| dc.description.abstract | Sustainable product-service systems (S.PSS) are an upcoming trend for businesses to step into participating in a circular economy. This innovation is getting more general acceptance by society. To empower the diffusion of S.PSS, it is interesting to understand the adoption of S.PSS on a social level. The social capital, which are all social contacts of an individual, plays an important role in decision making for an individual, and eventually in adopting new innovations. This research focusses on the influence of bonding (e.g. family and friends) and bridging (e.g. colleagues and neighbours) social capital on the individual’s awareness, attitude, and adoption of S.PSS. A mixed method research design is applied, using a survey (n=292) to receive information around S.PSS from young Dutch customers, and 20 additional interviews to enrich the survey results. Results imply that the social capital has different influences on the individual’s awareness, attitude and adoption of S.PSS. The adoption of S.PSS by the social capital of an individual relates to the adoption of S.PSS by the individual, especially that of their bonding social capital. The bridging social capital has influences on the adoption of S.PSS as well, but more in specific cases. Social capital helps the individual to become more aware about S.PSS, in this case the adoption of S.PSS by friends and colleagues are especially useful. The attitudes towards S.PSS are formed through sharing experiences and encouragement from friends and colleagues with whom they have shared attitudes regarding sustainability and non-ownership. Thus, the diffusion of S.PSS happens through a variation of bonding and bridging social capital, creating awareness, sharing attitudes and adopting S.PSS more easily. Interesting avenues for further research are generation gaps and the diffusion of S.PSS in cities. | |
