Overcoming consumers's perceived contamination barriers to access-based services : the role of brand equity

Abstract

Abstract

Access-based services (ABS), which offer multiple consumers the temporary use of products without transfer of ownership, are becoming increasingly popular. Yet, consumers seem reluctant to fully embrace these service innovations and as a result, numerous access-based businesses experience failure. Recent studies identify consumer contamination concerns as a specific psychological barrier that hinders customers from adopting ABS. Fears of contamination arise when a person perceives that actual or imagined contact between an object and another person occurred, leading to a transfer of germs or residues. However, research on contamination in an ABS context is only emerging and empirical evidence on how to successfully overcome the contamination barrier is lacking. This study contributes to prior research by investigating brand equity as a firm strategy aimed at overcoming the contamination barrier to ABS. Thereby, a product’s physical proximity is examined as a factor influencing consumer contamination concerns. Moreover, this study explores the mediating role of customer stereotypes in the relationship between brand equity and contamination concerns. The results of a scenario-based experiment (N = 296) reveal that products characterized by close physical proximity to one’s body elicit higher feelings of contamination among customers. Furthermore, the study results confirm brand equity to be an effective firm strategy to reduce consumer contamination concerns in ABS for products characterized by close as well as far physical proximity. Warmth and competence stereotypes act as critical mediators in the relation between brand equity and consumer contamination concerns. The results suggest that service providers should consider contamination effects when developing their product strategy and invest in brand building strategies as well as strategies cultivating favorable brand stereotypes to mitigate the contamination barrier and to boost the adoption rate of their service innovations.