Moving from an Ownership to a Rental Society

In two recent columns I wrote about two of the three consumer economic trends that are already changing consumer behavior and will continue to do so well into the 2020s amp8211 Conscious Capitalism and the amp8220Less is Moreamp8221 trend In this column I address the third major consumer economic trend moving from an ownership to a rental society As with the prior two this trend will first be prevalent primarily in the developed world and then spread globally in a decade or soFour years ago I started to suggest that in the United States the reorganizational recession of 20072010 might have broken the aspirational patriotic vision of home ownership This was a fairly obvious supposition due to the collapse of the real estate market which led to the downward economic cataclysm Not only was the old saying amp8220real estate always goes up in valueamp8221 blown up but the inability to sell the home one owned kept millions from being able to move to where they could gain employment So ownership in an illiquid market also meant unemployment In many cases this lead to bankruptcy a painful experience due in part to home ownershipThis led me to think about what I now see as the third major trend in consumer behavior We are moving from embracing ownership to embracing renting We are moving ever more to a rental and sharing economy And not just in the area of housingThink about the phenomenon of the Zipcar and other such companies that allow you to pick up and drop off a car at convenient locations Why wouldnamp8217t we want to using and pay for the car only when we need it and not pay for the car or a parking place when we donamp8217t need it Similarly in big cities around the world there is the developing phenomenon of renting bicycles to ride from place to place You can ride a bike when and where you want and not have to ever buy one if you live in one of these citiesThink about the reality that a young woman in her 20s who buys an expensive purse She might not think of it as a lifetime purchase but as something that she can resell on eBay in a year or two Shortterm ownership is very much like temporary rentalThink about airbnbcom the web site that allows people to rent out their couches beds and homes to others generating revenue Hundreds of thousands of people have used airbnbcom on both sides of the economic equation either to generate revenue not previously available or to rent a place to stay at a price lower than a regular hotel roomThink about all the streaming video and audio sites They are basically renting content for consumption not selling content to be owned They are also allowing one to experience content before buying which will greatly cut down on the desire or impulse to own Much of media is and will move to subscription models Subscription is really the renting of content on a monthly basisSo in many major categories of purchase we are becoming less about owning and more about rentingOf course this Ownership to Rental trend is closely tied to the Less is More trend We will own less stuff Having less stuff will allow us to be more mobile As long as we can connect wherever we are we wonamp8217t need to carry content with us Having less stuff means that we need less space to keep things We will rent more stuff than we do now because we will not be acquiring just using for a period of time Mobility and the desire for experiences most evidenced with the Millennial generation but also the Baby Boomers will redirect financial resources away from ownership and acquisition and toward experience and movementOne of the three forces of the Shift Age the Flow to Global has created a sense of global citizenship and economic opportunity As I wrote near the end of amp8220 Entering the Shift Age amp8221 the Shift Age will usher in the greatest age of migration in human history We will work in one place for a few months or years and then move on But our connectivity will be constantOf course the concept of ownership will always exist as it always has However in the Shift Age reality of the everaccelerating speed of change long term ownership will seem less secure and stable In an increasingly resourcechallenged world in this the Earth Century full utilization of what exists will become part of the solutionRecycle Reuse Reduce and Rent The new Four Rs of Spaceship EarthDavid Houle is a futurist strategist and speaker He has always been slightly ahead of the curve Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment Most recently David is a featured contributor to Oprahcom Check is out here wwwoprahcomdavidhoule David can be contacted at DavidDavidHoulecomRead all Davidamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Evolution ShiftCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Moving from an Ownership to a Rental Society

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David Houle

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 10: Political Spending) - By Carl Mayer

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