The rise of rental or borrowing services over purchasing has resulted in the coining of a new marketing buzzword: the “transumer,” according to MSNBC.

According to Reinier Evers of Trendwatching, an Amsterdam-based market-research firm that coined the term, the current challenging economic climate has warmed people to the idea of renting, and not buying, certain goods, because of cost, ease, or space considerations.

Rented Chanel sunglasses, the auto-sharing service Zipcars, movies from Netflix, and fractional ownership of a jet to movies are just some examples of how consumers are moving to renting. It’s a lifestyle that’s “less about treasure and more about pleasure,” according Reinier Evers of Trendwatching, an Amsterdam-based market-research firm that coined the term, “Transumer.”

Evers says many transumers value non-ownership for environmental reasons: to only use something when you really need it.

Other examples of companies renting things rather than selling include Wear Today, Gone Tomorrow, which rents designer clothes. The company Rentobile leases the latest in cell phones and irent2u rents almost anything from ladders to power tools.

Alexandra Aguirre Rodriguez, assistant marketing professor at Florida International University, said “Transumers” think “I’m attached to the experiences,” and “I don't want to be attached to the possession.”

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