Construal level and collaborative consumption: An exploratory approach

Abstract

AbstractWhat motivates the participation in collaborative consumption, a part of the economy that will move 300 billion dollars by 2025? The literature presents external factors to the consumer as a form of incentive or limitation, such as economic opportunity, search for a sustainable society or emergence of a marketplace with no regulations. A few quantitative articles focused on understanding this access phenomenon, by analyzing the consumer as the main subject of research. However, it is possible to analyze this behaviour in the light of a theory that has not yet being explored within the collaborative consumer literature: The Construal Level Theory (CLT). This article aims to demonstrate that CLT presents a plausible explanation for adoption and access to collaborative consumption. The CLT's main idea is that consumers develop their interpretations on two levels: a higher one, focused on more abstract and simple situations; and a lower one, where judgments are conducted more concretely and complexly. Studies on CLT have shown that attitudes are usually constructed at high levels of interpretation, while behaviour is interpreted within lower levels. We propose that collaborative consumption can be reflected by consumers’ high or low levels and so defining the consumer's behaviour in this context.