ABSTRACT In recent years, alongside China’s sustained economic growth and rising living standards, the sharing economy has become increasingly embedded in everyday life, strongly stimulating the tourism sharing economy. As a novel accommodation model enabled by sharing-economy platforms, urban homestays (minshuku) have expanded rapidly, particularly in tourist cities. This study examines how community stakeholders perceive the impacts of urban homestays, using residential communities hosting homestays in Zhuhai, China, as the research setting. Adopting a qualitative approach, we analyzed stakeholder narratives with Leximancer to map key themes and their relationships. The findings indicate that residents, as the primary stakeholders, hold predominantly negative attitudes and are the most opposed to homestay operations, citing adverse impacts such as perceived threats to safety and privacy, increased noise, and environmental disturbance. Property management companies, as latent stakeholders, exhibit a largely neutral stance: although homestays increase workload, they may also generate additional income, with resident safety remaining their foremost concern. Surrounding businesses, as marginal stakeholders, are the only group expressing positive attitudes, perceiving overall beneficial effects on local commerce. The study offers practical implications for the sustainable development and governance of urban homestays.

Problem definition: In emerging markets, sharing economy platforms that connect customers with independent service providers often operate in environments with low digital literacy and small, fragmented demand. To address these challenges, such platforms often rely on human intermediaries, known as booking agents, to collect demand from individual customers and submit the aggregated demand on the platform. The presence of such agents requires the platform to set not only the customer price and provider wage but also the agent wage to coordinate supply and demand. This paper analyzes the platform’s pricing and wage decisions and examines how the presence of booking agents affects the surplus of providers, customers, and the platform. Methodology/results: We model a platform involving providers, customers, and booking agents and characterize the platform’s optimal price, wages, and equilibrium outcomes. Our analysis yields several actionable insights. First, a larger provider pool can make it optimal for the platform to raise agent wages while lowering customer prices, even if this combination may reduce the platform’s commission. Second, platforms may find it optimal to pair surge pricing with increased agent wages and decreased provider wages, departing from the conventional strategy of pairing surge pricing with increased provider wages. Finally, whereas the presence of booking agents increases provider earnings by enabling more demand to be served, it may not always benefit customers or the platform. Nevertheless, these agents lead to a “win-win-win” outcome when agents’ demand aggregation cost is moderate or when providers incur high fixed costs in serving colocated customers. Managerial implications: Our findings highlight how platforms should respond to different supply and demand conditions in the presence of booking agents and inform when the use of booking agents generates value for all stakeholders. Our insights have informed changes in the practice of our industry partner, Hello Tractor. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2024.1217 .

Partial vertical ownership cooperation between manufacturers and sharing economy platforms

There is a transformation in tourism where experiences come to the fore and gastronomic cultural experiences become important. In this transformation, it has become important to identify gastronomic experiences. For this purpose, the aim of this study is to examine the gastronomic experiences of tourists through sharing platforms and to identify the prominent values in these experiences. The sample of the study consists of the EatWith sharing platform. 125 online reviews of 75 different gastronomic experiences were analyzed using MAXQDA 2022 program with content analysis technique. As a result of the study, it was found that tourists gave only positive evaluations of their gastronomic experiences and that the participants had good and memorable positive experiences from the experiences offered on the sharing economy platform EatWith. The top 5 themes most frequently mentioned in online reviews were “first EatWith experience” (n=125), “great food” (n=112), “amazing” (n=91), “hospitality” (n=90), “memorable” (n=67), respectively.

In response to the evolving dynamics of global supply chains, business-to-business (B2B) sharing economy models within the logistics industry have gained importance for innovation and sustainability over the last few years. According to a literature review, the sharing economy has become a pivotal innovation in the business environment, especially for resource utilisation efficiency and the potential to advance sustainable development policies. Despite the known positive impact on the economy and environment, integrating sharing economy models into logistics and supply chains remains limited. This highlights a key research area that requires a thorough examination of the barriers and opportunities for business-to-business (B2B) sharing economy platforms in logistics and supply chains that reflect environmental policy goals and promote cleaner, more efficient logistics systems. This paper outlines the significance of B2B sharing economy platforms as a crucial part of smart and resource-efficient supply chains. Using a system theory approach, B2B sharing economy platforms in logistics and SC were identified and systematically and comprehensively analysed across four critical aspects: sharing storage, sharing parking space, shared labour, and collaborative transportation. The scope of the research is limited to the smart and sustainable dimensions of logistics and supply chains, with a particular focus on the analysis of B2B sharing economy platforms. The novelty of this study lies in its empirical and theory-informed analysis of B2B sharing platforms as a key driver for smart and resource-efficient logistics. While prior studies have largely focused on consumer-facing sharing models or conceptual frameworks, this paper systematically evaluates operational B2B platforms. The analysis reveals that while B2B platforms offer valuable solutions in collaborative transport, storage, labour, and parking, they are underutilised and insufficiently aligned with environmental and digital objectives. The study introduces a spider chart analysis grounded in system theory to evaluate platforms against six dimensions, uncovering trade-offs between flexibility and sustainability. These insights contribute to understanding the strategic positioning of such platforms and propose a direction for smarter, resource-efficient supply chains.

With emailing as a strategic tool, promotional emails need to be optimized, notably in how they encourage customer reaction through the call-to-action (CTA) button. The effects of promotional emailing especially remain unclear when tourism services are embracing the sharing economy and new forms of digitalized accessibility to propose access-based “moments of luxury.” This study uses two research context studies and a large-scale randomized field experiment conducted with a peer-to-peer boat-rental company to investigate the effects of a promotional CTA button in emails from a sharing economy platform proposing access to “moments of luxury” in the tourism industry. We find a detrimental impact of promotional CTA on click-through rates and a positive impact of prior engagement and multichannel use of customers on email metrics. This research thereby contributes to tourism-related access-based “moments of luxury” and promotional email CTA from both theoretical and managerial perspectives.

Abstract This study examines the digital sharing economy, where online platforms mediate the exchange of assets and services such as accommodation and car rentals, while raising critical trust-related challenges. The study addresses the following research question: What factors influence consumers’ digital trust in sharing economy platforms and service providers, and how does this trust affect their intention to participate in digital sharing economy services? Building on a comprehensive literature review, a conceptual model of digital trust is developed, incorporating the role of open innovation. Survey data were collected from 387 respondents in Saudi Arabia and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that structural assurance, competence, benevolence, integrity, and familiarity play significant roles in shaping consumers’ trust in both platforms and service providers. In turn, trust in these actors significantly influences consumers’ intention to engage in digital sharing economy services. The results also indicate that digital trust differs across age and gender groups. This research contributes to the literature by clarifying the key antecedents and outcomes of digital trust in the digital sharing economy and offers practical implications for policymakers and platform managers seeking to foster trust and sustainable participation.

This study investigates car sharing participation in Sweden within the broader context of sharing economy platforms. Its objective is to explore the relationship between internet use and car sharing, while accounting for residential area, gender, and age. The analysis is based on nationally representative survey data collected between 2019 and 2023 (N = 8762). Initial results indicate a weak positive association between internet use and car sharing. However, this association disappears when age is considered, suggesting that age mediates the relationship. The final analysis shows that car sharing is more common among urban residents, males, and younger consumers. The findings have implications for theory, managerial practice, and policymaking. The study also addresses methodological limitations and outlines directions for future research on the behavioral, social, and structural factors influencing participation in car sharing services.

This study explores the psychological drivers of participation in the sharing economy through a cross-cultural lens, comparing consumer behavior in the United States and China. Drawing on the value-attitude-behavior hierarchy theory and the theory of reasoned action, we investigate how utilitarian, hedonic, and symbolic values shape attitudes, norms, and behavioral intentions in the context of collaborative consumption. Data were collected through online surveys from 302 participants in the U.S. and 305 in China and analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Our findings reveal both similarities and differences in how personal values influence consumer decision-making. While utilitarian and hedonic values positively affect attitudes in both countries, symbolic value does not. Norms play culturally distinct roles: in the U.S., subjective norms are more predictive of intention, whereas in China, personal norms exert a stronger influence. These results underscore the need for culturally adaptive strategies in the design and marketing of sharing economy platforms. The study contributes to cross-cultural consumer psychology by clarifying how values and norms shape collaborative consumption across distinct cultural contexts.

The rapid growth of the sharing economy faces a critical bottleneck in its sustainable development: low participation rates in reverse logistics. This study builds an influence model based on Norm Activation Theory and Construal Level Theory. The model examines how social norms and psychological distance affect participation willingness in reverse logistics. It explores the mediating mechanisms of environmental responsibility and perceived behavioral control. The study also tests the moderating effects of platform type, usage frequency, and environmental values. We conducted a questionnaire survey with 468 sharing economy platform users. Structural equation modeling was used for empirical analysis. The findings reveal several important patterns. Social norms positively influence participation willingness in reverse logistics. Injunctive norms show stronger effects (β=0.387) than descriptive norms (β=0.234). All four dimensions of psychological distance produce negative inhibiting effects. Hypothetical distance demonstrates the most prominent hindering effect (β=-0.276). Environmental responsibility and perceived behavioral control serve as partial mediators. The mediating effect of the former is significantly stronger than the latter. Environmental values show the most significant moderating effect. Users with high environmental values respond to norms 1.55 to 2.03 times more strongly than those with low values. This research reveals the psychological mechanisms through which social norms activate moral responsibility and psychological distance weakens emotional identification. These mechanisms shape participation willingness. The study provides theoretical foundations and practical guidance for sharing economy platforms. It helps platforms design norm-based incentives and distance-reduction strategies. The findings carry important practical significance for promoting circular economy development.

Tourism, as the backbone of the economy of Yogyakarta Municipality, is also the main source of demand for accommodation services. Under these circumstances, Airbnb penetrates the accommodation market in the Greater Yogyakarta Urban Region (GYUR). As a company using the principle of the sharing economy, it specialises in accommodation services. Airbnb has grown tremendously, as it acquired 1,164 accommodation partners in the GYUR in 2017. The hotel industry is probably among the most affected by the presence of Airbnb. The rise of the sharing economy platforms seems to create competition between hotels and Airbnb accommodations. This paper focuses on examining the competition between hotels and Airbnb accommodations in the GYUR both in spatial and temporal terms. This research was conducted based on secondary data analysis and field observations. Secondary data analysis was performed through mapping of the distribution of hotels and Airbnb accommodations to explore possible competition between the two. Field observations focus on describing the neighbourhood environments and the accessibility of both types of accommodations. The research shows that Airbnb accommodations are mainly concentrated in the densely populated areas in the urban centre and in tourism-associated areas. Hotels are located in the best part of the city and are situated in close proximity to the city centres, allied infrastructure, and facilities. The high demand for accommodation in the GYUR enables the locals to register their assets as Airbnb accommodation. This is also caused by the absence of regulations governing this home-sharing activity.

Co-consumption sharing economy platforms digitally connect strangers for mutually beneficial co-consumption of services, such as ride sharing or home sharing. In addition to efficiency gains, this is particularly relevant for the sustainable use of resources. While digital platforms have become efficient at building trust in third-party providers, co-consumption service experiences require rapport between individuals—an intersubjective fit between a client and a provider that cannot be ensured in advance by guarantees or ratings. Little is known about the role of uncertainty concerning rapport when brokering co-consumption services and how platform design can cater to users’ need for rapport. This study therefore introduces rapport uncertainty as a two-dimensional construct consisting of interaction uncertainty and connection uncertainty and draws on the service literature to derive a research model that captures the role of design features in mitigating rapport uncertainty. Our experimental study reveals that rapport uncertainty is a key determinant of platform use beyond technical and environmental uncertainties and demonstrates how platform design can reduce rapport uncertainty and facilitate transactions in co-consumption environments.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms such as Airbnb, where individual providers transact directly with consumers, rely not only on well-studied traditional signals, such as ratings, but also on less-examined visual cues to build trust and facilitate transactions jointly. However, how consumers process and integrate these intertwined multimodal signals remains insufficiently understood. This study, informed by signaling theory and the stereotype content model, uses a dataset from Airbnb to examine the impact of multimodal signals. First, our results provide further evidence that ratings positively influence occupancy rates. More importantly, we show that this effect is not uniform across hosts: warmth-related facial cues—such as smiling and perceived trustworthiness—significantly amplify the impact of ratings, whereas competence-related facial cues exhibit a much weaker moderating role. These interaction effects remain robust across propensity score matching (PSM) and alternative model specifications. Theoretically, this study advances the literature on multimodal signals and complementarity in peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms, particularly by juxtaposing and analyzing the interplay among multimodal signals. In practice, the findings help hosts and the platform understand the value of profile photos, whether amplifying existing advantages or compensating for temporary setbacks in ratings.

The past decade has brought with it numerous strenuous calamities on the global economy, among others, these include pandemics, trade wars, geopolitical tensions. This has subsequently impacted some individuals’ quality-of-life due to heightened levels of anxiety, job losses, increased poverty and inequality, to mention a few. However, extent literature argues that the growth of sharing economy platforms such as e-hailing services present socioeconomic opportunities that can potentially enhance e-hailing drivers’ quality-of-life, subsequently contributing towards several Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. A caveat, however, is that the correlation between e-hailing platforms and their effect on drivers’ quality-of-life is an under explored area. This in turn, presents an ambiguous judgement on the role of these platforms towards enhancing ehailing drivers’ welfare. Leveraging the methodological rigor of a systematic literature review, this study interrogates the impact of e-hailing on e-hailing drivers’ quality-of-life. Results reveal that although these platforms indeed offer employment opportunities, flexible working conditions, and prospects to supplement one’s income, studies have emerged detailing the negative impact posed by e-hailing platforms on drivers’ well-being, such as income instability, safety issues, lack of employment benefits, and lengthy working hours. The value of this study lies in its proposition of a multi-dimensional conceptual model that can be utilized to interrogate e-hailing drivers’ subjective perception of these platforms on their well-being and quality-of-life. This conceptual study further provides approaches for testing the proposed theoretical framework.

Against the backdrop of global climate change mitigation and green development initiatives, sharing economy platforms are undergoing a profound green transformation, shifting from capital-driven to value-driven models. This paper constructs an integrated analytical framework to explore how the sharing economy facilitates a leap from resource sharing to value co-creation by embedding environmental sustainability at the core of its business models. Based on multi-case studies across transportation, accommodation, and other sectors, this paper systematically elucidates the synergistic evolution mechanism of green business models across three dimensions: value proposition innovation, value creation restructuring, and value capture expansion. Findings reveal that platforms significantly enhance resource efficiency and generate substantial environmental benefits through environmental value visualization, lifecycle management, and ecological revenue models. Empirical analysis indicates that post-green transformation, platforms can reduce carbon emissions per service instance by 30% to 70%. Finally, this paper proposes strategic pathways to promote green shared economy development through technological convergence, policy coordination, and consumer behavior.

Despite the global rise of sharing economy platforms (SEPs), their success in emerging economies remains inconsistent—largely due to institutional voids and the lack of adaptive business models, leaving these platforms particularly vulnerable to external pressures. This study examines the institutional logics influencing SEP development in emerging economies, with Thailand as a case study. Through qualitative analysis, we identify a range of institutional forces and theorize their dynamic influence with platform development. The key insight of our study is the development of a novel integrated interactive sharing economy platform framework that reveals how these external forces act as both enablers and constraints, and how platforms can strategically leverage internal resources and capabilities to balance and contain these pressures. Our findings highlight the critical role of institutional logics in shaping platform outcomes and offer foundational guidance for future research, platform strategy, and policymaking in underexplored institutional contexts, particularly in emerging economies. • Development of an integrated framework linking institutional forces and resources for sharing platforms. • Semi-formal institutions constrain platform development in emerging markets. • Economic precarity drives participation in sharing economy platforms. • Platform success requires adaptive strategies for institutional voids. • Offered target policy and managerial recommendations foster platform growth in emerging markets.

Purpose This study aims to advance the understanding of how macro-social structures and cultural orientations intricately shape consumption preferences – specifically perceived utilitarian value and behavioral intentions – within access and lateral exchange markets. Through integrating insights from consumer culture theory with the dynamics of sharing service systems, this research underscores that consumption choices are not merely individual acts of preference but are embedded within broader cultural frameworks and shaped by historical and societal narratives. Design/methodology/approach This study uses structural equation modeling using Mplus, version 8, to analyze a dataset comprising 2,428 survey responses. A random-effects model is applied to assess the influence of macro-cultural orientations across multiple national contexts, allowing for the simultaneous consideration of country-specific random effects and cross-national generalizability. Respondents represent six culturally diverse countries spanning five continents, enabling the derivation of insights applicable to other markets with similar cultural profiles. Findings Markets characterized by higher cultural indulgence and individualism, and lower uncertainty avoidance, present greater opportunities for connecting consumers’ preferences to lateral exchange markets. In contrast, cultures with greater restraint, collectivism and higher uncertainty avoidance may provide better opportunities for access to exchange markets than lateral exchange markets. These findings underscore the importance of firms aligning their market selection, entry plan and promotional strategies with the cultural dimensions that enhance the appeal and usability of their sharing economy services. Originality/value This research contributes to the limited body of cross-cultural empirical studies on sharing economy platforms, particularly in distinguishing between lateral and access exchange models. By highlighting the relationship between cultural orientations and consumer preferences, this study provides actionable guidance for platform developers and marketers seeking to expand globally.

Dynamic pricing has become a fundamental mechanism in the sharing economy, yet its interaction with user behavior remains underexplored. This study aims to systematically classify user behavioral patterns and analyze their influence on dynamic pricing strategies. Using a mixed-methods approach, we collected and analyzed large-scale transaction data from ride-sharing and accommodation platforms, combined with user surveys to identify behavioral traits. The findings reveal three distinct user archetypes: price-sensitive bargain seekers, convenience-oriented premium users, and flexibility-driven spontaneous bookers. Each archetype responds uniquely to dynamic pricing fluctuations, affecting platform revenue and user retention. Notably, price-sensitive users exhibit high elasticity but low loyalty, while premium users prioritize service quality over cost. The study underscores the importance of segment-specific pricing models to optimize platform performance and enhance user satisfaction. These insights provide actionable strategies for sharing economy platforms to refine their pricing algorithms and foster long-term engagement.

While the sharing economy has been described as a potential pathway to enhancing sustainability and reducing hyper-consumption, scholarly inquiry into this linkage remains limited. In this research, we examined whether and how service providers’ motivations (monetary and social) for resource sharing influence their green consumption both outside and on sharing platforms. We conducted a series of eight studies that involved surveys, lab experiments, and large-scale secondary datasets across various sharing economy platforms. Results showed that service providers who are strongly motivated by the sharing economy’s social benefits are more likely to engage in green consumption, reflected in purchases made outside the platform (e.g., buying green products) and on the platform (e.g., adopting eco-friendly practices). However, service providers’ motivations have no bearing on their regular (non-green) purchases. We identified sense of pride as an underlying process and ruled out household income, perceived financial resource availability, sense of morality, and environmental concerns as alternative accounts. The findings not only contribute to the literature on the sharing economy and pro-environmental behavior but also provide actionable insights for policymakers, sharing platforms, and marketers seeking to promote sustainable lifestyles and environmentally responsible practices among service providers.

This study aims to find the visitors’ perspective regarding the valuable antecedents of a smart tourism destination (STD) as a tourist destination. The proposed antecedents are security information, the infrastructure of the available technology at the destination, the local culture, community development, and the sharing economy. The targeted respondents of this study were individuals who had visited local tourist areas and had used travel applications. By accidental sampling and an electronic questionnaire, this study collected 323 items of data from all 15 provinces in Indonesia. The collected data were then analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results indicate that security information, community development, and the sharing economy are critical antecedents of STDs, based on the visitors’ perspective. This study recommends that decision-makers and tourism providers continually develop the local communities’ knowledge and innovation regarding tourism services and manage and promote security in their tourism areas. In addition, the communities and tourism providers must also use the sharing economy platform to promote and sell their products online. Further research must explore the design of the local community’s development, security management, and the sharing economy’s innovations in tourism business. This study analyzes STDs from the prospective visitors’ point of view. Researchers seek to understand the parsimony factors of STDs, which are probably too concerned for the continuous development of tourism done by the government, tourism community, actors, and providers.