Editorial

6 pages, 178 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Collectively Building a Sustainable Sharing Economy Based on Trust and Regulation

by Elfriede Penz, Barbara Hartl and Eva Hofmann

Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3754; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103754 - 18 Oct 2018

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3640

The articles in this Special Issue on the sharing economy’s role in fostering sustainability comprise eight contributions to answer how trust and regulation shape relations of providers and consumers. We identify indispensable aspects of the sharing economy to show its potential in fostering [...] Read more.

The articles in this Special Issue on the sharing economy’s role in fostering sustainability comprise eight contributions to answer how trust and regulation shape relations of providers and consumers. We identify indispensable aspects of the sharing economy to show its potential in fostering sustainability. This is in some contrast to existing definitions and applications of sharing economy business models, which do not place sustainability in their focus. The studies employ a variety of methods, covering quantitative and qualitative research to investigate building of communities on the consumer side, as well as trust-building and implementation of regulations in the interaction between providers and consumers in Asia and Europe. Some areas in the sharing economy foster sustainability, some foster social cohesion and in the end build social capital, but others focus at first sight on convenience and lifestyle. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Its Role in Fostering Sustainability: How Trust and Regulation Shape Relations of Providers and Consumers)

Research

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22 pages, 1922 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Study on Airbnb’s Trust Mechanism and the Effects of Cultural Values—Based on a Survey of Chinese Consumers

by Xiaojun Wu and Jiabin Shen

Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3041; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093041 - 27 Aug 2018

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 6439

Abstract

A sharing economy is developing rapidly worldwide, especially in China. Trust has been considered as a crucial factor in facilitating the practice of the short-term rental business, where hosts and renters are strangers. However, not only has the inherent trust-building mechanism of this [...] Read more.

A sharing economy is developing rapidly worldwide, especially in China. Trust has been considered as a crucial factor in facilitating the practice of the short-term rental business, where hosts and renters are strangers. However, not only has the inherent trust-building mechanism of this newly emerged business model not been fully explored, but how cultural values affect the trust-building path also remains unknown. This study proposes a model of the trust-building mechanism in the sharing economy platforms, with three central modes—institutional trust, product trust, and interpersonal trust—and introduces national cultural values dimensions at the individual level as moderators to explore the impact on the inherent mechanism of trust-building on Airbnb. The data collected from 210 Chinese Airbnb consumers by survey provides support for the proposed structural equation model. The results show that institutional trust has a positive influence on product trust and interpersonal trust, and that product trust has a positive influence on interpersonal trust as well. For the moderating effect of cultural values, the relationship between the institutional trust and product trust is regulated by power distance (PDI), individualism (IDV), uncertainty avoidance (UAI), and long-term orientation (LTO), while the relationship between product trust and interpersonal trust is regulated by PDI, IDV, and UAI. This paper indicates that in order to foster trust in the sharing economy, practitioners should enhance institutional trust, product trust, and interpersonal trust synchronously, as these three modes of trust are positively inter-related; they must also be sensitive to local cultural value dispositions when conduct sharing business internationally. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Its Role in Fostering Sustainability: How Trust and Regulation Shape Relations of Providers and Consumers)

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18 pages, 636 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Online and Offline Communities in the Sharing Economy

by Taneli Vaskelainen and Laura Piscicelli

Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2927; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082927 - 17 Aug 2018

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4649

Abstract

The online community is crucial to sharing economy platforms because without it, no transactions can take place. Online communities have been studied extensively, but so far, little attention has been paid to how they link to different offline communities, such as geographic (e.g., [...] Read more.

The online community is crucial to sharing economy platforms because without it, no transactions can take place. Online communities have been studied extensively, but so far, little attention has been paid to how they link to different offline communities, such as geographic (e.g., neighborhoods) and relational communities (e.g., friends and colleagues). In this study, we address this gap by examining the importance of communities to the users and the entrepreneurs of the goods-sharing platform Ecomodo. We conduct a qualitative content analysis of archival and interview data to uncover the importance of different communities and the relationships among them. We discover that the platform design aimed to facilitate lending and borrowing in relational communities. However, geographic communities were more important to the users since most of them joined the platform to be acquainted with their neighbors. We also find that the platform entrepreneurs underestimated the behavioral changes needed to use the platform. The producers were not used to asking for money to lend their possessions, and it was difficult to teach consumers to borrow instead of buying. We use these findings to offer recommendations to practitioners and discuss some avenues for further research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Its Role in Fostering Sustainability: How Trust and Regulation Shape Relations of Providers and Consumers)

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24 pages, 539 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Preventing Conflicts in Sharing Communities as a Means of Promoting Sustainability

by Thomas Sabitzer, Barbara Hartl, Sarah Marth, Eva Hofmann and Elfriede Penz

Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2828; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082828 - 09 Aug 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4601

Abstract

The sharing economy is a new promising trend with many positive outcomes on society and the environment, as it provides potential for sustainable solutions due to the reduction of resource consumption and less waste. However, research and practice show that sharing comes with [...] Read more.

The sharing economy is a new promising trend with many positive outcomes on society and the environment, as it provides potential for sustainable solutions due to the reduction of resource consumption and less waste. However, research and practice show that sharing comes with its own share of problems. People often act selfishly, and in worst-case scenarios try to take advantage of others without contributing to the shared good. To achieve the higher goal of sustainability, it is important that conflicts in the sharing economy are prevented, and a setting is achieved that allows people to easily behave in a cooperative and sustainable way. The present research examines which conflicts emerge in sharing communities (study 1) and community gardens in particular (study 2), and whether regulation can prevent conflicts in large groups. Two exploratory studies were conducted. First, a qualitative study with consumers and non-consumers of the sharing economy revealed that regulatory systems are perceived as important for preventing the exploitation of other community members, but also that cooperation should not be enforced with strict controls and punishment. Rather, problems should be discussed in a democratic group setting, rules and goals should be set up together, and trust should be built. Second, a questionnaire study with community gardeners in Austria confirmed these results, and showed that trust is related to less conflict in community gardens, while harsh forms of regulation are related to a potential for greater conflict. Additionally, the results indicate that soft forms of regulation are related to fewer relationship and task conflicts, better conflict resolutions, a high sense of community, and greater trust in the community. We then discuss how these findings can be used to regulate sharing economy activities and give limitations and directions for future studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Its Role in Fostering Sustainability: How Trust and Regulation Shape Relations of Providers and Consumers)

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20 pages, 1456 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Designing Interventions for Behavioral Shifts toward Product Sharing: The Case of Laundry Activities in Japan

by Eri Amasawa, Yurie Suzuki, Dami Moon, Jun Nakatani, Hirokazu Sugiyama and Masahiko Hirao

Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2687; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082687 - 31 Jul 2018

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 4892

Abstract

This paper presents design approaches to induce behavioral shifts toward product sharing through a case study on laundry activities in Japan. Business models involving provision of temporary access to goods are garnering attention as a way to reduce environmental impacts from the current [...] Read more.

This paper presents design approaches to induce behavioral shifts toward product sharing through a case study on laundry activities in Japan. Business models involving provision of temporary access to goods are garnering attention as a way to reduce environmental impacts from the current pattern of consumption. However, the success of such business models is a matter of consumer choice, and there exist hurdles for consumers to forego ownership and transfer to product sharing. To understand the forces that affect consumer behavior involving product sharing and to design effective interventions for behavioral shifts, we conducted in-depth interviews and a web survey. From the results, we specified the decision processes in a behavioral shift between home washing and laundromat use, and generated “implementation of a communal laundromat in an apartment building” as a promising way for consumers to shift toward laundromat use. Based on our calculation, the proposed approach has a potential to reduce environmental impact of a hypothetical community by 1.8% in greenhouse gas emissions and 16% in resource use relative to when only home washing is practiced. Our study provides an example of designing interventions for product sharing through reflecting actual usage patterns and consumer motivations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Its Role in Fostering Sustainability: How Trust and Regulation Shape Relations of Providers and Consumers)

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19 pages, 1033 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reputation Effects in Socially Driven Sharing Economy Transactions

by Maarten Ter Huurne, Amber Ronteltap, Chenhui Guo, Rense Corten and Vincent Buskens

Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2674; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082674 - 30 Jul 2018

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5042

Abstract

Reputation has often been proposed as the central mechanism that creates trust in the sharing economy. However, some sharing platforms that focus primarily on social rather than economically driven exchanges have managed to facilitate exchanges between users without the use of a reputation [...] Read more.

Reputation has often been proposed as the central mechanism that creates trust in the sharing economy. However, some sharing platforms that focus primarily on social rather than economically driven exchanges have managed to facilitate exchanges between users without the use of a reputation system. This could indicate that socially driven exchanges are in less need of reputation systems and that having sufficient trust is less problematic. We examine the effect of seller reputation on sales and price as proxies for trust, using a large dataset from a Dutch meal-sharing platform. This platform aims to stimulate social interactions between people via meal sharing. Multilevel regression analyses were used to test the association of reputation with trust. Our main empirical results are that reputation affects both sales and price positively, consistent with the existing reputation literature. We also found evidence of the presence of an information effect, i.e., the influence of reputation on sharing decreases when additional profile information is provided (e.g., a profile photo, a product description). Our results thus confirm the effectiveness of reputation in more socially driven exchanges also. Consequently, platform owners are advised to use reputation on their platform to increase sharing between its users. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Its Role in Fostering Sustainability: How Trust and Regulation Shape Relations of Providers and Consumers)

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18 pages, 520 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Corporate Sharewashing Practices Undermine Consumer Trust

by Florian Hawlitschek, Nicole Stofberg, Timm Teubner, Patrick Tu and Christof Weinhardt

Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2638; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082638 - 27 Jul 2018

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 7752

Abstract

Sharewashing describes a platform’s act of misleading consumers by purposely portraying an image of social and ecological principles while the platform’s business model does not necessarily involve them. Drawing on Corporate Social Responsibility and Green Marketing literature, we propose and evaluate a research [...] Read more.

Sharewashing describes a platform’s act of misleading consumers by purposely portraying an image of social and ecological principles while the platform’s business model does not necessarily involve them. Drawing on Corporate Social Responsibility and Green Marketing literature, we propose and evaluate a research model for investigating the impact of sharewashing perceptions on consumer trust. Based on survey data from 145 millennials, our results reveal a significant negative effect of sharewashing perceptions on consumer trust, partially mediated by perceptions of risk and confusion. We discuss our findings in view of their practical and strategic relevance to sharing economy platform operators. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Its Role in Fostering Sustainability: How Trust and Regulation Shape Relations of Providers and Consumers)

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22 pages, 1313 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of the Relationship Characteristics and Social Capital of the Sharing Economy Business on the Social Network, Relationship Competitive Advantage, and Continuance Commitment

by Sungmin Kang and Youn Kue Na

Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2203; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072203 - 27 Jun 2018

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4538

Abstract

This study assessed relationship characteristics and social capital from the perspective of interdependent linkage between sharing economy businesses and consumers, which can create the social network and relationship competitive advantage. It verified the importance of the creative production process of the value network [...] Read more.

This study assessed relationship characteristics and social capital from the perspective of interdependent linkage between sharing economy businesses and consumers, which can create the social network and relationship competitive advantage. It verified the importance of the creative production process of the value network of sharing economy businesses. For this purpose, the statistical techniques were used to perform frequency, reliability/validity, suitability, and path analyses on 522 subjects active in sharing economy service communities. A structural model was thus proposed. The results of the study are as follows. First, the results of the path analysis between the relationship characteristics and social network (social relationships, social commitment) of sharing economy businesses showed that mutual influence and emotional connection had a significant effect on social relationships, and mutual influence, sense of belonging, and emotional connection had a significant effect on social commitment. Second, the results of the path analysis between social capital and social network (social relationships, social commitment) of sharing economy businesses showed that pursuit for self-fulfillment, social participation, and pleasure had a significant effect on social commitment. Third, the results of the path analysis between the social relationships, social commitment, relationship competitive advantage, and continuance commitment of sharing economy businesses showed that social relationships and social commitment had a significant effect on relationship competitive advantage, while relationship competitive advantage had a significant effect on continuance commitment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Its Role in Fostering Sustainability: How Trust and Regulation Shape Relations of Providers and Consumers)

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17 pages, 1576 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Empirical Examination of Users’ Adoption of the Sharing Economy in China Using an Expanded Technology Acceptance Model

by Yupeng Liu and Yutao Yang

Sustainability 2018, 10(4), 1262; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041262 - 19 Apr 2018

Cited by 57 | Viewed by 10079

Abstract

With the popularity of sharing-based applications such as bicycle and car sharing, the sharing economy has attracted considerable global attention. The factors that affect users’ adoption of the sharing economy must be identified to facilitate the promotion of low-carbon lifestyles and help enterprises [...] Read more.

With the popularity of sharing-based applications such as bicycle and car sharing, the sharing economy has attracted considerable global attention. The factors that affect users’ adoption of the sharing economy must be identified to facilitate the promotion of low-carbon lifestyles and help enterprises attract more active users. By employing the technology acceptance model (TAM) and herd behavior, this study implemented an expanded TAM and identified several factors affecting behavioral intention (BI) toward the sharing economy. A questionnaire was used to obtain the data, which were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The results revealed that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) are the main factors affecting BI. Moreover, trust (TRU) was identified as a mediator of subjective norm (SN) and PEOU. Imitating others (IMI) affects BI, and SN affects TRU, PU, and PEOU. Gender moderates SN and IMI. This paper indicates that to improve users’ BI, enterprises should enhance PU, PEOU, and TRU; cooperate with organizations to enhance SN; and guide potential users to imitate others. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Its Role in Fostering Sustainability: How Trust and Regulation Shape Relations of Providers and Consumers)

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