Is the collaborative consumption the new buying? Social and economic aspects influencing collaborative consumption

Collaborative consumption is becoming a phenomenon of great interest for both
scholars, marketers and public institutions. The spread of peer-to-peer sharing
platforms allows consumers to acquire products and services in alternative ways. This
aspect is redesigning a number of sectors, such as the transport and accommodation
marketplaces with the spread of new business models that provide consumers with
both economic (financial) and social (socialization, sustainable consumption) benefits.
Albeit in presence of an extensive emerging literature on the collaborative
consumption phenomenon, the effect of social and economic benefits on the usage of
collaborative products and services is lacking. Thus, using a Structural Equation
Model, tested on 385 Italian collaborative users, this study aims at identifying
antecedents of sharing intention (sustainable consumption and consumers’
innovativeness) and of the intention to use Blablacar (social and economic benefits).
Furthermore, the direct relationship between the two intentions is examined.
Implications are discussed.