A Shared Understanding: Redefining “Sharing” from a Consumer Perspective

Abstract

The word “sharing” has been adopted by marketing practitioners and academics to explain a variety of market-based phenomena, leading to confusion around its meaning. Across four studies, the current research systematically investigates what sharing means from a novel perspective: the consumer. The results of the first two studies (1 and 2) suggest that consumers hold a unified conceptualization of sharing distinct from formal academic conceptualizations. Study 3 explores what the core features of this consumer conceptualization might be, and study 4 confirms these features while connecting perceived sharing to consumers’ intentions to join a “sharing” service.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brandon J. Reich

Brandon J. Reich (Ph.D., University of Oregon), Assistant Professor of Marketing, School of Business, Portland State University, Portland, OR, [email protected].

Hong Yuan

Hong Yuan (Ph.D., University of Michigan), Richard P. Booth Associate Professor and Research Scholar, Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, [email protected].