Contemporary Collaborative Consumption

This book provides critical perspectives on contemporary collaborative consumption, a recent societal phenomenon shaking up previously fixed socio-economic categories such as the producer and the consumer. The contributors discuss the role of trust and reciprocity in collaborative consumption through seven case studies. The chapters advance debates on the contradictions of positioning collaborative consumption as possible solutions for a more sustainable development and exacerbating new forms of inequalities and injustice. The book contributes a nuanced appraisal of social and economic activity for reflecting socio-technological changes in contemporary societies.

Articulates the rise of consumption through technology-based peer networks. Suggests that new forms of business based on sharing and collaboration are changing the way we work, consume, and live.

Considerable work has focused on Collaborative Consumption (CC) from a managerial standpoint. Little academic research has been conducted into this specific concept. This paper proposes two theoretical contributions in that regard: 1) a definition of CC that enables to determine effectively whether any given resource distribution system can be labelled as CC or not; 2) the scope and limits of CC by contrasting it with other forms of exchanges. Consumers' capacity to switch side from obtainment to provision or from “obtainer” to “provider” role constitutes the key criteria to identify a resource distribution system as being a form of CC. We define CC as the set of resource circulation systems which enable consumers to both obtain and provide, temporarily or permanently, valuable resources or services through direct interaction with other consumers or through a mediator. Collaborative Consumption is therefore a concept which stands in sharp contrast with the notion of Conventional Consumption. Conventional consumption - which underlies classic marketing thought - is a type of resource distribution system which involves passive consumers (not obtainers), who cannot, or are not given the capacity to, provide any resource or service (not providers). Incapable of engaging either in obtainment or in provision, their role is limited to that of buying - monetary exchange - and consuming organization-made resources or services, and, in the case of tangible resources, to discard them. In contrast, Collaborative Consumption involves not mere “consumers” but “obtainers” who may also be “providers”. In sum, consumers' capacity to switch roles from provider to obtainer and from obtainer to provider, in a given resource distribution system, constitutes the key distinguishing criteria between conventional consumption and CC. We also introduce the consumer process that is specific to Collaborative Consumption by emphasizing that CC involves not only delegation, such as in conventional consumption, but also empowerment and quasi-empowerment. More specifically, delegation assumes that there is a clear distinction between organizations which produce and sell goods and consumers who buy those goods produced and sold by organizations. Consumers rely on organization-made advertising, texts, logos, labels, trademarks, brands and other communication to choose among the broad array of goods or other types of resources that are offered to them. Empowerment means that consumers are empowered to collaborate directly with each other. They organize, arrange and negotiate informally the terms and conditions of the exchange of valuable resources, including goods or services. Under the concept of empowerment, consumers engage in what we call pure collaboration, where both the obtainer and the provider are consumers, such as in a secondhand purchase or sale at a flea market. As a middle-ground between delegation and empowerment, quasi-empowerment involves consumer-to-consumer exchanges that are mediated by a third-party, which is typically an organization. Under the concept of quasi-empowerment, consumers engage either in sourcing collaboration or in trading collaboration. Sourcing collaboration means that the provider provides a resources or service to the obtainer through a mediator. On the other hand, trading collaboration means that the obtainer obtains a resource from the provider through that specific mediator.

The introduction of new technology and technological services worldwide has ushered in a new wave of peer-to-peer and access-driven companies that are disrupting the most established business categories. The emergence of these new business models has upset the flow in contemporary society and transformed people's behavior towards sharing-based economies. Companies and entrepreneurs can see this significant change in people’s behavior as both an opportunity and a threat. Sharing Economy and the Impact of Collaborative Consumption provides emerging research on the impact that the sharing services are having on society as well as the importance of the sharing economy development in the coming years, dealing with relevant issues such as regulations, the technological aspects involved in these platforms, the impact in the tourism sector, and consumer behavior in relation to these services. Multidisciplinary in nature, this publication establishes links between economics, finance, marketing, consumer behavior, and IT, and covers topics that include e-commerce, consumer behavior, and peer economy. It is ideally designed for researchers, students, business professionals, and entrepreneurs seeking current research on the impact that this industry has on various economic, marketing, and societal aspects of different countries.

Collaborative consumption is a peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange of goods and services facilitated by online platforms. This phenomenon is driven by technologies that make it easier and cheaper to redistribute and share the use of existing but underutilized private resources. It is embedded in the paradigm shift in society towards access-based consumption, in opposition to acquisition and private individual ownership. Firms take on the new role of enabler of collaborative consumption by developing online platforms and smartphone apps that facilitate P2P exchanges between people in their roles of peer providers and consumers. Collaborative consumption is anchored to two opposite logics of consumption: sharing and market exchange. This results in the Heart & Wallet paradox with its tensions between a pro-social orientation and communal norms on the one hand, and a for-profit orientation and market norms on the other hand. While diverse societal and regulatory aspects of the so-called “sharing economy” are discussed in popular debate, scholars have yet to catch up on the theoretical implications from these influences on business activities and consumer behavior. This thesis aims to improve the understanding of collaborative consumption by contributing to the conceptualization of this new phenomenon as intertwined with coexisting sharing and market logics. The research is based on two papers taking the perspective of the firms operating online platforms that facilitate collaborative consumption, and two papers taking the perspective of the peer providers and consumers participating in P2P exchanges. The context of shared mobility (i.e. P2P car rental, ridesharing) is explored through three cases, using interviews with online platform managers and participants in collaborative consumption, participant observation, a netnography, a cross-sectional survey of platform users, and document analyses. This thesis situates collaborative consumption in the access paradigm, based on the temporal redistribution and monetization of private resources facilitated via online platforms, while nurturing the feelings of communal belonging and the sharing ethos embedded in P2P exchanges. Investigating the tensions of the Heart & Wallet paradox of collaborative consumption, I highlight the opposing rationales between the sharing logic of the original nonmonetary practices initiated by grassroots communities and the market logic of platform business models. I further emphasize the key function of communal identification for participants and the role of perceived sharing authenticity—the pitfalls of sharewashing for firms. This thesis contributes to service research by advancing the understanding of P2P exchanges and the conceptualization of collaborative consumption. Kollaborativ konsumtion bygger på P2P-utbyte (peer-to-peer) av varor och tjänster genom online-plattformar. Detta fenomen drivs på av teknologi som gör det enklare och billigare att dela användningen av befintliga men underutnyttjade privata resurser. Det är inbäddat i paradigmskiftet i samhället mot tillgångsbaserad konsumtion, i motsats till privat ägande. Företag får en ny roll som underlättare av kollaborativ konsumtion där privatpersoner istället intar rollerna som både leverantörer och konsumenter. Kollaborativ konsumtion är förankrat i två motsatta logiker: delning och varuutbyte. Detta resulterar i Heart & Wallet-paradoxen med spänningar emellan en pro-social orientering som bygger på gemensamma normer, och en vinstdrivande orientering baserad på marknadsnormer. Medan det funnits en debatt kring den så kallade ”delningsekonomin” och dess samhälleliga och legala implikationer, så har den akademiska debatten ännu ej hunnit ta fart kring dess påverkan på affärsverksamhet och konsumentbeteende. Avhandlingen syftar till att förbättra förståelsen av kollaborativ konsumtion genom att bidra till konceptualiseringen av detta fenomen där delningslogik och marknadslogik samexisterar. Avhandlingen är baserad på två artiklar som undersöker kollaborativ konsumtion från ett företagsperspektiv och två artiklar där begreppet studeras ur de deltagande individernas perspektiv. Kontexten ”shared mobility” (d.v.s. privat biluthyrning, samåkning) undersöks i tre organisationer med hjälp av intervjuer med anställda på onlineplattformar och deltagare i kollaborativ konsumtion, deltagarobservationer, en nätnografi, en tvärsnittsundersökning av plattformsanvändare och dokumentanalyser. Avhandlingen placerar kollaborativ konsumtion i paradigmet kring studier av tillgång till tjänster, där den temporära omfördelningen i tid och monetariseringen av privata resurser underlättas via online-plattformar, samtidigt som den gemensamma tillhörigheten och det ”delningsetos” som finns inbäddat i P2P-utbyten uppmuntras. Genom att undersöka spänningarna i Heart & Wallet-paradoxen i kollaborativ konsumtion, belyser jag motsättningarna mellan delningslogiken från gräsrotsrörelsen och marknadslogiken i plattformsaffärsmodellerna. Vidare diskuterar jag den centrala rollen av ”communal identification”-upplevelsen av autencitet vid delning av resurser för kollaborativ konsumtion. Avhandlingen bidrar till tjänsteforskningen kring tillgång till tjänster genom en ökad förståelse av P2P-utbyten och en konceptualisering av kollaborativ konsumtion.

How six industries are collaborating with competitors, society,and the public sector for competitive advantage No longer can we consume the equivalent of 1.3 Earths resourcesand expect to remain prosperous in perpetuity. We need a neweconomic paradigm, one that yields growth in a way that strengthensthe global systems we rely on daily for survival, such as theglobal water, food, and energy systems. The CollaborationEconomy—a model where the private, public, and civil sectorscollaborate for prosperity that can last in perpetuity—isemerging. But what does this economic model look like? How does itwork? How can companies survive and thrive in the CollaborationEconomy? The Collaboration Economy provides easy to use frameworksand tools to enable leaders of industry, of government, and ofsociety to lead the effort to align growth with sustainabledevelopment. Offers a plan for how the private, public, and civil sectorscan successfully collaborate to steward resources, fortify globalwater, food, and energy systems, and spark a new era of prosperityat the same time Contains case study profiles of the leaders of theCollaboration Economy, including Unilever, GE, Coca-Cola, NestleWaters North America, Grieg Green, and the European Parliament Written by Eric Lowitt, a globally recognized and sought afterconsultant, thought leader, and speaker in the fields ofcompetitive strategy, growth, and sustainability, who has beennamed one of the Global Top 100 Thought Leaders on TrustworthyBusiness Behavior by Trust Across America

This book employs an interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral lens to explore the collaborative dynamics that are currently disrupting, re-creating and transforming the production and consumption of tourism. House swapping, ridesharing, voluntourism, couchsurfing, dinner hosting, social enterprise and similar phenomena are among these collective innovations in tourism that are shaking the very bedrock of an industrial system that has been traditionally sustained along commercial value chains. To date there has been very little investigation of these trends, which have been inspired by, amongst other things, de-industrialization processes and post-capitalist forms of production and consumption, postmaterialism, the rise of the third sector and collaborative governance. Addressing that gap, this book explores the character, depth and breadth of these disruptions, the creative opportunities for tourism that are emerging from them, and how governments are responding to these new challenges. In doing so, the book provides both theoretical and practical insights into the future of tourism in a world that is, paradoxically, becoming both increasingly collaborative and individualized.

This is the ultimate source for anyone who wants a comprehensive view of how the sharing economy began and how it may fundamentally change capitalism across the globe. The Rise of the Sharing Economy: Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities of Collaborative Consumption examines the business phenomenon of the sharing economy, giving readers a thorough analysis of this up-and-coming sector. The book presents a detailed historical perspective of sharing and cooperatives, followed by a discussion of societal factors—predominantly technology—that have facilitated the fast growth of collaborative consumption businesses. Additional chapters offer progressive perspectives on how companies can further commercialize sharing. Written for undergraduate and graduate students studying the collaborative market and for those with entrepreneurial aspirations, this book provides important insight about technology facilities sharing, peer-to-peer lending, grassroots social entrepreneurial efforts, the economics of the sharing economy, legal and public policy issues, and more.