Burdens of Access: Understanding Customer Barriers and Barrier-Attenuating Practices in Access-Based Services

Access-based services (ABS), which grant customers limited access to goods without any transfer of ownership, are unique technology-based service innovations requiring the substantial involvement and collaboration of customers, without employees’ supervision. Although ABS offer several potential advantages, convincing customers to use them remains challenging. Combining 56 in-depth interviews with supplementary literature, the authors address this challenge by proposing an integrative framework that reflects the (1) barriers that prevent customers from using ABS and (2) practices in which customers engage to attenuate those barriers. The complex, multidimensional barriers relate not only to the service and technology features but also to other customers. Customers can engage in different practices to attenuate perceived barriers and create value, namely, “to distance,” “to manage,” “to elaborate,” “to control,” and “to relate.” Yet they regard these barrier-attenuating practices as necessary sacrifices to use ABS. Complementing suggestions that customers adopt and use ABS to escape the burdens of ownership, the current research reveals that customers actually may confront several “burdens of access.” This research suggests managers who wish to reduce rejection of their innovation could not only overcome customers’ perceived barriers, but also facilitate and reduce the number of practices in which customers engage to attenuate those barriers themselves.