Consumer-related services, such as renting, sharing, repair, up-grading which aim at a substantial increase of resource productivity appear to be a promising road to sustainable development. Within the project "New concepts of product use" the environ-mental benefits achieved by these strategies have been assessed and the drivers for and barriers to their successful introduction in the marketplace have been analysed. The project's main focus has been on two final consumption areas: textile washing and ski renting. After a comprehensive, qualitative in-depth study of both sectors a representative consumer survey has been carried out, too.

The research reveals that use intensification and prolongation may in fact provide environmental benefits. They are, however, not as high as expected (average increase in resource productivity has been about a factor 1.5 to 2.0).

The cases illustrated, moreover, that market penetration of these concepts does not solely depend upon utilisation patterns of consumers, but rather on a complex interplay of different parameters: innovation dynamics, relative prices, supply-side factors such as service range and novelty of the offer, and demand-side factors such as the breaking-up of consumption routines (e.g. increased flexibility in leisure time activities) or the character of the consumptive act (e.g. daily routine versus rare activity). From this perspective, the change from one use-regime to another can be interpreted as the result of the occurrence of a 'window of opportunity' in which strategic actors take the lead in re-directing socio-technological trajectories.

With regard to future market prospects the study has identified four different types of users to which innovative utilisation concepts should be targeted ("ownership-oriented", "open-minded", "consumption-oriented", "low interest"). The four groups are more or less evenly distributed among German population. Most relevant target groups for use intensification are "open-minded" consumers, while prolongation of product use should primarily be addressed to "ownership-oriented" ones.

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Last updated: 13 November, 2008