Abstract
Kang and Park discuss their study on the effect of unethical product attributes on choice between renting and buying. We demonstrate that consumers choose a renting option over a buying option for a product with an unethical attribute to reduce anticipated guilt. This effect of presence (vs. absence) of unethical product attributes on increasing the choice of the renting option is attenuated when consumers are less guilt-prone. While owning through buying has traditionally been the most dominant mode of consuming products, renting is becoming more prevalent. Prior work has identified factors that may influence consumers' choice between renting and buying, including economic costs personal characteristics, and contextual factors. However, limited research examined how a specific product attribute--other than economic attributes like price--influences such choices. In this research, they show that the presence of unethical product attributes impacts consumers' choice between buying and renting.