The Influence of Ownership on the Sustainable Use of Product-service Systems - A Literature Review

The evolution towards sustainable product service systems introduces a new relationship between product and user in PSS, where we see that the user no longer is the legal owner of the product. This article reports upon an exploration of the psychological relationship between consumer and product within the context of PSS, and addresses the way a shift in ownership influences consumers’ perception. A literature review was needed towards the psychological side of the consumer-product relationship and its relation to different research fields (product attachment, experience design and non-ownership modes of consumption). The result is a set of characteristics that describes the system and the ownership dimensions. This set of characteristics could lead to future research into the correlation of different characteristics, ultimately leading to a set of guidelines for designers designing new PSSs.