Ajzen, 1991), hence, consumers’ actions instead of the attitudes are identified (Warde, 2005). It is further proposed that a conceptualization of consumers as the active practitioners rather than the users (Pantzar & Shove, 2005). These practices are more than the actual human behavior; they are actions taken bound to context dependent variables such as culture, physical conditions, and capability to see the action as part of a system (ibid.). They are usually routine activities of human beings such as eating and doing daily habitual behaviors.

The basic components and the understandings of the role of SPT was developed by Warde (2005) and Reckwitz (2002). According to Pantzar and Shove (2005), SPT explains human behavior, based on practical conditions for behaviors to take place. The model, developed by Watson et al. (2012), is presented in Fig. 1. It identifies the major elements in social practices of consumption, in terms of materials, meanings, and competence. They are not isolated but interconnected and needs to be understood in light of each other (Watson et al., 2012).

Fig. 1
A schematic representation of components of social practice is material, meaning, and competence.

Components of Social Practice Theory to explain behavior. (Watson et al., 2012:14 with modifications)

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The components in the conceptual model for social practices in Fig. 1 are further explained below. Materials include the actual physical objects that are tangible, for example, human bodies, tools, infrastructure, and technologies, and they are usually directly related to human beings’ daily lives (Pantzar & Shove, 2005). Meanings refer to the beliefs and understandings which are socially shared and connected with respect to the materials, different associations and culture may have different senses of what meanings are appropriate (Watson et al., 2012). Competences encompass techniques and skills that are required to perform a practice, thus, the way to recognize and respond to certain behavior (Pantzar & Shove, 2005). Practices are developed from continuous connections and linkages of its components, and the change of the components leads to change of the practice (ibid.). People tend to continue engaging in and carrying on the practice when they gain positive experiences by performing the practice (ibid.).

SPT focuses on the practices, what is done in a particular context. That has implications for data collection as well as the interpretation of the results. Contextual understandings are vital to understand the conditions for practices to evolve and become established.

3 Results

A presentation of the project is made in light of an empirical historical background (Sect. 3.1) that provides a stage for an account for the consumer survey investigation (Sects. 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5) conducted in a Swedish outdoor retail store. The presentation of the empirical case follows the elements in the SPT model (materials, meanings, and competencies).

3.1 Empirical Background

In Isabelle McAllister’s book “Skavank” [Flawed] (2021, 16ff), she tells the history of consumption behavior and how we ended up in today’s consumption pattern. She describes how the industrialism made mass consumption possible. Important landmarks in a Swedish context since the 1940s are illustrated in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2
An illustration of development in Swedish consumption from 1946 to 2020. In 1946 to 1979 the record years, before the oil crisis, 1950 to 1970 continued increased consumption, 1970 more households with two working adults, 1970 to 1980 increased interest, 1980 shopping develops, 1990 TV shows, and others.

A timeline of important events and landmarks over the years in the history of consumption behavior in Sweden since the 1940s based on McAllister (2021, 16ff), and supported by facts from Statistics Sweden (2020)

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Figure 2 shows a timeline of important events at different times that influence Swedish consumption behavior and cultural norms. Isabella McAllister (2021, p. 16ff) describes how the economy improved after the second world war for the Swedish people. The time between 1946 and 1970 is sometimes called “the record years” when industries were prospering and consumption was thriving, except for the time for the oil crisis in the late 1970s.

In the period 1950–1970, salaries average household income raised, foreign trade increased, and new labor came to work in Sweden. During the 1960s, parental leave for working women was established along with the 5-day work week. More of both money and time for households lead to increased consumption (Statistics Sweden, 2020). Between the years 1950 and 1975, the Swedish people’s purchasing power doubled. During the 1970s, more households than ever had two working adults, which led to more money but less time at a household level. This led to people buying more processed products, for example, by buying baked bread instead of flour, and fashion clothes instead of fabric to sew your own clothes (McAllister, 2021, 16ff).

During the 1980s, shopping became a hobby (McAllister, 2021, 16ff). This is in part explained by an increase in imported products (Statistics Sweden, 2020), lower prices on fast moving consumer goods, which is explained by increased international competition. During the 1990s, tv shows about renovating your home became popular which influenced consumer behavior towards making home improvements. The next major trend is related to blogging, that started in 2004–2006. Lifestyle and fashion perspectives from influencers had major impact on consumption through tech platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram was developed in less than a decade, 2004 and 2010 (McAllister, 2021, 16ff).

Market development is, to a large extent, influenced by consumer trends and cultural norms. This is especially the case for the textile industry, which is one of the world’s largest industries. It is considered to be the first industry in a process for a country to become industrialized (Johansson & Nilsson, 2016, 14–19). One of the reasons for the industry to prosper in an industrialization process is that it does not require big investments at start. A small-scale production would require sewing machines and materials, but no requirement for formally trained staff (ibid.). The fragmented industry and global world markets emphasize the importance of marketing and branding.

Resent consumption statistics reveal that the Swedish consumers buy thirteen kilograms of textiles per person and throw away eight kilograms per person on an annual basis (Johansson & Nilsson, 2016, 23–25). In other words, half of the amount of purchased textiles are thrown out—every year. In the five-step waste hierarchy (Fig. 3), Swedish consumers skip many alternative steps when they throw away (deposit) their clothes.

Fig. 3
A step diagram illustrates the step waste hierarchy minimize, reuse, recycle, incinerate, and deposit.

The five-step waste hierarchy. (Johansson & Nilsson, 2016, 25, with modifications)

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Consumers of textiles, and in this case the Swedish consumers, should in the five-step waste hierarchy on the first hand minimize their consumption, by buying less textiles (Fig. 3). They could also reuse the clothes they already have (in their wardrobe or with circular business models as secondhand or rent for example), recycle the textiles when there is less of a need, or incinerate (to create energy) and as a last possible option deposit the clothes.

Consumption Statistics from 2019 (Statistics Sweden, 2020) reveal that clothes and shoes represent 4.6% of the average Swedish household spendings. Consumption statistics reflect how people live their lives, and consumption statics over time tells us about the development of politics, economy, as well as political development (Statistics Sweden, 2020). Recent development, in the past decades also points to the importance of social media platforms that influence consumer behavior giving input about “outfit of the day,” hauls, and unboxing, to show your followers what you purchased. Companies work with influencers for marketing. Black Friday hits records year after year, and a new type of tv-shop from China has arrived, where you can follow a live shopping with an influencer promoting products (McAllister, 2021, 20–21).

Representatives of the organization, Cirkulära Sverige (2022) describe the problem of the mass consumption of clothing that is sporadically used, and the solution to be renting clothing and other products connected to outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking, trail running, and other related activities. This solution gives access to products without the customer owning them, and companies can make more money on every product compared to if they would sell each product one time only. By companies offering their customers to rent high-quality products, the products live longer and can be used by many customers for a longer period. The customer does not need to take care of the products they use (Cirkulära Sverige, 2022).

3.2 Result of the Case Study

In this project, 101 customers in the store answered the survey. Of these, 50% of the respondents were women, 48% were men, and the rest (2%) identified as nonbinary. The participants in the survey were aged 18–79 years old. Each respondent may practice several different outdoor activities and could therefore report several kinds of activities. Among the respondents the most common activities were hiking and skiing (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4
A stacked bar graph depicts outdoor activities and experiences of skiing, hiking, camping, biking, mountaineering, and other activities for beginners, average, experienced, and not specified.

Outdoor activities and experience among the respondents

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Among the respondents the most common activities were hiking (85.1%) and skiing (70.3%). The results show that 37.6% of the participants of the study are biking, 35.6% are camping, and 13.9% are practicing mountaineering. Other activities added by the respondents to the survey were running, collecting berries and mushrooms in the forest, fishing, judo, sailing, and boxing, each resulting in about 1% being practiced by the respondents.

Figure 4 also illustrates how experienced the respondents see themselves in each activity, with beginners in the bottom, average in the middle, and experienced in the top. Other activities added by the respondents in the survey are not specified in their experience of the activity in this figure.

3.3 Social Practice Theory – Materials

The material dimension stands for the importance of the physical surroundings, both objects and infrastructure, and our own bodies (Klitkou et al., 2022, 604–605; Shove et al., 2012, 14). The result connected to this dimension regards accessibility, the functionality of clothing, practical processes of renting, and quality for the customer (Table 3). Questions (all questions related to materials can be found in Appendix C) relating to materials focused on kind of outdoor activities, clothing needs, quality functions, payment methods and if rental is an overall option.

Table 3 Comments from respondents in the survey connected to materials, when asked if they wanted to add something the survey did not cover. The original comments can be seen in the survey result in Appendix C
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The result connected to this dimension regards accessibility, the functionality of clothing, practical processes of renting, and quality for the customer. It is understood from the result connected to the material dimension that respondents saying they are experienced in their outdoor activity are more likely to use their clothing more over the year, a couple of weeks every year, or even in their daily life. Frequency in use, a difference between experienced skiers and hikers in terms of how often their outdoor clothing is being used by themselves was also clear. Here, the trend of experienced hikers using their outdoor clothing throughout the year is bigger, and none of the experienced hikers use their outdoor clothing only once a year. One reason for this could be the active outdoor lifestyle this group has chosen, and the easier access to go on a hike compared to going skiing.

Experience of outdoor activities matter. The result shows that beginners of skiing and average skiers have more positive feelings on renting their outdoor clothing. A similar pattern was seen in different levels of expertise from hikers, campers, bikers, and mountaineers. This is likely to depend on the lifestyles and that people more experienced in their outdoor activities also use their clothing more, and thereby benefit from owning their clothing due to both economic reasons and accessibility, in other words, the logistics around their clothing for their outdoor lifestyle. The results also point out that people being more experienced in their outdoor activity is more likely to own their outdoor clothing when looking at the result of feelings towards buying and that beginners have a less positive attitude towards buying their outdoor clothing than more experienced people in all represented activities in this section. It is also understood from the result that beginners especially in camping and biking are more positive about buying their own outdoor clothing than beginners in skiing and hiking.

Comments in Table 3 represent answers to an open-ended question about wiliness to rent. These comments were focused on benefits of the rental model, general positive comments, and more neutral or skeptical comments. Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004, 7) argue in their article value will be created by both the firm and the consumer, and that high-quality interactions enable an individual customer to co-create unique experiences that will unlock new resources of competitive advantage. Taking these words in relation to the material dimension and the possibility to meet the needs of different customers in the rental service, the rental model must fit the lifestyle of the customer. The result shows the most wanted rental service model is to be able to try on and rent in a physical store, and to pay per product: 58% wanted to try on and rent in a physical store and 87% wanted to pay per product.

The material dimension (of SPT) points to the importance of the physical surroundings, both objects and infrastructure (Klitkou et al., 2022, 604–605; Shove et al., 2012, 14). Looking at the expected quality of rented clothing, 70% said they just expect the same level of function. A smaller group (22%) would like the rented outdoor clothing to look brand new, and the remaining 8% value the products being used many times no matter the look of them as long as they do not limit their planned activity. Survey respondents also provided comments on benefits towards quality and function of the rented clothing, for example, the following: “Good idea for technical clothing which is expensive, where you need many kinds of sets and combinations for a different kind of weather, activity, and length. Good for environmental and sustainability reasons,” and “Haglöfs is a premium product. This would be a reason for me to rent, for the good function.”

A material aspect of rental relates to letting consumers try out the clothing through renting would give them a chance of pre-evaluation of a planned purchase. Weetman (2022) argues one solution to stop the current system of clothing consumption is more durable products, and another solution to be products used by more than one person, for example by renting models. Twice as many uses per garment life cycle eliminated almost 50% of the impact, regardless of the impact categories climate impact, energy use, and water scarcity impact (Mistra Future Fashion, 2019, 13, 19). Again, letting the customers try the durability through renting, and making sure they buy the most suitable clothing for their needs could increase the product’s lifetime.

A rental option may also strengthen relationship marketing ties between a consumer and a sales agent. It would allow for the pre-assessment of the product as well as valuable dialogues. Added value in terms of services places a focus on the use of products and needs. In an article by Trim (2021) sericitization is described as turning something into a service of adding a service to it. By doing this, more revenue streams can be created for the company and more value can be created for the consumers. Traditionally, sericitization involves adding services to non-service sectors of an economy of an industry. Ross Weetman (2022) suggests changing the current system to make the produced clothing being used more towards its real potential if customers make sure their purchases always meet their needs in the first place.

A benefit for the outdoor brands working with the rental model in combination with a linear business model is that it could be an interesting possibility to measure what products are being appreciated after the first trials. The current brand evaluation is only made based on sales statistics from which assumptions are made for upcoming production based on what was easier or harder to sell. These numbers do not reveal usefulness from a consumer perspective, what is being used, or put on a shelf, given away, or thrown away in any of the steps of the five-step waste hierarchy (Johansson & Nilsson, 2016, 25). With the rental model in combination with the linear business model, outdoor brands could produce clothing more tailored to what is actually being used by the customers. This is beneficial for both the company in economic terms, the environment with production hopefully in a better match with the actual future use and a smaller risk of overproduction, and the individual customer making the most of the outdoor clothing they choose to buy. On the other hand, letting people try out new outdoor clothing could also inspire the individual to buy new clothing, and create a new desire they did not have before the rental. This perspective is developed further in the meanings section of this chapter (Sect. 3.4).

3.4 Social Practice Theory – Meanings

In SPT, the meaning dimension represent the element that guides the practice (Klitkou et al., 2022, 604–605). Meanings are symbols, aspirations, and ideas attached to behaviors and materials (Shove et al., 2012, 14) shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Questions (all questions related to meanings can be found in Appendix C) relating to meanings focused on: feelings towards renting or buying outdoor clothing, how one would treat the clothing, expectation of quality, and how one would feel to share the idea of renting outdoor clothing with friends.

Fig. 5
Two pie charts depict feelings grades for women and men. The values are very interesting in the concept for me or someone else 62% in women and 35% in men, good interest 26% in women, and 29% in men, OK, interested but also skeptical 8% in women and 10% in men, and no, I do not want to rent 4% in women and 26% in men.

Result for the question “What feelings do you have regarding renting outdoor clothes?” in relation to gender. Grades for feelings towards renting: 1 – No, I do not want to rent, 2 – OK, interested but also skeptical, 3 – Good, interested, 4 – Very interested in the concept for me or someone else

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Fig. 6
A grouped bar graph depicts the number of respondents versus age groups of respondents for OK, interested but also skeptical, good, interested, and very interested in the concept for me or someone else. The highest value range is 26 to 35, and the lowest value range 76 to 85.

Result for the question “What feelings do you have regarding renting outdoor clothes?” in relation to age. Grades for feelings towards renting: 1 – No, I do not want to rent, 2 – OK, interested but also skeptical, 3 – Good, interested, 4 – Very interested in the concept for me or someone else

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Figure 5 shows that female respondents have a more positive attitude towards the renting model for outdoor clothing, either for themselves or for someone else compared to male respondents. The result also showed that 100 % of the nonbinary respondents are very interested in the concept for themselves or someone else but it is also worth considering reading this result that only 1% of the respondents represent this group. The attitude towards rental among the respondents is further illustrated in Fig. 6.

Figure 6 illustrates that the younger age groups and the age group 46–55 are more likely to have a positive feeling about renting outdoor clothing. Combining the results from Figs. 5 and 6, we understand that the group of women in the age group 26–35 have the most positive attitude towards renting outdoor clothing.

Another question strongly connected to the meaning dimension is the question of if the respondents would tell their friends about their rented outdoor clothing. Some 57.4% of the respondents would feel very proud to tell their friends about the rented clothing and hope to have inspired their friends to do the same next time going on an outdoor adventure, 41.6% of the respondents would tell their friends if the friends asked, and 1% would not like their friends to know about the rental. When analyzing this question in combination with gender, we can see the same pattern as with the question of feelings on renting outdoor clothing (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7
A grouped bar graph depicts the number of respondents versus women, men, and nonbinary for Do not want my friends to know if they asked, I would tell them. Otherwise not, and I would feel very proud to tell my friends and hope I have inspired them to do the same next time.

Result from the question “If you rent outdoor clothes, how would you feel telling your friends about it?” in relation to gender

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Figure 7 shows that women are more likely to feel proud to tell their friends about their rented outdoor clothing and wish to inspire their friends to do the same. This question does not necessarily tell if men would be less proud of their rental clothing and could also be a result that shows differences in how men and women talk about clothing with their friends. This question is not researched in this study. However, the bigger part of the respondents in this study want to spread the word about a consumption choice they were proud of and would also like their actions to be spread and go on with other people around them. This is shown in a comment in Table 4, where a respondent rents out their things through the app “Hygglo,” where people can rent things from a private person nearby. The respondent is proud to share their way of making the most of products already produced and wish to spread the word by writing this comment in the survey.

Table 4 Comments from respondents in the survey connected to meanings, when asked if they wanted to add something the survey did not cover
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Added comments in the survey connected to the meaning dimension are related to that rented outdoor clothing is the right in time, that renting could work as a complement to being able to try your clothes before buying them, and that the model only works if it is for special trips or adventures. The last comment seen in Table 4, relates to how often the respondents wear their clothing and only sees the value of renting outdoor clothing if it is for some special adventure.

Consumer use of the rented cloths, practice, is crucial in a rental system. When it comes to the treatment of rented clothes, 51.5% of the respondents state that they would handle rented clothes with the same care as their own, 41.6% with even more care than their own, and 6.9% would handle rented clothes with less care than their own clothing. This question is connected to the respondent’s treatment of their own outdoor clothing which is not the focus in this study. The result does not tell anything about the actual treatment (practice), but it does tell something about how the respondents value clothing that belongs to themselves and clothing which are shared with others.

As presented in the materials section, the question “Would you expect the same level of quality on rented outdoor clothing as bought outdoor clothing?” showed that 70% say they do not expect the same quality, but the same level of function, and 22% expect the clothes to look brand new. The rest, 8% of the participants do not expect the same quality at all and value the things being used by many customers to get the most out of the produced garments. This question is highly connected to the meanings dimension as well because it shows what the respondents value. Of the respondents, 22% express expectation of rented clothing is that the garments should look brand new, which likely is not the case if the clothing has been used a couple of times before themselves. One reason for this could be that the motive of the rental is not environmental, but rather to be a solution to be able to wear the latest outdoor clothing on the market.

A study in Finland by Armstrong et al. (2015, 30–31) showed among other things a focus on the environmental benefits of various PSS scenarios among the focus group in the study, although no questions around environmental issues or sustainability were raised by the researchers. The environmental benefits of the presented scenarios in this study made PSS concepts attractive. This could be an explanation of the result of this case study of Haglöfs’ customers; 57.4% of the respondents would feel very proud to tell their friends about the rented clothing and hope to inspire their friends to do the same next time going on an outdoor adventure. The environmental benefit of the consumption choice is given and predicted by the respondents.

On the other hand, the environmental motive to rent outdoor clothing is not shown in all results from all respondents. In the material-focused question, on what quality the respondents expect of their rented outdoor clothing, 8% said they value the products being used many times no matter the look of them as long as they do not limit their planned activity, and 22% answered they want the rented clothes to look brand new. Armstrong et al. (2015, 38–29) concluded in their work for instance the need to meet customers’ need for newness and change, while also disconnecting material consumption from need satisfaction. It is also argued clothing in a PSS might be an opportunity for the industry to offer product quality, durability, and extended use time, and could this way increase overall satisfaction (Armstrong et al., 2015, 39).

Ross (Weetman, 2022), a specialist in Performance Sportswear Design and Sustainability, argues the performance difference of new outdoor clothing is microscopic, but the industry is designed to consume more. There is a risk that the rental model is contributing to this path. This logic could also be connected to the theory by Tversky and Kahneman (1974, 1984, 1989) where the acceptability of an option is said to depend on whether a negative outcome is evaluated as a cost or as an uncompensated loss.

3.5 Social Practice Theory – Competences

The competence dimension (Fig. 8) involves skills, know-how, and techniques (Shove et al., 2012, 14). Skills are the routine embodied skills, such as movements but also research competence for looking online for example (Klitkou et al., 2022, 604–605). Questions (all questions related to the competence dimension can be found in Appendix C) relating to competences focused on considered knowledge and accessible information.

Fig. 8
A pie chart depicts the customers' confidence in choosing clothes for outdoor adventure. The highest value is yes, fairly good 47%. No, my knowledge is deficient at 33%. And yes, my knowledge is good enough at 20%.

Result from the question “Do you consider yourself to have knowledge to make a consciously more sustainable choice to get clothes for an outdoor adventure?”

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The respondents are confident of their understandings of making an educated choice for an outdoor adventure. Some 67% of the respondents report fairly good or good enough knowledge. When asking the respondents if information about more sustainable choices for outdoor clothing is easily accessed 64% say it is mostly quite easily accessible or higher (Fig. 9). However, there is also a need of increased knowledge in this area for more consumers to be able to make more conscious choices in the future.

Fig. 9
A pie chart depicts educated choice for an outdoor adventure. The highest value is mostly quite easily accessible 51%, followed by No, it is hard to find and understand this type of information 36%, and yes, it is very accessible 13%.

Result of the question: “Do you consider information on how to make a more sustainable choice of clothing before an outdoor adventure to be easily accessed, for example by asking staff in a store or by doing research on your own online?”

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The survey questions regarding knowledge and access to information on how to make a more sustainable choice for an outdoor adventure, were in the project put into relation to the respondents’ feelings towards renting outdoor clothing. The result showed that the most common is a positive feeling toward renting outdoor clothing no matter how the respondents rated their knowledge on sustainable consumption in outdoor clothing. The result also showed how the group that finds information on more sustainable choices in the researched area harder to find, also is a group that is more likely to not have positive feelings or thoughts on the rental model.

4 Discussion

Understanding consumer behavior, from a SPT-perspective, clarifies challenges and concerns for making rental an alternative to purchasing outdoor equipment (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10
An illustration of consumer rental practices is material for resource use, expecting high-quality products, competence for outdoor skills and experience making it easy to try something new, and meaning for lifestyle choice, information needs to increase sustainability awareness.

An overview of factors that influence the consumer rental practices

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The factors in Fig. 10 are further discussed in Sects. 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 below in terms of consumer needs, corporate perspectives of meeting rental requirements and finally the resource implications of rental.

4.1 Consumer Needs in a Rental Service

The results of this study point to the environmental benefits seen by many of the respondents. There is also a pattern in the answers of the respondents stating to be more positive towards the rental model, and the group wanting to share their practices of the way to consume rented outdoor clothing with friends and comments about the environmental benefits of rental.

Looking at previous studies on the rental model, it is not clear that the rental model always is the most sustainable choice. This depends on geographical location for example, as raised in the analysis of the material element. For this model to be environmentally beneficial, the location of the rental is crucial, to decrease the transportation connected to the rental. Martin et al. (2021, 15) concluded in their work that the rental service has the potential of better utilizing the service lifetime of the produced products. The full potential of the rental service could be accessed if the focus is on reducing additional transport for accessing and maintaining the service.

Consumption frequency also determines consumer needs for rental of ownership (Mont, 2004). The result of this study shows that people who are more experienced in their outdoor activity often practice their outdoor activity more often, and thereby need their outdoor clothing more often. This group of people, no matter the activity, value owning their outdoor clothing for both economic and logistic reasons. Some people in this group, especially the hikers, also use their outdoor clothing in their daily life. The reason for this to differ some, compared to the skiers, is likely the type of gear. It is easier to use hiking clothing when not hiking, than for skiers to use skiing clothing often produced to manage colder and harder weather conditions. According to studies in line with the one from LUT University in Finland (Berge, 2021), it is not only beneficial for the individuals in this group for economic and logistic reasons to own their clothing, but this is also the best solution for the environment. This is explained by frequency in use as well as hygiene expectations that could lead to frequent washing in a rental alternative.

It is also likely the group being positive towards the rental model has not considered the possible increase in consumption that rental could open up for as shown by Lang and Joyner Armstrong (2017). Being able to rent offers opportunities to consume more, but also to make more informed choices when purchasing an item. Johansson and Nilsson (2016, 23) argue we (consumers) need to buy less clothing and textiles, and make sure the clothes we no longer want, or need are being reused or recycled, to make the current system better. However, the rhetorical question remains unanswered—can consumers be expected to have knowledge about sustainability effects of a purchasing or rental alternative? Or should institutional economic conditions make it easy to do the “right thing.” We just need to figure out what the right thing is.

There are more hikers in the survey than respondents doing the other activities in the survey, which might can be explained by the time of year the survey was done, during the spring, as a peak season for hiking. There are now more customers in the store looking for hiking products for the upcoming summer than for example customers looking for skiing clothes. It would be interesting to do the survey in time before the winter season too if the need for a wider result connected to rental clothes for winter activities is needed.

Societal norms are reflected in legislation and practices. These norms can change gradually as consumer awareness of sustainability challenges (meanings in SPT) rise. Influencers such as the sustainability icon Greta Thunberg gives sustainability challenges related to consumption of fast-moving consumer goods, such as cloths. Greta Thunberg and other famous people may serve as ambassadors and change agents. This is supported by findings by Shrivastava et al. (2021). They point to the importance of social media, especially influencers’ capacity to establish platforms that promote circular fashion and sustainability.

4.2 Critical Issues to Develop Rental Services from a Corporate Perspective

Critical issues for developing a rental based business model from a corporate perspective relates to how value is created, the revenues and the expectations of profit. This project points to consumers’ appreciation of easy access, which is supported in studies of rental business models (Nyvall et al., 2023), and consumers’ frequency in use as key factors for assessing the business model.

The importance availability of a service offer has been especially clear at times of COVID (2019–2022). As a result, purchasing online has increased for fast moving consumer goods, such as food and textile. Availability can be achieved through clear web pages, easy rental procedures, nearby pick up or delivery services and a flexibility that allows for consumers to try on garments in the store, or order online.

From a corporate perspective, frequency of use is reflected in needs to purchase a product, extend the product lifetime in services, upgrade the offer and offer new products when the original has been worn out. This is traditionally evaluated in terms of transactions and short-term profits. A relationship marketing perspective, however, would see these transactions as opportunities to get to know the consumer, the needs, expectations, and experiences. A rental situation offers an opportunity to develop a relationship, that can be followed up when the rented item is returned. This information may prove valuable for continued product development, as well as future service offers for the consumer.

Guiding the consumer in his or her consumption as part of relationship marketing. If a garment is only used one time, The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (2022c, 3) recommends renting the clothing. When and if renting outdoor clothing, it is important for the respondents in this study to have easy access to this choice and the model should fit their lifestyle in relation to their way of spending time outdoors. Most people want to pay per product and to try the clothing in a physical store, to make sure they rent something that fits them and the planned activity. The second most wanted way to rent the clothing is to order online and pick the clothing up at the nearest delivery service. For the rental model to be desirable, the renting process needs to be as easy as possible. Added comments to the result also say renting the clothes in the resort where the outdoor activity is performed is valuable. To raise the possibility of renting outdoor clothing, a renting clothes section could be a part of the physical stores. Thereby, social benefits can be reached by making it easier and more accessible for beginners to try a new outdoor activity for the first time when the first investment to try something new is less likely to be the factor of not trying the activity in the first place. With the trend of more people enjoying the outdoors because of the COVID-19 pandemic (The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, 2022b), it would be interesting to see the trend continue but in a more sustainable way, if possible.

Harper (2022) points to corporate challenges related to small scale in high-cost contexts. This concerns production (small series) as well as sales (retail). In our study, 21.8% of the respondents expect the rented clothing to look brand new. A rental business model may serve as a driver for development of lasting products, that have a new appearance for a long time in use. Small scale and consumer expectations of lasting quality are seen as cost drivers.

4.3 Resource Implications in a Rental Service Offer

The empirical study points to concerns related to resource use in a rental service offer. Our respondents, the consumers, verbalize availability needs of the cloths which points the importance of location of the rental service as well as open hours. The cloths item is also expected to be clean, which points to needs for washing and weather proofing on a regular basis. This project did not set out to map resource use or to do a life cycle-analysis of how rental compares to purchasing a product. We have identified various resource, such as water use, cleaning agent, weather-proofing agent related to just the cleaning of cloths that has been rented.

Mistra Future Fashion (2019, 19) state in their report rental or borrowing apparel for outdoor activities appears to be a partial solution to sustainability challenges. However, increased transportation because of the rental business model can offset the benefits gained from reduced production therefore, location for renting clothes is important, and collaborative consumption might not be suitable for all kinds of clothing.

5 Conclusions – Understanding Rental from an SPT Perspective

This project investigated the consumer perspective on renting clothes, more specifically clothes for outdoor activities. The aim of the research project was to explain consumer perspectives on renting outdoor clothing. Implications of this study may pave the way for developing a more consumer focused rental business model in the industry. Focus was placed on consumer attitudes of consumers that visited the Haglöfs retail store in Stockholm. With an ambition to understand consumer’s practices, rental of cloths at a particular time, social practice theory (SPT) served these needs well. Questions were focused on the three elements of practice: materials, meanings, and competence with an open mind of additional elements that the SPT may not cover.

5.1 Materials

The result of the data collection in the material dimension of SPT shows that beginners or consumers with average frequency in their outdoor activity/activities are more likely to rent their outdoor clothing than people being experienced outdoors, because of logistic and economic reasons. Previous studies on the rental model in the clothing industry also point out that the rental service most likely is not an attractive alternative from a sustainability perspective for experienced frequent users of a particular garment.

If rental is an alternative, it needs to be easy and accessible and the result points out that a physical store and paying per product is the most desired rental model. To minimize the need for longer transportations connected to the rental, like ski rental by the slopes, a physical store near the planned outdoor activity is preferred, for logistic benefits for the customer but mostly to sustain the environmental benefits of the rental model.

The material result also points at possibilities for a stronger relationship between a brand and its customers, and that outdoor brands with a linear business model today can increase the lifetime of garments if they combine their current business model with the rental model that let customers rent clothing and try them for their right purpose before purchasing them. On the other hand, letting customers try out the clothing through rental could also lead to an increased consumption rate when creating a desire for new outdoor clothing the customer may not planned to buy in the first place. The rental model in general could lead to a faster consumption rate when giving access and ability for customers to always wear the latest outdoor clothing on the market.

5.2 Meanings

In the meanings dimension, the result shows that the respondents see the benefits of the rental model, either for themselves or for someone else, and that if the respondents rent their outdoor clothing, they want to inspire their friends to do the same in the future, especially among female respondents. The women in this study also have more positive feelings towards the rental model than men. Among all the respondents, the environmental benefit is wanted, but so is the look and the function of the outdoor clothing. The rental model could lead to more people finding outdoor activities and being able to try these for the first time when they are easier accessible, and these types of social benefits are important to many of the respondents.

5.3 Competence

Looking at the competence dimension, the bigger part of the respondents stated to have the needed knowledge to make a more sustainable choice of clothing for their outdoor adventures. However, the results also point to a risk of even the groups rating their knowledge in the area to be high, may lack valuable information to make more sustainable consumption choices for their future adventures. This points to an opportunity for outdoor clothing brands could increase the knowledge among people by educating their employees on more sustainable choices for customers, to make information easier to find for customers.

5.4 What Have We Learned? Suggestions for Future Research

This study set out to explain consumer perspectives of outdoor cloths rental as an alternative to purchasing the cloths. Using a SPT perspective puts the focus on the practices to investigate what the enhancing and hindering factors are for rental to be a realistic alternative to purchasing a product.

In a relationship marketing perspective of services, rental offers opportunities to develop a relationship between the corporation (producer of cloths and or retail business), which may lead to product development opportunities, customer loyalty and less resource use to meet customer needs of outdoor cloths without compromising their needs to exercise these activities.

This study points to renting outdoor clothing depends on businesses that use an alternative business model (to the transaction-oriented purchasing model). From a corporate perspective, a triple bottom line needs to be reflected in the development of a service offer, for example:

  • From an environmental perspective, the rental needs to be geographically placed to minimize the transport.

  • The social dimension includes considering the outdoor experience and needs in developing the rental offer.

  • The economic (or financial) aspect of the rental offer means the business needs to take a relationship marketing perspective in the needs to balance the return on investment when developing a rental model.

Future research opportunities are seen in interdisciplinary comparative studies of environmental, social, and financial dimensions of rental as an alternative to purchasing fast moving consumer goods. What do we, as consumers, need to own? And how willing are businesses to provide the services that a rental business model implies? This study was conducted in a particular context at a particular time. It would be interesting to see how the understanding of rental develops over time, in different cultural contexts. Public health efforts are made to increase physical activities. If these needs can be met with rental, it would open for more consumers to do more outdoor activities.