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This research aims to examine how consumer minimalism (CM), self-conscious feelings (such as consumer guilt (CG) and consumer pride (CP)) and the inclination to use rental services interact. It also looks at how attitudes toward pro-environmental advertisements affect these relationships as a moderator, recognizing the importance of pro-environmental advertising in influencing consumer behavior.

This study employed a quantitative methodology to investigate the aforementioned associations. Survey questionnaires are used to collect data, which is then analyzed using AMOS 25 and Process Macro to generate meaningful insights.

The findings indicate that the willingness to use rental services is directly associated with CM, while self-conscious emotions (SCEs) play the role of a mediator in this relationship.

It is essential to recognize the limitations of this study. There may be other variables at play, but the research focuses on SCEs (CG and CP) and their role as mediators. The findings must be interpreted based on the selected research methodology and sample size. Future research could investigate additional variables and enlarge the sample size to increase generalizability.

Targeted marketing can leverage CM, SCEs and willingness to use rental services. Recognizing the moderating effect of attitude toward pro-environmental advertisements can help create more effective campaigns promoting environmental behavior.

Underpinned by SCEs, the current study is one of the initial studies to explain how CM encourages responsible environmental behavior through access-based consumption models.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of Chinese young consumers’ traits (fashion leadership, quality consciousness, price consciousness, environmental consciousness and social media usage) as the external factors on their behavioral intention toward using clothing subscription rental services.

Quantitative research was conducted, and empirical data were collected from 255 Chinese college students. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses.

The study offered convincing evidence that fashion leadership, price consciousness and social media usage are the three main drivers of Chinese young consumers’ favorable attitudes toward clothing subscription rental services, which together with social norms further lead to their intention to use clothing subscription rental services. Contrary to expectations, the study showed that consumers’ quality consciousness and environmental consciousness have no significant impact on consumer attitudes toward clothing subscription rental services. Moreover, the findings of the study demonstrated the impact of attitude and subjective norms on Chinese young consumers’ intention to use clothing subscription rental services.

This study contributes to the literature by integrating additional factors (fashion leadership, quality consciousness, price consciousness, consumer environmental knowledge, social media usage) into the traditional theory of reasoned action model to investigate how Chinese young consumers’ characteristics impact their attitudes and how their attitudes and subjective norms impact their intention toward using clothing subscription rental services.

The purpose of the study is to explore and analyze m-car rental service quality dimensions.

Exploratory factor analysis method is applied to explore the m-car rental service quality dimensions. Further, confirmatory factor analysis is done to prove the reliability and validity of the factors using AMOS 22.0.

The results reveal the m-car rental service quality dimensions: ambient quality, technical quality, comfort, safety and employee service, mobile convenience, mobile responsiveness, mobile efficiency and reliability and mobile safety and billing.

The explored dimensions of car rental services are in Indian environment. So, these dimensions can be further validated in other similar cultural context.

The proposed measurements can also be applied to measure and compare the service quality performance of car rental firms.

Current literature does not confirm the stable factor structure of m-car rental service quality. This study confirms the reliable and valid dimensions of care rental service through mobile app.

Currently, fashion rental is suggested as being a way to bring about sustainability in the fashion industry. Although there has been some success for brands in this space, as of yet fashion rental remains a niche form of consumption. This study aims to uncover consumer perspectives of fashion rental to identify opportunities for developing a fashion rental business that meets the needs of current consumers.

This is a qualitative study utilising semi-structured interviews combined with brainstorming and drawing exercises. Interviews were conducted with 17 women and three men.

Findings indicate that considerations around fashion rentals are utilitarian in nature focussing on functional benefits rather than more hedonistic ones. A spectrum of products that people would be most interested in renting is given.

Although the study invited male and female participants, the sample is more female-heavy, which may reflect the fact that women tend to be more open to alternative modes of consumption.

An important implication is that asking consumers to rent clothing requires a significant change in mindset. Brands need to ensure that their services “make sense” for the consumer to consider it as a viable alternative to purchasing new clothing.

This paper proposes a spectrum of fashion items that consumers may be interested in renting; this aims to help brands develop services that meet consumer needs.

Trade centers are operationally run by a property manager as a delegate of the property owner. The dimensions of service quality (SERVQUAL), which include tangibles, assurance, empathy, reliability and responsiveness, are vital to be implemented as the duties of property managers when providing service to tenants to maintain tenant satisfaction and property reputation. This study aims to understand the effects of the SERVQUAL dimensions, the role of property management and the quality of rental value on tenant satisfaction and property reputation.

The sample was gathered using the purposive sampling technique with the criteria of being a tenant and kiosk owner in trade center properties in Surabaya. Data were gathered using questionnaires, from which 100 respondents were acquired. It was then analyzed using the partial least square structural equation model (SEM) in the SmartPLS 3.0 program to test the hypothesis.

The results of this study prove that the SERVQUAL dimensions – assurance, empathy and responsiveness – significantly influence tenant satisfaction with the mediating variable of the role of property management. Moreover, the SERVQUAL dimensions – empathy, reliability and responsiveness – significantly influence property reputation with the mediating variable of the role of property management.

Property managers are expected to proactively map out different service measures related to the dimension of satisfaction by conducting service training programs for their employees. In fact, in the post-pandemic period, property managers require new marketing strategies, such as leaseback, to effectively carry out renovations of the trade center’s public facilities and restructure the tenant mix.

Trade centers as trading areas experience management limitations because of the prohibition of mass gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a limited number of onsite trading. Tenants who have entered into a long-term contract experience loss and rely on the aid of property management to survive. The role and quality of service of property management influence tenants’ satisfaction post-COVID-19 pandemic.

This article aims to introduce the service function concept, as well as why and how it can be a useful concept for addressing service management challenges in industrial firms.

Two in‐depth case studies of global industrial firms enabled a thorough understanding of the roles of the service function entities and interdependencies between them.

Although the service organization is most likely the key entity, it is only one part of the service function; other organizational entities are to be seen as part‐time service functions.

A finer‐grained conceptualization would enable a better understanding of the front‐ and back‐office entities involved in the service processes.

The concept can be useful when communicating the importance of services and the inter‐relatedness between the service organization and other parts of the firm, which generates a better internal understanding of the service processes. The alignment between service offering and organization can be elaborated by mapping where service development, sales, and production take place, what the ideal configuration would be, and the roles played by different parts of the service function.

The service function is a novel concept and is particularly relevant for industrial firms that offer services. It highlights the fact that it is erroneous to equate services with the activities of the service organization. Instead, a more holistic approach to the management of service offerings is needed.

Airport economics literature has recently included the supply of concession services among the factors that might affect airport pricing. In particular, there is only little empirical analysis on whether: (i) the supply of airport concession services can stimulate the demand for travel (two-side complementarity) and (ii) the demand for airport concession services is independent of traveling activities (welfare neutrality). In this chapter, we survey papers that have addressed two-side complementarity and welfare neutrality in airport concessions. Our goal is to discuss the different assumptions that have shaped the models and to collect evidences, facts and empirical findings that may support analytical hypotheses. We argue that the notions of two-side complementarity and welfare neutrality might be interrelated – especially when airports invest in concessions in the area accessible to non-passengers. Welfare gains should be assessed on a case by case basis, depending on the type of airport in terms of ownership, size (and the relative mass of connecting passengers compared to origin–destination passengers), and the source of concession revenues. Our arguments might be particularly relevant to policy makers who need to understand (i) whether the supply of concessions reduces or increases the benefits of airport (aviation) price regulation and (ii) whether the effective control of market power may require the regulation of the prices of both the businesses.

Jim Keyes, CEO of Dallas-based Blockbuster Inc., was facing the biggest challenge of his career. In March 2010 Keyes was meeting with Hollywood studios in an effort to negotiate better terms for the $1 billion worth of merchandise Blockbuster had purchased the year before. In recent years, Blockbuster's share of the video rental market had been sharply decreasing in the face of competitors such as the low-cost, convenient Redbox vending machines and mail-order and video-on-demand service Netflix. While Blockbuster's market capitalization had dropped 47 percent to $62 million in 2009, Netflix's had shot up 55 percent to $3.9 billion that year. The only hope for Blockbuster, as Keyes saw it, was to shift its business model from primarily brick-and-mortar physical DVD rentals to increased digital and mail-order video delivery. In Keyes's favor, the studios were more than willing to provide him with that help. Hollywood wanted to see Blockbuster win the video-rental wars. Consumers still made frequent purchases of DVDs at its store—purchases which were much more profitable for studios than the rentals that remained Blockbuster's primary business. Blockbuster had made efforts at making its business model more nimble, but the results had been disappointing, and its debt continued to skyrocket. By the end of 2009, the company's debt had climbed to $856 million, its share of the $6.5 billion video rental business had fallen to 27 percent, and its revenues had tumbled 23 percent to $4.1 billion.

The objective of this case is to discuss how different business models and supply chain structures impact the financials of the firms in the DVD rental business. In particular, the goal is to convey that the characteristics of the movie (recent/big hit or old/eclectic) affect whether it is best rented from a centralized or decentralized model. In addition, as streaming gains market share, the impact will be different for movie types and business models.

Virtual reality (VR), as a new type of media technology, significantly improves the audience experience with product presentation in the marketing communication field. The apartment rental market, particularly in China, has no exception in adopting VR technology in its communication strategy. VR usage has been boosted since the outbreak of COVID-19 and has become a widespread application in the global apartment rental market. Although extant studies have analyzed how real estate companies use VR technology to enhance customer experience, few studies have been made to explore the power of VR in apartment rental advertising, particularly in targeting the youth in China market. To fill this research gap, this study aims to figure out how young consumers perceive VR advertising and characteristics of VR used in apartment rental advertisements, and how VR advertising affects young consumers’ intentions to rent an apartment.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2021 with 301 Chinese university students aged 18 to 23. All respondents were invited offline and guided to watch one selected rental advertisement with VR technology featuring an apartment of about 50 square meters and then complete a questionnaire.

VR’s media richness in the apartment rental advertising increases its sense of presence perceived by the survey respondents. Both VR’s media richness and sense of presence positively influence respondents’ attitudes toward the advertised apartment. If respondents evaluate the advertised apartment positively, they are more willing to rent the advertised apartment.

The sample size is not large enough to represent all Generation Z consumers in China. The use of the nonprobability sampling method also limits the generalizability of the study results.

To counter the challenges created by COVID-19, apartment rental service providers and apartment owners/landlords are suggested to enhance the application of VR technology to the apartment rental advertisements to grow young consumers’ interest in the advertised apartments and even their renting intention.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first quantitative study to assess young consumers’ responses to VR apartment rental advertising in China.

Develops a conceptual model of the antecedents of consumer expectations and firm image, based on past research in service, and empirically tested using the simultaneous equation procedures of LISREL 7. Data were collected and analyzed for four service industries (tax services, dental services, restaurants and video rental stores). Significant findings include: the image consumers have of a service firm has the strongest impact on their expectations; the relative saliences of the antecedents vary across industries; advertising has no significant impact on expectations or firm image in any of the four industries or in the aggregate analysis; and the level of customization and service provider judgment has an impact on the relative importance of each of the antecedents of consumer expectations.