At the same time, a significant proportion of consumers attribute environmental benefits to the sharing economy and believe that such practices contribute to strengthening social ties. Changing cultural and social norms towards sustainable consumption fosters a positive perception. At the same time, attitudes are not always based on financial incentives.
The perception of participants can be quite rational from an economic point of view, on the basis of the possibility of obtaining benefits from lower prices and reducing transaction costs, as well as the realization that it is meaningless to invest in expensive goods for limited use. Rebiazina with co-authors explain the attitudes and expectations of participants in the sharing economy by socio-technological, economic-political, and personal groups of factors, emphasizing that perception largely depends on the socio-demographic and psychological characteristics of the participants, as well as the sphere of the sharing economy. Barnes and Mattsson highlight economic, environmental, political, social, and technological factors that influence consumer perception. At the same time, Chung and Lee emphasize the importance and prevalence of extrinsic motivation, since utilitarian and hedonistic motivation, as well as perceived trust, have a positive effect on consumer propensity. and Möhlmann consider extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
show that participation in the sharing economy practices, on the one hand, is based on trust, but, on the other hand, can change the perception and thinking of users towards increased transparency, openness, collaboration, and sharing. emphasize the diversity of motives (convenience, flexibility, interaction, local authenticity, economic benefit) and perceptions of the participants. highlight ideological and economic factors. Perception determines the change in motives, as well as their weakening or strengthening among users and producers in the sharing economy. Most researchers rightly believe that user perception in general is related to their motivation. Ī significant number of scientific works are devoted to the study of the factors influencing the perception of the sharing economy in the minds of consumers, while there is no unambiguous understanding of which factors are key in this process in various socio-economic conditions. Institutional theory is extremely relevant for the study of sharing economics, due to the presence of different types of stakeholders, low levels of trust, the presence of ethical dilemmas, and undeveloped institutional structures. Pricing in the sharing economy can also be viewed from the perspective of dynamic pricing. The networking concept underpins research on the sharing economy through social networks. For disclosing the relationship between service providers (agents) and authorities (principals), agent management theory is important. A social presence that builds trust between people is a fundamental element in ensuring the proper functioning of the sharing economy. In the work of Cheng, sharing economics is considered from the standpoint of the theory of social presence and the methodology of multilevel analysis. The logic of the service economy, according to Heo, is the most relevant for explaining the phenomenon of the sharing economy. used the theory of hedonic prices, since the prices of goods and services in the sharing economy depend not only on the product itself, but also on its characteristics. Analyzing the sharing economy, Gibbs et al. Cost minimization and the formation of new transaction methods are in line with the theory of transaction costs.
The most clear and comprehensive definitions, on our opinion, are those proposed by Munoz and Cohen and Wang and Ho, defining the sharing economy as (1) “ a socio-economic system that provides an intermediary set of exchanges of goods and services between individuals and organizations, which are aimed at increasing efficiency and optimizing the resources used in society” and as (2) “…an emerging social and technological phenomenon based on developments in information and communications technology (ICT) that implies the collaborative consumption of physical, virtual, and intellectual goods”.Īmong the methodological concepts, within the framework of which the sharing economy develops, the following can be distinguished. In a broad sense, the sharing economy includes shared consumption (sharing apartments, cars), shared lifestyles (coworking, cohabitation, shared housing), co-financing (crowdfunding, peer-to-peer exchange and cash lending, alternative currencies), and related production (digital manufacturing, 3D printers, etc.). It seems that this difficulty in conceptualizing the concept is associated with a wide variety of practices in the sharing economy, as well as the lack of generally accepted criteria for its definition.