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Sharing Economy and Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 1859

Special Issue Editor

Senior Lecturer in Business Analytics, Department of Management, University of London, London WC1E 7JL, UK
Interests: sharing economy; big data analytics; digital Innovations; digital Marketing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The sharing economy, as a digitalised platform for peer-to-peer exchange, has gained momentum in several sectors of the economy (Geissinger et al., 2019). The idea behind it is that people share with others the resources that are not currently in use via digital platforms, and gain profits from the resource sharing. This leverage of idling resources (i.e., goods and services) leads to a more effective use of resources and helps to lower overall consumption. Sustainability, viewed as the system that keeps resources productive indefinitely without compromising future resources (Geissinger, A., et al., 2019), clearly has a link to the sharing economy. Indeed, sustainability has been highlighted as one of the reasons that customers participate in the sharing economy (Sung, E., Kim, H., & Lee, D., 2018; Han, C., & Yang, M., 2021).

A number of studies have debated about the sustainable nature of the sharing economy (e.g., Curtis, S. K., & Lehner, M., 2019; Boar, A., Bastida, R., & Marimon, F., 2020). Both utopian and dystopian views have been expressed: for instance, Hasan and Birgach (2016) call sharing economy a “sustainable economic model” after investigating the success factors of the sharing economy; Martin, C. J. (2016) argues that the assumed sustainability potential of the sharing economy is doubtful. It is unclear whether the sustainability connotation is truly included in the sharing economy applications. On the other hand, sustainability could influence the mechanism design of sharing economy platforms as well as their presentation. Understanding how sustainability impacts the sharing economy (e.g., platform mechanism and presentation) is of great importance.

However, the connection between the sharing economy and sustainability remains understudied—especially regarding how the sustainability aspect of the sharing economy is presented by platforms, the similarities and differences among different platforms and sectors, and whether the sharing economy really contributes to sustainability.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bridge the sharing economy and sustainability research fields by exploring the sustainability connotation and impact of the sharing economy. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Sustainability impact of sharing economy;
  • Platform analysis for sustainability in sharing economy;
  • The promoting role of sharing economy in sustainability;
  • Consumer behaviour analysis for sustainability in sharing economy;
  • The role of digital innovations (ICTs, platforms, online communities) in sharing economy in improving sustainability;
  • Analytical models for resource allocation in sharing economy for the Sustainable Development Goals.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

  1. Boar, A.; Bastida, R.; Marimon, F. A Systematic Literature Review. Relationships between the Sharing Economy, Sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability 2020, 12, 6744. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176744.
  2. Curtis, S.K.; Lehner, M. Defining the Sharing Economy for Sustainability. Sustainability 2019, 11, 567. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030567.
  3. Geissinger, A.; Laurell, C.; Öberg, C.; Sandström, C. How sustainable is the sharing economy? On the sustainability connotations of sharing economy platforms. J. Clean. Prod. 2019, 206, 419–429.
  4. Han, C.; Yang, M. Revealing Airbnb user concerns on different room types. Ann. Tour. Res. 2021, 89, 103081. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.103081.
  5. Hasan, R.; Birgach, M. Critical success factors behind the sustainability of the Sharing Economy. In Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE 14th International Conference on Software Engineering Research, Management and Applications (SERA), Towson, MD, USA, 8–10 June 2016; pp. 287–293.
  6. Martin, C.J. The sharing economy: A pathway to sustainability or a nightmarish form of neoliberal capitalism? Ecol. Econ. 2016, 121, 149–159.
  7. Sung, E.; Kim, H.; Lee, D. Why Do People Consume and Provide Sharing Economy Accommodation?—A Sustainability Perspective. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2072. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10062072.

Dr. Mu Yang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sharing economy
  • sustainability
  • digital platforms
  • consumer behaviour
  • system analysis

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 1567 KiB  
Article
Collaborative Consumption in an Emerging Market: What Motivates Consumers to Adopt It under Economic and Political Uncertainty?
by Gonzalo Llanos, Nataly Guiñez-Cabrera, Katherine Mansilla-Obando, Esteban Gómez-Sotta, Paulo Buchuk, Matías Altamirano and Marcelo Alviz
Sustainability 2023, 15(21), 15482; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115482 - 31 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1044
Abstract
This study presents a consumption model tailored for emerging markets beyond BRICS, which considers the advantages of a sharing economy service and its impact on user behavioral intention. Moreover, it integrates moderating variables to enhance the understanding of consumer behavior toward adopting collaborative [...] Read more.
This study presents a consumption model tailored for emerging markets beyond BRICS, which considers the advantages of a sharing economy service and its impact on user behavioral intention. Moreover, it integrates moderating variables to enhance the understanding of consumer behavior toward adopting collaborative consumption services, making two significant contributions to the existing literature. By drawing data from 270 customers from Chile and utilizing variance-based structural equation modeling along with partial least squares techniques that use SmartPLS, the research findings highlight that convenience and enjoyment play the most pivotal roles in influencing consumer behavioral intention. Additionally, the study reveals that gender significantly moderates the relationship between convenience and purchase intention. Overall, this research sheds light on the potential of sharing economy services in emerging markets, providing valuable insights into consumer preferences and behavior, which can prove beneficial for businesses and policymakers alike. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sharing Economy and Sustainability)
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