Sharing Styles without Feeling Gross: The Influence of Contamination on Consumers’ Collaborative Consumption Intentions

Byoungho Ellie Jin,Naeun Lauren Kim

doi:10.31274/itaa.11720

Abstract

One of the major concerns of consumers in the emerging phenomenon of collaborative consumption (CC) is the issue of contamination. Guided by the consumer contamination effect theory, the influence of physical attractiveness, and similarity attraction theory, this experimental research examines the effect of positive contamination through the sellers’ physical attractiveness (Study 1) and buyer/seller racial similarity (Study 2) in two distinct CC contexts (i.e., rental and secondhand purchase). A total of 377 US female consumers were assigned to an experimental CC scenario. The findings reveal that consumers prefer to purchase items from an attractive or racially similar seller in the secondhand context but not in the rental setting. Our findings suggest possible solutions to alleviate the contamination issue in CC.

Highlights

Collaborative consumption (CC)—where consumers share ownership of cars, clothes, lodging, or other commodities—has gained tremendous popularity in recent years through the emergence of platforms like Uber, Airbnb, and Rent the Runway
The images of an attractive/unattractive individual were selected from a pretest
A shirt was chosen as the high-contact item, and a handbag was chosen as the low-contact item, as the result of a pretest

Summary

Introduction

Collaborative consumption (CC)—where consumers share ownership of cars, clothes, lodging, or other commodities—has gained tremendous popularity in recent years through the emergence of platforms like Uber, Airbnb, and Rent the Runway. Studies have yet to uncover the specific factors that can be leveraged by companies to increase consumer secondhand purchase or rental intentions toward shareable goods. One major concern among CC users is the issue of contamination (i.e., feeling ‘grossed out’ when sharing items with anonymous others). Building on the influence of physical attractiveness and racial similarity theory, the purpose of this research is to examine the presence of positive contamination cues in CC through an experimental study. The findings will enhance the academics’ and practitioners’ understanding on how to better engage consumers in CC of apparel. Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Development Physical Attractiveness: “What is Beautiful is Good”

Objectives

Results

Conclusion