Empirical analysis of customer motives in the shareconomy

A cross-sectoral comparison

Abstract

We present the results of an empirical study on German customers' motives to participate in the shareconomy. We focus on four different industries with two companies each: accommodation renting (Airbnb vs. Couchsurfing), car sharing (DriveNow vs. tamyca), commodities (Leihdirwas vs. WHY own it) and clothing (Prêt-à-Louer vs. Kleiderkreisel). We can conclude that the lower prices compared to classical consumption offers provide the main motive for customers using sharing offers. Across industries, we find tremendous differences as regards the importance of further motives like environmental awareness or availability of offers. Based on the results of the study, we elaborate recommendations for the different sectors.