**4. Toward new economic approaches**

*Strategy and Behaviors in the Digital Economy*

TAMs and/or TPB models [30].

sustainable, or fairer [31, 32].

Consumer theory (restrictive)

Consumer theory (expanded)

Theory of the firm (efficiency)

Information systems (technology acceptance)

Functional synthesis

**Approach Authors Definition**

Botsman and Rogers [7]

Hamari et al. [17]

Belk [5] Price and Belk [22]

models of utilizing consumer goods and services, and (2) their reliance on the

Conceptually, collaborative consumption behavior has been delimited by two distinct conceptual frameworks (**Table 1**). Consumer theory addresses the phenomenon from the perspective of a cultural and identity-based form of alternative exchange and behavior [22]. It has therefore paid greater attention to the concept of sharing, to types of consumption, and to collaborative markets or to the antiestablishment foundations of sharing [4, 7, 9, 23–26]. In contrast, information systems theory analyses the phenomenon from the perspective of digital P2P platform and network uses and behavior [27, 28]. These two approaches simply place more or less emphasis on the main components of collaborative consumption. While consumer theory has emphasized the analysis of motivations to explain nonownership access and uses, the information systems approach focuses on the study of technology acceptance models (TAMs) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) models that make using collaborative platforms and networks possible. The salient idea behind this second approach is that collaborative consumption operates through technological platforms (Web 2.0 or mobile applications). Within this context, the problem of motivations behind collaborative consumption behavior becomes the problem of motivations explaining the use of online collaborative consumption platforms. Thus, the success of such digital sharing platforms would explain the sharing behaviors of their potential users and resource providers [29]. In other words, participation behavior in collaborative consumption platforms can be formulated as an intent of acceptance and, therefore, can be approached from the perspective of

From the information systems approach, we are able to understand collaborative consumption as a "peer-to-peer-based activity of obtaining, giving, or sharing the access to goods and services, coordinated through community-based online services ([17], p. 2047)." In fact, this new type of exchange and behavior is an economic and technological phenomenon driven by new development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), advances in consumer awareness, and the proliferation of collaborative online communities that make commerce more social,

Belk [4] The acquisition and distribution of a resource for a fee or other

Stephany [3] Value in taking underutilized assets and making them accessible

An economic model based on sharing, swapping, trading, or renting

online to a community, leading to a reduced need for ownership of

P2P-based activity of obtaining, giving, or sharing access to goods and services, coordinated through community-based online services

The use of temporary access nonownership models of utilizing goods and services, and reliance on the Internet, and especially Web 2.0, to

products and services, enabling access over ownership

compensation (nonmonetary)

those assets

bring this about

*Sharing economy and collaborative behavior: definitions and conceptual frameworks.*

Internet, and especially Web 2.0, to bring this about ([5], p. 1595)."

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**Table 1.**

I just showed that, through new forms of collaborative consumption, exchange behavior evolves the economy toward a new interpretative paradigm, from initial digital markets to sharing markets. Sharing exchanges incorporate and reveal a lot


#### **Table 2.**

*Exchange in the initial digital economy and the sharing economy.*

of information and knowledge, often before the transaction takes place. The basic sharing market stakeholders are consumers/producers and businesses/platforms that coordinate but do not control sharing exchange [33]. The economic properties of sharing exchange are therefore those of shared uses (divisibility, experience uses, and sharing economies). Many of those properties still need to be studied in much greater depth, and that is especially so for the form of the demand function (price or fee equal to marginal use), for its value creation process through sharing networks, and for the structure of P2P markets [10, 34]. Furthermore, the interpretative apparatus that economics will have to develop in order to address a sharing exchange theory must take into consideration a set of relatively unusual principles. Sharing exchange requires interpretative models that consider a combination of emotional and rational decision-making, individual interest-based as well as prosocial motivations, exchange compensation through a monetary or nonmonetary fee, and the set of sharing economies that it may generate. **Table 2** shows and orders some of the main manifestations of new forms of sharing exchange, comparing them to forms of digital exchange.

## **5. Motivations of collaborative behavior**

The set of driving and impeding forces of participation behavior in digital networks for collaborative consumption is clearly multidimensional and encompasses economic, social, environmental, ethical, and motivational elements that need to be addressed in depth [27]. Among these motivations, the literature has identified: (1) economic benefits, time, space and effort savings, and an awareness of exchange costs [8]; (2) cultural changes linked to a new relationship among goods and services, individual ownership, and consumer identity [5, 7]; (3) a rise in the critical view of excessive consumption [35, 36]; (4) growing environmental awareness [19]; and (5) the desire to belong to a community [4]. Critical mass, idle time, belief in the common good, and trust among strangers have also been identified as predictors of the use and provision of content, goods, and services on digital sharing platforms and networks [7].

However, there is still relatively little empirical evidence of the modeling of or results from digital sharing systems based jointly on the behaviors of their users and providers [28]. For example, a priori, some driving forces have an impact on both groups (such as trust), whereas others only have an impact on one of them (i.e., earning money motivates providers and saving money motivates users). Thus, while participation in digital practices of the collaborative consumption depends on the critical mass of its participants (users and providers), it is necessary to look further into the motivations (joint and separate) explaining participation and collaborative behavior [37]. In accordance with this approach, literature has found that participation in a digital collaborative consumption network was motivated by a broad set of factors such as sustainability, enjoyment, and economic benefits [17]. Along similar lines, a multidimensional set of motivations associated with participation behavior (use and provision) in a P2P network for renting goods and services has been identified. That set of motivations included technological, economic, social, ideological, identity, and prosocial factors [27].

One of the main starting points for collaborative consumption was the evolution from business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce (e-commerce) toward the emergence of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) digital markets. On such P2P platforms and networks, people exchange goods and services on a large scale, often under the banner of an alternative form of consumption that is more social, sustainable, varied, convenient, anticapitalist, or without monetary compensation [14, 38]. In fact, many of the motivations explaining this new form of consumption are actually related to their alternative nature, which differs from that of traditional forms of

**167**

platforms.

to collaborative behavior:

*Collaborative Behavior and the Sharing Economy: Pan-European Evidence for a New Economic…*

ownership consumption [23, 24, 39]. Latest research expanded the scope and studied the motivations of users and providers of P2P platforms in Europe [40]. These literature studies have concluded that the providers' motivations differed from the users. The ideology (better community and increased sustainability) explained the providers' participation, while practical reasons (satisfaction of needs, increased value, and convenience) explained the users' participation. Along the same lines, literature has identified that sharing attitudes are linked to moral, social, and monetary motivations [41]. Similarly, monetary incentives are identified as a necessary but not sufficient condition at the moment of sharing individual possessions with others. In

**Hypothesis 1**: Anticonsumer or antimaterialist motivations, captured through the possibility of nonmonetary exchanges, predict the provision of collaborative platforms. The economic literature has also highlighted a number of economic aspects that might be driving new digital forms of sharing. Such motivations may also be rational, pursuing a behavior of utility maximization. This is the case, for example, when consumers replace exclusive and expensive ownership with low-cost uses through an online collaborative consumption service [42]. Along the same line, literature has obtained results that tended toward practical motivations and utility. Specific costs, utility factors, the perceived risk of product scarcity, and familiarity with sharing were the explanatory factors of the likelihood of sharing [8, 9]. Beyond this initial and partial evidence, the most recent literature has broadened the scope of its objectives in relation to both the motivations and the number of consumers and types of collaborative consumption analyzed [43]. Lower prices were found to be the main motivation in all types of goods and services analyzed. Scarcity, the environment, and access over ownership were also important in some of the types of goods and services studied. In addition, it has also been obtained that the intentions to share are explained based on economic, environmental, and social benefits that would be captured through a mediating effect linked to the perceived utility [30]. At the same time, the enjoyment experienced would be explained through a sentiment of belonging to the community where sharing takes place. Thus, and considering the different motivations of users

and providers, I could formulate my second working hypothesis as follows:

nience, predict the use and provision of collaborative platforms.

**Hypothesis 2**: Practical economic motivations, like price, novelty, and conve-

Other studies have advanced our knowledge of the forms of adoption and repeated use of digital sharing platforms [26]. The motivations linked to perceived benefits could explain user satisfaction and the probability of choosing to use those platforms again. Regarding the motivations and barriers to collaborative consumption in a P2P accommodation platforms, literature has found that sustainability, belonging to a community, and financial benefits were the main motivations, while the lack of trust, of efficiency, and of economic benefits were the main barriers [44]. At the same line, a multidimensional set of motivations that explained participation (use and provision) in a P2P network for renting goods and services has been identified [27]. Those motivations were technological (privacy, process risk, the platform's ubiquitous availability), economic (income, resource scarcity, effort expectancy, thriftiness, product variety), social (knowledge and modern lifestyle), ideological and identity-related (anticapitalism, independence through ownership, prestige of ownership, enjoyment in sharing), and prosocial (sense of belonging, social experience, social influence). Thus, my third working hypothesis is related to the barriers

**Hypothesis 3**: The lack of a responsible person, the lack of fulfillment of service expectations, the lack of information, the lack of trust in the agents, or the lack of trust in the Internet predict (brake) the use and provision of collaborative

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83608*

this context, a first working hypothesis could be that:

#### *Collaborative Behavior and the Sharing Economy: Pan-European Evidence for a New Economic… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83608*

ownership consumption [23, 24, 39]. Latest research expanded the scope and studied the motivations of users and providers of P2P platforms in Europe [40]. These literature studies have concluded that the providers' motivations differed from the users. The ideology (better community and increased sustainability) explained the providers' participation, while practical reasons (satisfaction of needs, increased value, and convenience) explained the users' participation. Along the same lines, literature has identified that sharing attitudes are linked to moral, social, and monetary motivations [41]. Similarly, monetary incentives are identified as a necessary but not sufficient condition at the moment of sharing individual possessions with others. In this context, a first working hypothesis could be that:

**Hypothesis 1**: Anticonsumer or antimaterialist motivations, captured through the possibility of nonmonetary exchanges, predict the provision of collaborative platforms.

The economic literature has also highlighted a number of economic aspects that might be driving new digital forms of sharing. Such motivations may also be rational, pursuing a behavior of utility maximization. This is the case, for example, when consumers replace exclusive and expensive ownership with low-cost uses through an online collaborative consumption service [42]. Along the same line, literature has obtained results that tended toward practical motivations and utility. Specific costs, utility factors, the perceived risk of product scarcity, and familiarity with sharing were the explanatory factors of the likelihood of sharing [8, 9]. Beyond this initial and partial evidence, the most recent literature has broadened the scope of its objectives in relation to both the motivations and the number of consumers and types of collaborative consumption analyzed [43]. Lower prices were found to be the main motivation in all types of goods and services analyzed. Scarcity, the environment, and access over ownership were also important in some of the types of goods and services studied. In addition, it has also been obtained that the intentions to share are explained based on economic, environmental, and social benefits that would be captured through a mediating effect linked to the perceived utility [30]. At the same time, the enjoyment experienced would be explained through a sentiment of belonging to the community where sharing takes place. Thus, and considering the different motivations of users and providers, I could formulate my second working hypothesis as follows:

**Hypothesis 2**: Practical economic motivations, like price, novelty, and convenience, predict the use and provision of collaborative platforms.

Other studies have advanced our knowledge of the forms of adoption and repeated use of digital sharing platforms [26]. The motivations linked to perceived benefits could explain user satisfaction and the probability of choosing to use those platforms again. Regarding the motivations and barriers to collaborative consumption in a P2P accommodation platforms, literature has found that sustainability, belonging to a community, and financial benefits were the main motivations, while the lack of trust, of efficiency, and of economic benefits were the main barriers [44]. At the same line, a multidimensional set of motivations that explained participation (use and provision) in a P2P network for renting goods and services has been identified [27]. Those motivations were technological (privacy, process risk, the platform's ubiquitous availability), economic (income, resource scarcity, effort expectancy, thriftiness, product variety), social (knowledge and modern lifestyle), ideological and identity-related (anticapitalism, independence through ownership, prestige of ownership, enjoyment in sharing), and prosocial (sense of belonging, social experience, social influence). Thus, my third working hypothesis is related to the barriers to collaborative behavior:

**Hypothesis 3**: The lack of a responsible person, the lack of fulfillment of service expectations, the lack of information, the lack of trust in the agents, or the lack of trust in the Internet predict (brake) the use and provision of collaborative platforms.

*Strategy and Behaviors in the Digital Economy*

**5. Motivations of collaborative behavior**

of information and knowledge, often before the transaction takes place. The basic sharing market stakeholders are consumers/producers and businesses/platforms that coordinate but do not control sharing exchange [33]. The economic properties of sharing exchange are therefore those of shared uses (divisibility, experience uses, and sharing economies). Many of those properties still need to be studied in much greater depth, and that is especially so for the form of the demand function (price or fee equal to marginal use), for its value creation process through sharing networks, and for the structure of P2P markets [10, 34]. Furthermore, the interpretative apparatus that economics will have to develop in order to address a sharing exchange theory must take into consideration a set of relatively unusual principles. Sharing exchange requires interpretative models that consider a combination of emotional and rational decision-making, individual interest-based as well as prosocial motivations, exchange compensation through a monetary or nonmonetary fee, and the set of sharing economies that it may generate. **Table 2** shows and orders some of the main manifestations of new forms of sharing exchange, comparing them to forms of digital exchange.

The set of driving and impeding forces of participation behavior in digital networks for collaborative consumption is clearly multidimensional and encompasses economic, social, environmental, ethical, and motivational elements that need to be addressed in depth [27]. Among these motivations, the literature has identified: (1) economic benefits, time, space and effort savings, and an awareness of exchange costs [8]; (2) cultural changes linked to a new relationship among goods and services, individual ownership, and consumer identity [5, 7]; (3) a rise in the critical view of excessive consumption [35, 36]; (4) growing environmental awareness [19]; and (5) the desire to belong to a community [4]. Critical mass, idle time, belief in the common good, and trust among strangers have also been identified as predictors of the use and provision

of content, goods, and services on digital sharing platforms and networks [7].

social, ideological, identity, and prosocial factors [27].

However, there is still relatively little empirical evidence of the modeling of or results from digital sharing systems based jointly on the behaviors of their users and providers [28]. For example, a priori, some driving forces have an impact on both groups (such as trust), whereas others only have an impact on one of them (i.e., earning money motivates providers and saving money motivates users). Thus, while participation in digital practices of the collaborative consumption depends on the critical mass of its participants (users and providers), it is necessary to look further into the motivations (joint and separate) explaining participation and collaborative behavior [37]. In accordance with this approach, literature has found that participation in a digital collaborative consumption network was motivated by a broad set of factors such as sustainability, enjoyment, and economic benefits [17]. Along similar lines, a multidimensional set of motivations associated with participation behavior (use and provision) in a P2P network for renting goods and services has been identified. That set of motivations included technological, economic,

One of the main starting points for collaborative consumption was the evolution from business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce (e-commerce) toward the emergence of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) digital markets. On such P2P platforms and networks, people exchange goods and services on a large scale, often under the banner of an alternative form of consumption that is more social, sustainable, varied, convenient, anticapitalist, or without monetary compensation [14, 38]. In fact, many of the motivations explaining this new form of consumption are actually related to their alternative nature, which differs from that of traditional forms of

**166**

With the idea of broadening the set of motivations and the diversity of forms and stakeholders of the collaborative behavior, literature has also analyzed the role of sociodemographic characteristics [25]. Women and young people were more likely to share most of the products/objects. Particularly interesting is the result that shared consumption had more to do with personal mind-set or psychological disposition than with some sociodemographic aspects, like income levels. In this sense, I can formulate a working hypothesis about the sociodemographic predictors of collaborative behavior:

**Hypothesis 4**: Sociodemographic characteristics predict the use and provision of collaborative platforms.
