Mentor
Stephanie Lawson, Ph.D.
Major
Business Administration
College
College of Business Administration
Department
Management and Marketing
Abstract
This research focuses on what persuades sneakerheads to partake in access-based consumption. This research is important because the relationship between collectors, particularly sneakerheads, and access-based consumption has not yet been explored. This topic was studied by conducting semi-structured interviews with sneakerheads, to find themes and correlations that depict motives for consumers to participate in access-based consumption. As well as motives, this topic was studied to discover deterrents that may drive sneakerheads away from renting their sneakers. These findings will contribute something new to the literature based upon access-based consumption, because currently there is no literature that depicts what motivates or discourages collectors/sneakerheads to become access-based consumers. To extract those findings, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The sample was a convenient sample from a Charlotte, N.C. mall. After conducting the interviews, it was found that saving money was a major motive for sneakerheads to rent their sneakers. Other than economic benefits, it was also found that for one-time use and status seeking purposes sneakerheads are motivated to rent their sneakers. Deterrents such as anxiety, hygiene, possessiveness, and sneaker condition were all discouragements that drove sneakerheads away from renting their sneakers. Within this study, there is also a proposed plan of how a sneaker-renting platform could benefit the consumer and the market simultaneously.
Recommended Citation
Adkinson-Jobe, Naseem A. and Lawson, Stephanie
(2017)
"Collector’s Relationship to Access-Based Consumption: A Sneakerhead’s Perspective,"
The Winthrop McNair Research Bulletin: Vol. 3, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/wmrb/vol3/iss1/2
