Abstract
The aim of the article is to analyze the relationship between lifestyle changes and willingness to use sharing economy services in tourism, including peer-to-peer accommodation. On the one hand, knowledge of lifestyle changes can help adapt the product offer to the requirements of consumers. On the other hand, products that consumers use can reflect lifestyle changes. The following classification of motivations for sharing economy activity selection resulting from the subjects’ lifestyles has been proposed: personal motivations—related to economic advantages; social (conformist) motivations—resulting from the need to fit in with others; and ideological motivation—resulting from the understanding of the processes of natural environment degradation and excessive consumption. In order to gather opinions and to understand behaviors, attitudes, and preferences regarding sharing economy activities (i.e., the sharing of transportation, food, clothes, equipment, and accommodation), the focus group interview method was used (6 groups, 5–8 participants each). Discussions were conducted separately for two populations: young with time (YT) and older rich (OR). The study demonstrates lifestyle changes between the generations. YT actions are the consequence of personal and ideological motivations. OR have lifestyles that result from personal and conformist motivations. Neither population sees a relationship between participating in the sharing economy and caring for the environment and preventing excessive consumption.
Highlights
The growing importance of the sharing economy is a consequence of many simultaneous changes: the global economic crisis, growing concerns about sustainable consumption, the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), a tendency towards reurbanization, changes in consumers’ behaviors, and increasingly widespread initiatives related to social entrepreneurship [1,2,3,4,5]
The analysis shows that lifestyle has an impact on the behaviors associated with the sharing economy and peer-to-peer accommodation, but that the relationship can work in the opposite direction
Since the sharing economy is essentially based on concern for the proper utilization of assets, the first part of the study was devoted to the subject of global waste of resources
Summary
The growing importance of the sharing economy is a consequence of many simultaneous changes: the global economic crisis, growing concerns about sustainable consumption, the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), a tendency towards reurbanization, changes in consumers’ behaviors, and increasingly widespread initiatives related to social entrepreneurship [1,2,3,4,5]. As a result of the crisis, discussions of sustainable development, including sustainable consumption, have intensified. The new economic situation has led to a reassessment of consumption patterns, including spending habits and the value attached to ownership [6,7,8], making it necessary to rethink the changes in previously existing behaviors resulting from one’s lifestyle. The sharing economy has provided useful business models for consumers who engage in anti-consumption lifestyles, because a number of consumers see participation in the sharing economy as an alternative to ownership [9] (pp. 1422–1423)
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