How Digital Platforms Materialize Sustainable Collaborative Consumption: A Brazilian and Canadian Bike-Sharing Case Study

Abstract

Pollution, resource depletion, and to a lesser extent, global warming called into question mass consumption. Public policies, media broadcasters, tech giants, and supranational entities (e.g., United Nations) nudged societies into alternative consumption forms that have been deemed more sustainable, such as collaborative consumption (CC). This paper aims at proposing a theoretical–empirical model that explains the materiality of sustainable collaborative practices through bike-sharing. The study further analyzes how connections, mediations, and inductions occur between individuals, platforms, and providers in bike-sharing systems of Porto Alegre in Southern Brazil and Vancouver's bike-sharing in Canada. We tracked these actants using the Actor–Network Theory through 30 interviews with consumers and managers. The findings suggest a dynamic ecosystem of mechanisms that mediate interactions and enact “sustainable collaborative consumption (SCC)” through digital solutions and physical equipment. The results illustrate that SCC is positively influenced by three avenues: (1) sustainable individual actions, (2 ) digital platforms, and (3) sustainable physical equipment.

Keywords:

• Collaborative consumption
• digital platforms
• materiality
• bike-sharing
• sustainable consumption

Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to all respondents and organizations participants in this research.

Author contributions

Conceptualization and Design – Alexandre Silveira, Gabriel Levrini, and Myriam Ertz; Methodology – Alexandre Silveira and Gabriel Levrini; Validation – Alexandre Silveira and Gabriel Levrini; Formal Analysis; Investigation – Alexandre Silveira, Gabriel Levrini, and Myriam Ertz; Writing—Original Draft Preparation – Alexandre Silveira and Gabriel Levrini; Writing—Review and Editing – Alexandre Silveira, Gabriel Levrini, and Myriam Ertz; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no external funding.