Collaborative Consumption Platforms Research Articles

Sharing economy: tensions in renting others’ possessions

Abstract The sharing economy is anchored to two opposite logics: sharing and market exchange. This results in tensions between a pro-social orientation and communal norms on the one hand (i.e. solidarity, mutuality, generalized reciprocity and communal belonging) and a for-profit orientation and market norms on the other hand (i.e. profit maximization, self-interest and utilitarian motives). This article aims to distinguish among the different practices and phenomena related to the sharing economy, focusing on the tensions emanating from renting private possessions through collaborative consumption platforms.

Do prosumers behave differently from other consumers on collaborative consumption platforms?

PurposeThis paper aims at understanding the differences between user profiles in collaborative consumption (CC) platforms in order to improve their management approaches and set up customized strategies. Particularly, the authors investigate the emerging role of prosumers and their influence on the active participation and growth of CC platforms. Moreover, the authors study user experience to help promoting users' recommendation and offering intention.Design/methodology/approachThe sample includes responses from 6,388 users of CC platforms across the EU. The data were collected through the European Commission's Flash Eurobarometer survey 467 and analyzed through a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).FindingsThe PLS-SEM findings suggest that prosumers are more likely than consumers to recommend and offer services through CC platforms. Furthermore, previous experience using platforms positively affects the switch from consumers to prosumers. The fsQCA suggests that only economic advantages affect the switchover decision.Research limitations/implicationsThis study deepens the hitherto unexplored prosumer role in CC platforms and its antecedents and drivers.Practical implicationsThe main limitations concern the generalizability outside of the EU, the unbalanced coverage of sectors and the number of moderator variables.Social implicationsProsumers act as golden actors because they contribute to enlarge both the customer base (through recommendations) and the provider base (through offering intention). Hence, managers should focus on prosumers' experiences to increase the critical mass and positive externalities of CC platforms.Originality/valueThis study helps understand the importance of the role of prosumers in the growth of CC platforms. The study provides more robust results through a cross-country and mixed-method research.

Gig worker typology and research agenda: advancing research for frontline service providers

PurposeThe unique employment status of gig workers as independent contractors and their impact on consumers provide an important opportunity for the current research to understand gig workers' perceptions of their employment and how that affects job performance outcomes. These gig workers serve as the frontline service providers for platforms like Airbnb hosts, Lyft drivers and Wag walkers performing customer-facing services. However, their status as gig workers, not traditional employees, presents challenges to platforms. The purpose of this research is to gain insights into the profiles of gig workers, examine the challenges platforms have in retaining high-performing workers and provide a research agenda on this important group of frontline service providers.Design/methodology/approachIncorporating variables deemed important in examining self-determination theory, a large-scale data collection via an online survey was administered, yielding 447 completed surveys. A two-step cluster analysis procedure was conducted to categorize sample respondents into four distinct groups.FindingsFour groups emerged from the cluster analysis, labeled “Ambivalent Outsider,” “Competent Cog,” “Independent Insider” and “Committed Comrade.” The results suggest that there are significant differences across all variables and groups based on gig worker responses and self-reported customer satisfaction scores. The gig worker profiles developed are then utilized to formulate research propositions that are the basis for the research agenda presented.Practical implicationsThe goal of many collaborative consumption platforms may be to hire Independent Insiders or Committed Comrades; however, that is difficult to attain with every hire. Thus, the segmentation results provide insights for companies seeking to hire, retain, and successfully motivate their workforce.Originality/valueGiven the freedom and flexibility afforded to gig workers, and the importance they have on the service experience for customers, understanding their own perceptions of employment and performance is critical to ensuring a positive experience for all parties. Research on collaborative consumption has largely focused on consumers or the management of freelance workers with only tangential applicability to gig work. This paper offers a comprehensive research agenda for gig worker management based on the typology of gig workers created.

Diffusion of moral behavior on a collaborative consumption platform: Dual mechanisms of deindividuation and self-presentation

ABSTRACT Although collaborative consumption platforms (CCPs) have achieved rapid growth, the increase in misbehavior on CCPs has made users hesitant to participate. This study examines how previous moral behavior influences subsequent moral behavior and how deindividuation and self-disclosure, as psychological mechanisms, influence subsequent moral behavior. To test the hypotheses, this study conducted two experiments. Data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The results show that the previous user’s misbehavior (or good behavior) positively affects the subsequent user’s misbehavior (or good behavior). Furthermore, without self-disclosure, deindividuation mediates the effect of the previous user’s misbehavior on the subsequent user’s misbehavior. Conversely, when there is self-disclosure, self-presentation mediates the effect of the previous user’s good behavior on the subsequent user’s good behavior. The study provides a diffusion model of moral behavior on CCPs through a dual mechanism of deindividuation and self-presentation while considering self-disclosure as a nudge.

When users decide to bypass collaborative consumption platforms: The interplay of economic benefit, perceived risk, and perceived enjoyment

Bypass, which consists of intentionally circumventing a collaborative platform in the final transaction phase, represents a threat for commission-based platforms. This paper examines collaborative consumers' motivations to bypass and proposes a conceptual model explaining bypass intention. Multigroup analysis of 549 UK respondents (310 accommodation-rental users; 239 ride-sharing users) using PLS-SEM shows that perceived enjoyment and perceived risk are strong predictors of bypass intention. Our findings also confirm the significant impact of economic benefit influencing bypass decisions, both directly and indirectly, by reducing perceived risk and increasing perceived enjoyment. This study extends the literature on collaborative consumers’ bypass motivations, identifying an interplay of utilitarian motive (economic benefit), hedonic motive (perceived enjoyment), and perceived risk. It also contributes to the field of misbehaviors in hospitality and tourism, by showing empirically the link between pleasure and deviance. Finally, it helps platforms to determine the types of exchange that are more prone to bypass.

A Study of the Motivation of Collaborative Consumption and the Moderating Effect of Perceived Social Distance

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between motivation factors and collaborative consumption engagement and explore the moderating effect of perceived social distance on that relationship. For this, the present study collected data from 228 college students in South Korean through a survey method. In the results, first, the more enjoyment or reputation participants perceive in collaborative consumption platforms, the more they are engaged in collaborative consumption. Second, a positive relationship between perceived enjoyment and collaborative consumption engagement is stronger for participants in collaborative consumption platforms high rather than low in perceived social distance. However, the perceived social distance was found to have no significance in the relationship between perceived reputation and collaborative consumption engagement.

Exploring the Collaborative Consumption Journey: The Case of Access-Based Consumption

This study explores the collaborative consumption journey in purchase funnel, covering both the pre-accommodation and during/post-accommodation stages, and extends knowledge toward the intersection of customer experience and the field of shared economics. Firstly, we identify all potential touchpoints in multiple stages of the collaborative consumption journey through in-depth interviews and then we investigate experiential dimensions of the collaborative consumption journey by means of a qualitative study and the prioritization of dimensions of customer experience through the Analytical Hierarchical Process methodology by analysing two different types of access-based consumption: the renting platform Airbnb and the lending platform Couchsurfing. Touchpoints were framed under four groups: (a) brand-owned, (b) partner-owned, (c) customer-owned and (d) social/external. The results demonstrate that sensory, affective and cognitive dominant experiences act as the primary roles for both collaborative consumption platforms in the pre-accommodation stage, whereas the collaborative consumption experience is enriched with distinct experiences in the during/post-accommodation stage. The cognitive experience is relatively more important for Airbnb, while sensory experience plays a more critical role in the Couchsurfing journey in the pre-accommodation stage. These experiences then shift into affective and relational experiences during/post-accommodation stage.

Social media brand engagement in the context of collaborative consumption: the case of AIRBNB

This study focuses on social media brand engagement in the context of shared and collaborative consumption businesses, a novel trend in the hospitality industry. By drawing on the concept of brands being defined collectively through an assemblage of heterogonous human and nonhuman actors, and focusing on the brand Airbnb—a peer-to-peer online platform for renting, swapping, and lending accommodations—the current study examines how consumers’ perceptions of Airbnb brand equity mediate the relationship between functional and hedonic brand image and social media behavioral engagement in terms of consumption, contribution, and creation of brand-related content (COBRAs). Results discriminate between direct and indirect effects. Findings reveal that hedonic brand image directly influences behavioral engagement on social media, whereas brand equity fully mediates the relationship between functional brand image and COBRAs. Implications for theory and practice related to shared or collaborative consumption platforms in the hospitality industry are discussed and suggestions for future studies are presented. This research paper provides conceptual and theoretical clarity on issues such as how consumers’ brand perceptions influence their behavioral engagement on social media.

Evaluating collaborative consumption platforms from a consumer perspective

Collaborative consumption (CC) platforms are growing tremendously because they facilitate exchange with owners who have unutilised resources and individuals who want to access those resources at a low cost. We study the intention to recommend and intention to share CC platforms, by combining the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, and consumer trust with social media. This study contributes to several objectives of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as to increase access to transportation (SDG 11), material consumption and improve resource efficiency (SDG 12), and reduce climate change and gas emissions (SDG 13). From a sample of 247 CC Platform users, our results successfully validated the hypotheses to capture important factors of CC Platforms, analysing the key determinants of sharing intention, user behaviour, satisfaction, trust, and intention to recommend. The model presents a high explained variation for all dependent constructs and identifies satisfaction as a mediation variable. Hence, this model provides new insights into CC Platforms from various dimensions, which is an emerging topic for researchers.

A 2020 perspective on “Opportunities or threats: The rise of online collaborative consumption (OCC) and its impact on new car sales”

Abstract Online collaborative consumption (OCC) models, such as Uber and Airbnb, have emerged as popular peer-to-peer platforms in the sharing economy. Our study investigates whether the adoption of a leading ride-hailing platform, Didi Chuxing, increases or decreases new car sales shortly after the platform’s entries across 51 cities in China. Our empirical results suggest that the initial entry of a dominant ride-hailing company like Didi Chuxing, positively impacts new car sales in the short run. However, we suspect that this positive effect will be transitory. Platform competition and country-specific characteristics may also influence the new car market dynamics. Future works are needed to investigate whether some of the previous findings based on traditional two-sided markets can be generalized to online collaborative consumption platforms.

A Study of the Antecedents of Collaborative Consumption Engagement and the Moderating Effect of Self-Identity

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between motivation factors and collaborative consumption engagement and explore the moderating effect of self-identity on that relationship. For this, the present study collected data from 228 college students in South Korea through a survey method. In the results, first, the more sustainable or economic benefit participants perceive in collaborative consumption platforms, the more they are engaged in collaborative consumption. Second, the positive relationship between perceived sustainability and collaborative consumption engagement is stronger for participants in collaborative consumption platforms higher in interdependent self-view. However, interdependent self-view was found to have no significance on the relationship between perceived economic benefits and CC engagement.

Experimental Study on the Utility and Future of Collaborative Consumption Platforms Offering Tourism Related Services

The present study analyzes four well-known online platforms used in the tourist industry for travelling, accommodation, eating, and touring (Blablacar, Airbnb, Eatwith, and Trip4real). The objective is to analyze the utility of the portals, intentions for future use and recommendation (prospective), and reputation. The method is an experimental design with a control group and experimental group. Within both groups, three scales were applied. The results indicate clear differences between the control and experimental groups, valuing above all the utility and the intent to use again when the group is exposed to the portals from a needs-based situation (experimental group). The analysis demonstrates a factorial structure that validates the model. At the same time, the results indicate a greater interest in using Trip4Real over BlaBlaCar. Generation Z, the youngest generation, shows greater confidence in the services and greater interest in using tourism related collaborative consumption platforms in the future.

Using Open Access Data to Model a Technician Routing and Scheduling Problem in a Congested Urban Setting

This research aims at studying and improving the attended home services delivery in the city of Bogota (Colombia) by considering varying traffic patterns along the day. The goal is to improve routing decisions by adopting appropriate travel time functions between pairs of locations that are built upon the basis of freely available information gathered from collaborative consumption platforms. In first place, data collected from Uber Movement ® platform is used to identify the 1-hour consolidated traffic patterns based on coordinates and time of the day for all pairs of neighborhoods within the city. However, not all the information is available, as there might exist some journeys scarcely required by Uber users. To overcome this problem, a K-nearest neighbor regression is used to predict missing travel times when required and considering as an input the coordinates and the time of the day. Then, a piecewise linear function representing the travel time between pairs of locations is constructed by assuming that a breakpoint, or change in the travel time behavior, takes place at the middle point of each one-hour time frame. A set of piecewise linear functions is then obtained after solving a system of linear equations. Following, two different approaches are used to generate solutions for a technician routing and scheduling problem with hard time windows. The first consists in an approximation Integer Programming model that represents the problems using an acyclic directed graph. The second consist in a Memetic Algorithm that minimizes the number of vehicles and vehicles field time. Preliminary results show that both approaches present similar results and can be used in practical applications.

Lemons problem in collaborative consumption platforms

PurposeMost of the research on collaborative consumption platforms (CCPs) has focused on motivational drives, and little research has been conducted on the problem of unbalanced information sharing, also known as the “lemons problem,” and signals. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a netnography and an experiment.FindingsThe netnographic study showed that participants tend to use low ratings and negative reviews as cues implying more searches, use ratings as an anchor to adjust other information, and employ differing cognitive information-processing styles. The experimental results show that, in a normal environment (when ratings are high), visualizers (verbalizers) have more of an intention to use CCPs when they are exposed to abundant pictures (textual cues); however, when the cues lead to a further information search (when the ratings are low), this search behavior pattern is reversed: visualizers (verbalizers) have more of an intention to use CCPs when they are exposed to abundant textual cues (pictures).Research limitations/implicationsThis study extends previous research by showing that people frequently use differing heuristics depending on the context; that ratings have an anchoring effect and guide people in selecting a signal to use and condition how they use it; and that visualizers prefer text cues to pictorial cues when trying to make informed decisions under a condition that points to a further information search. These results are opposite of previous assertion.Practical implicationsMarketers are advised to provide a mechanism by which users can extract the cues they need and reduce the less urgent ones; devise a mechanism that screens participants and divides them into two categories: those who post honest evaluations and those who do not; and reduce the opportunistic behaviors of partners on both sides.Originality/valueThe current study addresses consumers’ use of information posted by other consumers on CCPs and demonstrates that participants use low ratings and negative reviews as cues implying more searches, use ratings as an anchor to adjust other information, and employ differing cognitive information-processing styles. Previous research rarely addressed these information search behaviors of consumers on CCPs.

Sustainability and collaborative apparel consumption: putting the digital ‘sharing’ economy under the microscope

ABSTRACTDigital collaborative consumption (CC) models have been partly buoyed by growing concerns about the ecological and social impacts of consumption, for which the apparel industry abounds. However, a cursory glimpse at current CC platforms for apparel raises many questions about whether a meaningful contraction in the overall pace and scale of apparel production or consumption will actually be realised. Yet, there are little means by which to evaluate these consumptive phenomena. This conceptual paper presents a ternary relationship framework to evaluate the capacity of digital collaborative apparel consumption to align with the aims of sustainable consumption, identifying sustainability indicators and relevant dimensions in the context of three key relationships that are considered distinct in the context of CC: consumer–product, consumer–consumer, and consumer–business. The synthesis of previous research indicates that resource efficiency, community, and the nature of the business are considered key sustainability indicators for the evaluation of these platforms.

Peer-to-peer sharing and collaborative consumption platforms: a taxonomy and a reproducible analysis

Airbnb and Uber enable private individuals to share physical resources via their Internet platforms, and both have become popular subjects of information systems and e-business research. In the top dogs’ slipstream resides a variety of less-known platforms that allow to share different resources or to share resources in different ways. Researchers who study these platforms and the underlying consumer behaviors face the problem of situating their findings precisely. Practitioners lack an overview of the diversity of these platforms and their characteristics too. This article suggests a taxonomy that helps to better characterize platforms for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Sharing and Collaborative Consumption (SCC). We used the taxonomy to describe the evolution of 522 P2P SCC platforms over the period of 35 months and to demonstrate and partly evaluate its application. All descriptions taken together constitute a comprehensive data source to study P2P SCC platforms. When researchers use the taxonomy, they can describe and situate insights precisely so that stakeholders can access them more easily. Furthermore, researchers and practitioners can use our database as well as the analyses we made based on the data for their purpose. Because we deliver the computer scripts that we used in our analysis, our study can easily be reproduced in the future to investigate the dynamics of the P2P SCC market.

A netnographic study of P2P collaborative consumption platforms’ user interface and design

Although still embryonic, collaborative consumption and the sharing economy have become social and economic phenomena in just a few short years, yet there is little consensus on how to define them. The current classificatory schema or typologies of platforms have some weaknesses. Sectoral classifications, technological functionality, and discursive modes of understanding sharing and collaborative economies all provide valuable insights, but when taken individually important gaps are evident, not least in their inter-system isolation, but most particularly when technology, such as platform architecture and user interfaces, is disassociated from wider social and economic conditions of possibility. In order to build on previous research we set out to develop a more complex understanding of collaborative consumption by studying platform architecture, interface, design and informational content to examine how technological affordances of digital platforms’ structure social interaction. In order to carry out the research we designed a netnographic protocol that systematised data collection across four dimensions of platforms’ technological structure and informational content: functionality and usability; trust and virtual reputation; codes of conduct and community footprint. Data was collected on fifty-five platforms, including forty-seven across Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as eight international platforms. Following factor and cluster analysis, and on the basis of the theoretical understandings of the sharing and collaborative economy, we developed a typology that grouped platforms into three groups: network, transaction and community oriented.

Digital Trust and Peer-to-Peer Collaborative Consumption Platforms: A Mediation Analysis

This paper investigates the nature of digital trust in the context of P2P collaborative consumption platforms. We have analyzed data from the website Trustpilot.com (N=5,606), survey data from users of the online sharing platform Airbnb (N=232), and data retrieved from an online experiment conducted among current non-users of a fictitious online sharing platform (N=462). The findings reveal that trust in P2P collaborative consumption platforms (Airbnb, Lyft, and Uber) is lower than trust in P2P exchange first generation platforms (Ebay), as well as large online retail services and non-P2P platforms (Walmart, Zappos, Amazon). Furthermore, we find that the three trust-building management measures: ‘reliable insurance cover’, ‘simultaneous reviews’, and a ‘large network: many offers worldwide’ had a positive effect on ‘trust in the platform provider’. The findings confirm the hierarchical nature of the two-fold trust construct, meaning that ‘trust in the platform provider’ has a positive effect on the ‘trust in peers’ sharing on this platform. A mediation analysis reveals that ‘trust in the platform’ fully mediates all statistically significant effects of trust-building measures on the ‘trust in peers’ variable.

Gift-giving, sharing and commodity exchange at Bookcrossing.com: new insights from a qualitative analysis

Purpose – Through an empirical analysis of a consumption community, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the theories of gift-giving, sharing and commodity exchange should not be kept separated but integrated into a unifying model. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides new evidence about Bookcrossing.com, whose members share and give books as gifts; that is, physical goods rather than digital ones as in most of the communities considered in the literature. This community is analysed with qualitative tools, such as netnography, personal interviews and participant observation. Findings – The main result of the analysis of Bookcrossing is that gift-giving is not the only process responsible for value creation and distribution in consumption communities: sharing and commodity exchange also play a role. Furthermore, the paper provides new evidence about aspects of gift-giving and sharing that have received limited attention in the literature: collective reciprocity and anonymous sharing. Research limitations/implications – The limitations are related to the intrinsic properties of the methods employed (netnography, personal interviews and participant observation) and to the paper, which analyses only one community and one product category. The implications refer to the role of gift-giving in consumption communities and its relationships with other processes: consumer gift systems are not only gifting platforms, but they and the elements of sharing and commodity exchange need to be integrated. Practical implications – The empirical evidence and implications matter for the organisation and management of collaborative consumption platforms and the way in which traditional business models could and should interact with these platforms in an increasing number of businesses. Originality/value – The paper adds new evidence of and original insights into gift-giving and collective forms of exchange. Moreover, it provides managerial implications of the analysed community for the book publishing industry.