The Consumer Acceptance of Smart Product-Service Systems in Sharing Economy: The Effects of Perceived Interactivity and Particularity

With the rapid growth of the sharing economy, access-based services have emerged as an alternative and/or complementary to traditional ownership-based services. The access-based services are enabled by means of Smart Product-Service Systems (SPSSs) that integrate smart products and e-services into a single solution. However, there is a lack of studies that cover the acceptance factors for both smart products and e-services of SPSSs. Therefore, it is important to have a study to explore the factors that influence the acceptance of SPSSs. This study develops a conceptual framework which consists of the perceived interactivity of mobile apps and the particularity of the smart shared products as antecedents apart from perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, as suggested by the Technology Acceptance Model. To test the research framework empirically, a self-reported online survey was conducted among bike sharing program users in China. A total of 520 valid responses were collected, and the partial least-square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was used to examine the research model. The empirical results suggest that the perceived interactivity of mobile apps and the particularity of smart shared products are two significant sets of antecedents that influence consumers' perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are preconditions for the acceptance of SPSSs. The findings generate practical suggestions for SPSSs providers to increase the network size of users, improve the interactivity of mobile apps, and manage the distributions of service points.