Chapter 3: The Influence of Demographics, Attitudinal and Behavioural Characteristics on Motives to Participate in the Sharing Economy and Expected Benefits of Participation

The sharing economy is a relevant economic phenomenon of recent times and important for sustainable economic growth. This chapter considers the motivational factors that drive and hinder participation in the sharing economy. It investigates the impact of both economic or non-economic drivers and what role demographics, attitudinal and behavioural characteristics play as antecedents of those drivers. We rely on rich data from a 12-country survey to conduct our analysis, and we distinguish between three categories of respondents: providers, consumers and aware non-users. Trust, innovativeness and materialism are considered as important attitudinal antecedents, while volunteering is used as the key behavioural antecedent. We find that economic motives outperform non-economic motives overall. However, compared with providers and aware non-users, consumers are more strongly driven by economic motives, especially those who are more educated and trusting. Additionally, younger, more educated, more innovative, materialistic and volunteering respondents are driven more than others by non-economic motives. Finally, providers with lower household income, who are more educated and innovative are more likely to be driven by economic motives, while providers that have more trust in people and volunteer more frequently are more likely to be driven by non-economic motives. Overall, the chapter contributes to a more differentiated understanding of participation in the sharing economy in terms of motives and their antecedents. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of the findings.

As discussed in the introduction to this volume (Introduction, this volume), the sharing economy is a broad concept that lacks a commonly accepted definition. It is sometimes referred to as collaborative consumption (Botsman and Rogers, 2011), access-based consumption (Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012), or commercial sharing systems (Lamberton and Rose, 2012). The sharing economy has the potential to create substantial value, by promoting economic growth, technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion; factors central to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; Boar et al., 2020). In this context, the sharing economy is of particular interest, because, in contrast to many other sustainable innovations, certain sharing economy sectors are scaling up rapidly.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the motives for participation in the sharing economy. Synthesising previous studies, and in line with a holistic approach to the topic, both economic and non-economic motives are considered. Particularly, we understand non-economic motives broadly to include hedonic (fun), social (social interaction/meeting people) and social responsibility aspects. The chapter does not only investigate the key motivational factors for sharing economy participation in Europe but also the relative importance of demographics and selected attitudinal and behavioural characteristics in shaping motives. The analysis draws on data from a large survey conducted in 12 European countries on the state of the sharing economy (Andreotti et al., 2017). Using univariate and multivariate statistical methods, we investigate the role of demographics, three relevant attitudinal constructs (trust, innovativeness, materialism) and one important behavioural correlate (volunteering). We study their influence on both economic and non-economic motivational factors among providers, consumers and aware non-users. The analysis reveals distinct differences between these three groups. Consumers tend to be driven mostly by economic motives, and this is particularly the case for consumers with high levels of trust and innovativeness. Providers, by contrast, are also motivated by non-economic factors. Trust and volunteering are identified as antecedents of non-economic factors. The findings allow for a holistic understanding of how social characteristics shape motives for participation in the sharing economy.

Studying antecedents of motives is important because it deepens our understanding of the dynamics of participation and how motives might themselves be socially differentiated based on power relations (Eichhorn et al., 2020). Thus, our study contributes to sociological and psychological literature on the sharing economy.

The rest of the chapter is structured as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature on sharing economy motives and develops hypotheses about the relative importance of these motives under various circumstances. Section 3 discusses the data collection and analytical strategy. Section 4 presents the results. Section 5 concludes by discussing limitations of the study as well as implications for research on the sharing economy.

Regardless of the term used, the mutual focus when it comes to the sharing economy is on collaborative use of slack and poorly utilized assets and services, and how they can be used more efficiently (Stephany, 2015). In the sharing economy, ordinary people act as providers and offer services to consumers that used to be offered only by professional sellers (Narasimhan et al., 2018; Sundararajan, 2016). Thus, the sharing economy is an economic system with emphasis on peer-to-peer exchange and sharing of slack and unutilized assets or services for free or for a fee. In this contribution, we follow Gerwe and Silva’s (2020) definition of the sharing economy as “a socioeconomic system that allows peers to grant temporary access to their underutilized physical and human assets through online platforms” (p. 71).

(Belk, 2007, p. 126), in a frequently recalled definition, describes sharing as the “act and process of distributing what is ours to others for their use and/or the act or process of receiving or taking something from others for our use.” Subsequent literature has differentiated the sharing of tangible or physical goods, such as cars, bicycles and apartments, and intangible goods, such as knowledge, emotions and ideas (Belk, 2010; Bucher et al., 2016; Botsman and Rogers, 2010; Gansky, 2010; John, 2013). Sharing resources, whether they are tangible or intangible, is not a new phenomenon (Kemp and Olson, 2015), but rather something humankind has always been doing. The sharing economy in its present form is thus a technological transformation of an old phenomenon. More specifically, it is the result of a transformation of long existing concepts, such as flea markets, ride-sharing agencies, and neighbourly help, by information and communication technologies. ICT-enabled sharing allows strangers to share cars, homes, food, and tools with unknown individuals through online platforms, while previously sharing was mostly happening between known people. In this context, Belk (2014a) distinguishes ‘sharing-in’ and ‘sharing-out’. Sharing within the family or between friends can be defined as ‘sharing-in’. By contrast, when sharing involves strangers, it can be described as ‘sharing-out’. The two types differ substantially in the degree of intimacy in the sharing process (Narasimhan et al., 2018). Furthermore, ICT-enabled sharing economy is characterized by online platforms, hence two-way transactions turn into three-way transactions, where the platform acts as an intermediary between providers and consumers. Despite many benefits, which will be discussed in more depth below, sharing is tied to material and personal risks as it exposes one’s possessions to the hazards of loss, damage and decreased utility (Bucher et al., 2018; Lutz et al., 2018). Sharing economy platforms attempt to address these risks leveraging ratings and reputation mechanisms (Frenken and Schor, 2017; Newlands et al., 2019).

Considering its scale and growth, it is important to study the motives of participation in the sharing economy. The literature differentiates a plurality of motives, which depend on the kind of platform used for the exchange and on whether the exchange involves monetary compensation or not (Edbring et al., 2016). Therefore, both non-economic and economic motives have been identified. Cost-savings and convenience (i.e., efficient access to goods and services) are classified as economic (Heo, 2016; Tussyadiah and Pesonen, 2016). The need for social interaction, the intrinsic and hedonic enjoyment of sharing, and intentions to help others and/or protect the environment are classified as non-economic. We will discuss economic and non-economic motives in turn.

Regarding economic motives, a major benefit for consumers in the sharing economy is the access to broader options and lower prices (Sundararajan, 2016). This is corroborated by substantive empirical research. A Eurobarometer study (2016) found that the benefits of sharing are largely monetary or related to convenience, and a Deloitte study (2015) on the sharing economy in Switzerland found that 65% of respondents considered lower costs as a key benefit of the sharing economy. Böcker and Meelen (2017) found that economic motives were particularly important for low-income users. Bardhi and Eckhardt (2012) showed how self-interest and utilitarianism (i.e., reducing expenses and increasing convenience) are frequent motives for access-based car sharing and that these motives were found to be more important than considerations about collective utility. Lamberton and Rose (2012) identified cost and utility factors, the perceived risk of product scarcity, and familiarity with sharing as key drivers. The studies by Bellotti et al. (2015), Möhlmann (2015), and Hawlitschek et al. (2018) also identify economic motives as the key drivers of sharing economy participation.

However, Botsman and Rogers (2011) argue that collaborative consumption is driven by motives that extend beyond economic considerations. Gansky (2010) suggests changing consumer attitudes towards consumption as a motivational factor that drives the sharing economy, as consumers are willing to try out new brands (Gansky, 2010) and are more open to new ways of accessing what they need (Botsman and Rogers, 2011; Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012). Additionally, consumers are increasingly aware of the pressure that (over)consumption can pose to the environment. The idea of sharing excess capacity to reduce environmental concerns, the renewed belief in the importance of community, and cost-consciousness move consumers towards the practice of sharing, openness and collaboration (Gansky, 2010; Walsh, 2011). Botsman and Rogers (2011) suggest that social motives impact sharing economy participation as well. Sharing one’s possessions with others is generally considered an inherently pro-social or even non-economic act, marked by feelings of solidarity and bonding (Belk, 2010; Benkler, 2004). Numerous studies refer in some ways to an alleged underlying anthropological or neuroscientific tendency for sharing (e.g., Schmidt and Sommerville, 2011; Tomasello and Warneken, 2008), showing the sharing economy’s benefits for community building, social participation, and the creation of social capital (Belk, 2007, 2010; Botsman and Rogers, 2010; Hamari et al., 2016). A study by Möhlmann (2015), for instance, on German users of Airbnb and the business-to-consumer service Car2Go, found that community belonging was a key driver for repeated use. In the context of accommodation sharing, Tussyadiah (2015) suggests that people engage in these activities because they want to interact with their local hosts. Benkler (2004) also stressed the importance of non-monetary factors such as social reputation, cooperation, and satisfaction. Applying qualitative research methods, Albinsson and Perera (2012) investigated drivers for participation in the sharing economy and identified a sense of community as both a driver and an outcome of participation. Furthermore, a variety of ideological and practical reasons was identified.

Previous research has also shown that motives to participate in the sharing economy can depend on the type of platform used and whether the exchange is commercial or non-commerical (Bucher et al., 2016; Edbring et al., 2016; Hawlitschek et al., 2018). According to Edbring et al. (2016), non-profit platforms participants are driven by factors such as the desire to belong to a community, the need for reciprocity, and political and environmental ideals. Instead, in for-profit platforms, economic and convenience-related reasons together with the search for novelty and the desire for variation prevail over motives related to reciprocity and sustainability.

Taken together, the findings suggest the co-presence of economic and non-economic motives as drivers of participation in the sharing economy (Bellotti et al., 2015; Shih et al., 2015). The importance of each depends on the context (e.g., type of platform) and the characteristics of the participants (Davidson et al., 2018). However, most previous research focuses on either consumers or providers but does not systematically contrast these groups. Moreover, aware non-users and their expected benefits are neglected in previous research. In the next sub-section, we will thus make the case that motives of consumers, providers and expected benefits of non-users should be differentiated. We will also introduce a rationale for studying the antecedents of motives.

Little research has differentiated user roles and compared providers and consumers as distinct groups. As an exception, Bellotti et al. (2015), through interviewing both users/consumers and providers of 46 different sharing economy systems, identified eight distinct motives for the use of sharing economy services: value/morality, social influence, status/power, empathy/altruism, social connection, intrinsic/autotelic reasons, safety, and instrumental motives. In their interviews of both consumers and providers, they found that while providers tend to stress idealistic motives, consumers are strongly driven by value and instrumental motives.

On the provider side, a frequently heard argument by sharing economy advocates is its expansion of micro-entrepreneurship opportunities. Sharing platforms can create new sources of employment and enable previously un-tapped sources of income (Ikkala and Lampinen, 2015; Lampinen and Cheshire, 2016). The relatively low entry-barrier is particularly beneficial for marginalized populations who may be traditionally excluded, such as those with criminal records or low education. Smith (2016), based on a representative survey in the United States, found that 80% of respondents identified job opportunities as a major benefit of ride-hailing services, whereas 85% of respondents considered a major benefit of home-sharing services to be a convenient source of income.

However, the public debate has been increasingly critical towards the greater proliferation of sharing platforms, with their legitimacy and practices frequently called into question (Newlands and Lutz, 2020). While the sharing economy has shown to open up new opportunities to make money, earnings on platforms are subject to significant diversity. In smaller scale initiatives, for instance, Fuster Morell et al. (2016) report that earnings are low and, in some cases, not even enough to cover basic needs. Critics have also argued that sharing services will undermine traditional employment relationships, leading to greater income inequality, poorer working conditions, labour uncertainty, and a tilt of power in favour of platforms in the creation of a ‘new precariat’ (Murillo et al., 2017; Slee, 2013).

Economic motivation can be seen in people with lower involvement and commitment tied to their participation. This argument is supported by Shih et al. (2015) in the context of the less commercially-oriented sharing economy area of time-banking. The authors found that highly active time-bank users were more idealistic and participated because they believed in “equal time, equal value”, whereas less active time bank users, who were mostly regular members, more frequently utilized time-banking in order to fulfil instrumental needs. Even in more commercially-oriented areas, such as peer-to-peer accommodation, the same pattern might hold. Dann et al. (2019), in a systematic overview of research on Airbnb, identified motives as a key theme. Out of 118 articles analysed in total (including topics other than motives), 31 look at motives from the guest (consumer) perspective and 16 from the host (provider) perspective. Among guests, “cost savings still remain the dominant motive” (p. 450) but for hosts, the motives seem to be somewhat more diverse, even though financial benefits play a key role. Extrapolating from these last elements, we question if consumers are exhibiting higher levels of economic motives compared to providers and providers to have higher levels of non-economic motives.

Beyond users, in the form of providers and consumers, non-users are also considered in studies on the sharing economy, even though rarely. However, an identification of their expected benefits should complement the analysis. Non-users constitute the largest group, as only a minority of the population uses sharing economy services. While the sharing economy has seen widespread growth and spans all socio-demographic categories in the European context, only 17% have used such services at least once (Eurobarometer, 2016). Thus, more than 80% are non-users. However, the majority (52% of the total population) of all EU citizens were aware of the services offered by the sharing economy, thus making aware non-users a key category. In our data, aware non-users and non-aware non-users are differentiated but we only include aware non-users in the analysis. Importantly, the term “motives” might not be appropriate for aware non-users since they have not experienced participation first-hand and could thus not give a substantiated account of motive-related questions. Therefore, we use the term expected benefits, rather than motives, when talking about aware non-users in the following.

While substantial research has looked into the question how motives affect sharing economy participation, less is known about the factors that affect participation motives themselves. In the next section, we present the research design and discuss our rationale for including demographics, three attitudinal antecedents – namely, trust, technological innovativeness, materialism, and a behavioural correlate, i.e. volunteering.

The analysis draws on a large survey conducted in 12 European countries on the state of the sharing economy (Andreotti et al., 2017; Newlands et al., 2018). A consortium of international researchers based in Norway, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, and Switzerland conducted the survey in summer 2017. The cross-national questionnaire was constructed to explore the prevalence, antecedents, and outcomes of participation, privacy, and power in the European sharing economy, and involved 6111 individuals across 12 countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). This selection includes countries with both a higher and lower average income, as well as countries with a varied uptake of sharing economy services. The respondents were divided into users, who were further categorized into providers and consumers, and non-users, who were further categorized into aware and non-aware non-users. The research in this chapter is focused on the respondents who are either users (n = 1699) or aware non-users (n = 3983). Among the users, there were 1143 consumers and 556 providers.

The analysis considers demographics, three relevant attitudinal antecedents and one behavioural correlate as predictors of participation in the sharing economy.

We used the following demographics as independent control variables: age in years, grouped in five categories, gender, education based on the ISCED categories, and yearly gross household income in four categories (quartiles). These variables were selected because they represent the most common demographic indicators used in survey research on the sharing economy. For household income, originally between 13 and 17 relatively narrow categories in the respective local currencies in the survey were used, subsequently grouping the respondents based on the distribution and their distance from the mean in standard deviations for each country.

Trust, innovativeness and materialism were included as relevant attitudinal antecedents and volunteering as a behavioural one. Trust has been shown to be a key construct in the sharing economy (Ter Huurne et al., 2017) and was measured based on the general disposition to trust, using the scale of McKnight et al. (2002). We expect trust to have a positive effect on motives or expected benefits, as it serves as a pre-condition for even being willing to participate in the sharing economy and develop motives. For technology innovativeness, which could indicate a higher propensity to try out sharing services, the scale by Agarwal and Prasad (1998) was adopted. Technology innovativeness should equally increase motives or expected benefits. As a key aspect of the sharing economy is platform mediation, those who exhibit higher levels of technological innovativeness should show stronger motives or expected benefits from participation. To measure materialism and volunteering, both attributes shown as important in the context of the sharing economy (Akbar et al., 2016; Davidson et al., 2018; Kornberger et al., 2018; Lutz et al., 2018), the scales from Bucher et al. (2016) were used. Materialism is particularly important for commercial sharing services and economic motives/expected benefits (Davidson et al., 2018), while volunteering should play a key role for non-commercial sharing services and non-economic motives/benefits (Bucher et al., 2016). Table 3.1 displays the individual items and measurement. All scales showed high loadings and good measurement properties (Cronbach’s α between 0.74 and 0.90). The descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations) of the items are presented in Table 3.1.

The questionnaire used four items to assess motives or expected benefits of sharing economy participation: financial, meeting people/social interaction, fun, and social responsibility (Bellotti et al., 2015; Bucher et al., 2016; Möhlmann, 2015). Provider and consumers were asked about their motives for participation and non-participants about which benefits they would expect from using sharing services. The question prompt for providers and consumers was: “How much did the following considerations affect your decision to use the sharing platform?” The question prompt for aware non-users was: “If you decided to use an online sharing platform, to what extent would you expect the following benefits?” Respondents answered for each of the four items on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1-not at all, 2-to a small extent, 3-to a moderate extent, 4-to a large extent, 5-very much. For each item, some additional explanation was available in brackets: “Financial benefit (e.g., for additional income)”, “Meeting people (e.g., to find company, to feel part of a community)”, “Fun (e.g., adventure, distraction, entertainment)”, “Social responsibility (e.g., contribution to healthy environment, helping others)”. While the literature has stressed environmental aspects of sharing economy participation, the questionnaire unfortunately did not include a dedicated and separate item on environmental motives or expected benefits. Social responsibility carries a moral dimension and environmental considerations are mentioned in brackets for this item but overall, this item is more about the societal aspects rather than environmental ones. This is a limitation of the study.

We used descriptive analysis, one-way ANOVA and binary logistic regression to analyse the data. First, descriptive statistical analysis (mean and standard deviations for providers and consumers) was conducted. Then, the data was analysed to find whether there were statistically significant differences between providers and consumers (one-way ANOVA). Finally, two multivariate methods were used. Factor analysis was employed to reduce the number of variables and to determine the underlying structure of relevant self-reported attitudinal (trust, innovativeness, materialism) and behavioural (volunteering) constructs. This helped to find out whether the factors correspond to the pre-determined suggested structures. To test convergent and discriminant validity of the scales used to measure the independent variables, a principal component analysis with Varimax rotation was employed. The second multivariate method used was binary logistic regression. The binary logistic regression generates predicted probabilities of a case being in the category labelled (1) and is predicting the logit, that is, the natural log of the odds of having used sharing economy services.

The descriptive statistics for age, gender, household income and education by each category (providers and consumers, aware non-users) are shown in Table 3.2.

One-way ANOVA was used to detect if there are statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of demographics. Providers are younger and more likely to be male. Consumers have the highest level of household income and education. By contrast, aware non-users have the lowest level of household income and are less educated than providers and consumers.

The descriptive statistics of the four components by each group revealed statistically significant differences. Consumers are most innovative, they showed the most general trust in people, they are most materialistic, but they volunteer less frequently than providers (Table 3.3). By contrast, aware non-users are least trustful, innovative, materialistic and volunteer least frequently of all three groups.

Descriptive statistics of the motives/expected benefits for each group are shown in Table 3.4. Despite the differences in how the questionnaire assessed motives among users (providers and consumers) and expected benefits among non-users (see 3.2), we think that the values are somewhat comparable, although we have to stress that motives were assessed in a past-directed way while expected benefits are future-directed. The ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences, with both providers and consumers mostly motivated by financial benefits. This could be caused by the pre-dominant platforms used. Most of the users (73%) declared that their most frequently used platform was Airbnb, Uber or BlaBlaCar, all of which are profit-oriented platforms.

Financial motives or expected benefits are apparent in all three groups. Even though (expected) financial benefits dominate in all groups, consumers showed more financial benefits as motives than providers. It seems that consumers are dominantly motivated by economic reasons and they declared more use of Airbnb and Uber. By contrast and in comparison to consumers, providers are more motivated by meeting people, fun and social responsibility. Interestingly, aware non-users expect more benefits from social responsibility and social interaction than consumers are motivated by these factors.

To further analyse the influence of demographics, the three attitudinal constructs and volunteering on motives/expected benefits, we used factor analysis to explore whether the motives can be reduced. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) criterion and Bartlett’s test were used to assess the goodness-of-fit of the solution. In our sample the KMO value was 0.770 and Bartlett’s test was significant (p = 0.000), showing that the principal component analysis was appropriate. This analysis resulted in two components: the first one described economic aspects and consisted of financial motives with a loading of 0.971. The second component was named non-economic and included meeting people, fun and social responsibility. Convergent validity of the scales is supported by a Cronbach’s α of 0.83 for the non-economic motives component. The factors are turned into binary variables by assigning a value of 1 if answers have a value of 3 or higher, and 0 for values below 3. Thus, the scale mid-point served as the split-point.

Logistic regression was then performed to test the predictive power of the demographic characteristics (gender, age, household income, education) as well as the three attitudinal constructs (trust, innovativeness, materialism) and volunteering as a behavioural correlate on economic and non-economic motives/expected benefits. This analysis was conducted separately for providers, consumers and aware non-users. Table 3.5 shows that providers with lower household income, who are more educated and innovative are more likely to be driven by economic motives. Moreover, providers who are younger, have higher trust and volunteer more frequently are more likely to be driven by non-economic motives.

Among consumers, economic motives are positively associated with education, trust and innovativeness. Thus, more educated, more trusting and more innovative consumers are motivated more strongly by economic benefits. By contrast, consumers who are younger, more educated, more innovative and volunteers are more likely to be driven by non-economic motives (Table 3.6).

In the group of potential users (in the survey recognized as aware non-users), income, gender and trust do not affect expected benefits that are economic, while only education does not impact the expected benefits in non-economic terms. (Table 3.7). Younger, more educated, more innovative, materialistic and volunteering aware non-users expect more economic benefits, while younger, female, with low household income, more trusting, innovative, materialistic and volunteering aware non-users expect more non-economic benefits.

Based on an existing large survey, we studied demographics (age, gender, education, household income) as well as relevant attitudinal (trust, innovativeness, materialism) and behavioural (volunteering) antecedents of economic and non-economic motives or expected benefits in sharing economy participation. Using descriptive, univariate and multivariate statistics, we found that economic (expected) benefits outperform non-economic ones among providers, consumers and aware non-users. One-way ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics between providers, consumers and aware non-users. The analysis showed that the providers are younger and more likely to be male. Consumers have the highest household income and education level, while aware non-users are the oldest group and have the lowest household income and education levels. In terms of attitudinal and behavioural differences, we found that consumers are most innovative, they showed the most general trust in people, they are most materialistic, but they volunteer less frequently than providers. Thus, to a certain extent, the sharing economy seems to perpetuate existing inequalities and benefit those who are already privileged (Eichhorn et al., 2020; Lutz, 2019; Schor et al., 2016).

When it comes to the motives for participation, consumers were mostly driven by financial benefits. Economic motives were particularly prominent among more educated and trusting consumers, while younger, more educated, more innovative, materialistic and volunteering consumers were more likely to be driven by non-economic motives. This shows that economic and non-economic motives are not mutually exclusive and sharing economy participants can accrue multiple type of capital at the same time (Ladegaard, 2018). Users who are economically motivated can also be motivated by non-economic criteria and there can be a plurality of motives. We found that providers with lower household income, who are more educated and innovative are more motivated by economic benefits, while providers that are more trusting and that want to help voluntarily are more driven by non-economic motives.

Economic motives or expected benefits are obvious in all three groups of respondents. However, consumers had more pronounced economic motives, compared with providers. By contrast and compared with consumers, providers are more motivated by meeting people, fun and social responsibility. This is in line with Böcker and Meelen (2017), who found similar differences between providers and consumers in their study in the Netherlands. In our analysis, providers seem motivated by a broader set of motives, reflecting the results of Ladegaard (2018) from their interviews with Airbnb hosts. Interestingly, aware non-users expect more benefits from social responsibility and social interaction than consumers are motivated by these factors. Overall, economic motives are most prevalent among consumers, while non-economic motives tend to be more salient among providers and aware non-users.

Our findings have implications for theory and practice. In terms of theory, our study identifies important antecedents of motives, something which previous literature (Albinsson and Perera, 2012; Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012; Bellotti et al., 2015; Bucher et al., 2016; Hawlitschek et al., 2016a, 2018; Tussyadiah, 2015; Tussyadiah and Pesonen, 2016) has mostly overlooked, as it focused more on the types and outcomes of motives in different sharing economy domains and contexts. Analysing not only motives but also their antecedents enhances our knowledge of sharing economy participation and allows for a more holistic understanding of its social dynamics. Particularly, our study contributes to research that studies the sharing economy in terms of power dynamics and digital inequalities (Eichhorn et al., 2020).

The importance of trust across the analyses, with significant effects for all three groups considered (providers, consumers, aware non-users), solidifies the crucial role of this construct in the sharing economy (Hawlitschek et al., 2016b; Ter Huurne et al., 2017). Particularly, the fact that trust mattered not only for aware non-users but also for users indicates that trust constitutes an important pre-condition for continued motivation to stay active in the sharing economy. Innovativeness proved similarly important, as it had a significant – and positive – effect on economic motives across all three groups, and only proved to be insignificant for non-economic motives among providers. Thus, the sharing economy seems to cater particularly well to technologically innovative groups and might leave behind those who lack the drive to try out new technologies, thus potentially exacerbating social inequalities between different social groups (Ladegaard, 2018; Lutz, 2019; Schor et al., 2016). This conclusion is supported by the demographic profile of aware non-users, who are older and have lower levels of household income and education than providers and consumers.

Volunteering was the strongest predictor of non-economic motives/expected benefits across all three groups. Non-economic sharing economy motives or expected benefits are particularly prominent among individuals who engage civically by volunteering and helping others (Kornberger et al., 2018). This indicates that different segments of the sharing economy follow partly different logics, with certain platforms – and service categories within platforms – catering to a more bottom-up, non-commercial and social experience, while others target a more convenience-oriented and materialistic audience (Guttentag et al., 2018; Lutz and Newlands, 2018). This is to be taken into consideration in any design and/or policy intervention.

A further contribution of our research to the sharing economy literature is the differentiation and comparison of providers, consumers and aware non-users. Previous research on motives for sharing economy participation has either looked at providers or consumers (Dann et al., 2019) but rarely contrasted these two groups systematically (see Böcker and Meelen, 2017, for an exception), let alone included aware non-users. Our results show that the expected benefits of aware non-users are similarly pronounced as the motives of users. This is somewhat surprising as we had expected lower values. Future research could follow up on this and compare providers and consumers for specific services as well as the transition from consumers to providers (Angelovska et al., 2020) and what makes individuals transition from aware non-users to users (as either consumer or provider), and from non-aware non-user to aware non-user.

The findings have practical implications and relevance for platform managers, policymakers and users. Platform managers can foster desired motives by leveraging key antecedents identified in our analysis. For example, a platform such as Uber can tap into heightened economic motives among young, educated, innovative, materialistic, and volunteering groups (e.g., students) that do not yet use the platform. Uber could leverage the motives of such aware non-users by designing targeted promotions and campaigns specifically for that group, for example student discounts or recommendation rewards. Similarly, a bottom-up sharing platform that caters strongly to non-economic motives should create a climate of trust and volunteering, potentially encouraging and supporting such volunteering outside the platform to keep their providers motivated in the long run. For policymakers, our findings might prove useful to steer the growth of platforms through supporting conditions that tap into distinct motives. For example, if a city wants to promote non-economic motives and participation (and corresponding platforms), it can drive up such motives by creating a climate of trust, offering skill training and information to foster innovativeness, as well as lowering the threshold for volunteering. Finally, users themselves might find the results helpful to reflect on their own practices. Those who use sharing platforms as consumers might be confronted with a broader range of benefits, especially non-economic ones, that could be reaped if they started using the platform as a provider.

This study comes with several limitations. Namely, our survey is cross-sectional and does not allow for temporal and strong causal claims. Moreover, it lacked a strong comparative framing. Future research should use longitudinal data to study participants’ and potential participants’ demographics, trust, innovativeness, materialism, volunteering and motives over time. Such research could adapt a comparative scope to map the differences in the adoption of the sharing economy across different industries or countries.