Vulnerability and perceived risks in the peer-to-peer sharing economy

Culiberg, Barbara (author), Kos Koklič, Mateja (author), Kukar-Kinney, Monika (author), Vida, Irena (author)

The peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing economy, as an attractive alternative to permanent ownership, creates a triadic relationship among three groups of participants: service enablers, providers, and consumers. One of its main features is the expansion of the user's role to the roles of consumer and provider, or “prosumer.” However, in their role as prosumers, individuals may have an aversion to participating in the P2P sharing economy market due to their sense of powerlessness and lack of control, suggesting that their vulnerability needs to be considered. Despite their importance, prosumers have not received commensurate attention in the sharing economy literature. To address this gap, we examined prosumer vulnerability's impact on risk perceptions in the role of prosumer and illuminated these risks' impact on intentions to participate. The results from a U.S. survey indicate that vulnerability is a significant driver of all risk types, for both consumers and providers. Furthermore, psychological risk and security risk are found to significantly decrease intention to participate. Unexpectedly, social risk increases intention to participate among consumers and providers, while privacy and health risks are insignificant.

• Language: English
• Keywords: marketing, consumer, sharing economy, peer-to-peer sharing economy, prosumer vulnerability, prosumers, risk perception
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: 19 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 48, iss. 2, art. e13028
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-156096
• UDC: 339.138
• ISSN on article: 1470-6423
• DOI: 10.1111/ijcs.13028
• COBISS.SI-ID: 186516483
• Publication date in RUL: 08.05.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of consumer studies
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 1470-6423
• COBISS.SI-ID: 4686409

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: trženje, potrošnik, delitvena ekonomija

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: J5-1782
• Name: Vpogled v temne plati tristranskega razmerja v delitveni ekonomiji