مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

Zipcar, a carsharing company that brandsitself as an alternative to the costly, consuming, and environmentally degrading industry of car ownership, is perhaps one of the prime symbols of what has grown to become the sharing economy (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012; Botsman & Rogers, 2010). Since its inception, Zipcar has experienced an annual growth of 100%. It currently serves approximately 900,000 members with more than 10,000 vehicles in urban areas and colleges across countries such as the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Turkey (Zipcar, n.d.). It contrasts itself from established and traditional car rental agencies by matching many of the criteria of a sharing economy practice. Specifically, it offers consumption through pooled resources and social collaboration, and promotes community building while alleviating environmental concerns by offering car sharing as a more sustainable practice.

Ironically, consumers do not regard Zipcar as the alternative it claims to be. Research shows that Zipcar members neither look for community bonds nor have the desire to share communal links with other members. Environmental and political concerns and socialization were also not among the priorities of consumers using Zipcar’s services (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012). In short, Zipcar customers were solely interested in the accessibility offered by this ‘sharing’ practice. Moreover, cost savings are revealed to be the main motivation for consumers who joined sharing economy practices such as Zipcar (Lamberton & Rose, 2012). These findings indicate that either Zipcar’s efforts in promoting the business as a sharing economy practice are not effective or consumers simply have difficulty perceiving it as a sharing alternative.

Since the boom of the sharing economy that followed the financial collapse of 2008, the necessity to reduce customer costs combined with technological advances created a synergy prompting firms and consumers to find creative ways to consume through pooling and sharing resources that would otherwise be left idle. As such, numerous practices coined under the umbrella term ‘sharing’ began to emerge. As of 2015, the sharing economy is worth about $15 billion and itis estimated to grow to $335 billion within 10 years(PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2015). Today, a large number of businesses operate by pooling many different kinds of resources such as time, skills, jewelry, and even wi-fi networks. Almost all of them build on the positive aspects of the sharing economy and aim to exploit consumer co-creation in order to create value for the firm as well as consumers (Belk, 2014). Despite their attempts to label themselves as sharing models, these enterprises vary widely as to the nature of their ability to offer a sharing alternative. Thus, it is important for managers and marketers to understand how and when a practice falling under the veil of the sharing economy should promote values, such as community building and social collaboration, and when it should focus on less sharingrelated attributes.