Social Change
Nowadays, owning things no longer has the same relevance as it did for older generations. According to the slogan "It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it" it was obviously much more attractive to own things in order not to need them than to need them and not have them.
This is probably why 50 years ago the slogan "renting instead of buying" would rarely have received much sympathy, whereas today, according to a survey by the market research institute Splendid Research, just about half of German consumers are attracted by rental offers. But what is this development related to?(n-tv, 2018).
One reason could be the younger generations, who no longer want to wait to afford certain things during their training and study periods (where financial resources are limited). But perhaps people's attitudes have changed in general and it is more important to have access to things rather than to own them. This would mean that for people, the experience is more important than owning a good that ties up capital and can't be used optimally. Most likely, there are several reasons - anyway, we are very happy about this development.
Sharing as the new old solution
The advantages of renting over buying are obvious, and primarily address the trends of increasing social responsibility, a better work-life balance and greater environmental awareness. This is because the sharing economy creates a balance of economy, ecology and socially responsible interaction. This solution is based on the empirical observation that capacities are idle in numerous areas, such as tools, cars, clothing or even housing. In order to make better use of these capacities, Nobel Prize winner in economics Elinor Ostrom already had the idea in the 1990s of loosening the link between ownership and use. This would create a market for usage rights that would allow resources to be used much more efficiently. With the help of technical innovations, such as powerful and transparent platforms, this market can bring together supply and demand in near real time and with low transaction costs.
This balance created by the sharing economy primarily involves the more efficient use of resources. For example, one sharing car can replace more than ten privately owned cars, which not only saves on materials and emissions during production, but at the same time relieves the parking situation in city centers, thus having a positive impact ecologically, economically and socially. (SpringerProfessional, 2018)
Trend and facts
No wonder, then, that long-standing players such as SIXT and Airbnb have already established themselves in the field of cars and housing, and that the business model is working. In fact, however, an even further increase in interest in such rental models can be assumed, as reported by the barometers of IFH Cologne and KPMG.
A survey representative of the population underlined this potential as every sixth respondent stated that they had already used a rental model. A full 43% of respondents can imagine using such a model in the future. Vehicles are particularly popular, as 68% of rental model users said they had already rented a vehicle. The most important criteria for over 80% of respondents are a fair price compared to the alternative of buying the product, as well as easy and free delivery and return. (ifh, 2017)
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