ENTERING THE TRUST AGE Entering the Trust Age Authors Note and Acknowledgements

Some of the findings presented in this report emerged from an academic research study that is still in progress. The authors are grateful to Verena Butt d’Espous, 3 Corporate Communications at BlaBlaCar, and Dr. Mareike Moehlmann, an NYU research scientist, both co-authors with Mazzella and Sundararajan on this academic research study, for their contributions CONTENTS to conceptual discussions, and various theoretical and empirical analyses related to this report. Further thanks go to Travis Tarr and Zita Butler for their precious support in creating this report, and to Natalia Kalaska for her graphic design work. Last and not least, the authors wish to thank the 18 289 BlaBlaCar CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER Members who took the time to answer the survey which served as a basis to this work.

This report represents the outcome of an independent, non-commercial collaboration between the authors. In particular, Sundararajan has no 1 2 3 4 current or prior paid consulting relationship with BlaBlaCar, and is currently not an investor in BlaBlaCar. Why trust Building A trusted Spreading BlaBlaCar has not provided funding to any other New York University (NYU) matters trust community trust personnel involved with this research. Similarly, Mazzella has no commercial ties with NYU, and NYU has not provided funding to any other BlaBlaCar p.6 p.14 p.22 p.32 personnel involved in this research. Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

4 “Understanding trust is central 5 FROM THE IN TRUST WE TRUST. - This is one of the core values of BlaBlaCar. Why? Because by creating trust, we enable 30 million members of our community to share their car rides across three continents, AUTHORS resulting in countless enriching experiences. And we are not alone. to understanding the economy“ Across the collaborative economy, individuals are entrusting each other with their homes, their cars, their knowledge and skills. Peer-to-peer platforms are connecting an ever-increasing number of individuals and empowering them with trust tools to unlock the world’s sharing potential.

Every day, BlaBlaCar works hard to better understand what strengthens the I have been fascinated by digital trust ever since, as a graduate sense of trust between online peers. Together with NYU Stern Professor student in the early days of the Web, I traded concert tape and specialist, Arun Sundararajan, we looked at the recordings with strangers on Usenet groups. To me, understanding mechanics of online trust, and the resulting level of trust created. Building trust is central to understanding the economy. And the explosion of on our ongoing research, this analysis shows that if provided with the right the sharing economy and crowd-based capitalism can be attributed digital trust tools, individuals are able to build high trust without ever to dramatic improvements in the ability of people to trust others having met in person. It’s a first in history. they don’t know well.

Individuals are now empowered to trust one another and collaborate at an As we stand at the threshold of a new era of commerce, I’m delighted to Arun Sundararajan unprecedented scale. We are at the beginning of a worldwide revolution, be collaborating with BlaBlaCar – a pioneering platform with some of the Professor and Rosen Faculty one in which strangers are becoming peers. Together we are building most sophisticated digital trust systems in the world – on deepening our Fellow at New York University’s a more trusted society; a friendlier world. Welcome to the Trust Age. scientific understanding of trust in the new economy. The results of this Stern School of Business Frédéric Mazzella report, which draw from an ongoing academic research study, represent the Founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar first phase of a longer program of collaboration between NYU and BlaBlaCar. Over the centuries, each significant economic expansion has been enabled by the accompanying creation of new trust systems, from government standards, to trader networks, economic institutions, contracts, and corporate brands. Today’s digital institutions are catalysing an expansion that will reintegrate into economic interaction the social aspects of “Together we are building commerce that have been inefficiently marginalized by 20th century capitalism. I’m looking forward to this new world of trust – more personal, a more trusted society“ more connected, and eventually, more empowering to the individual. Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

6 CHAPTER WHY TRUST 7 MATTERS

‘‘THE BUILDING BLOCK OF SOCIETY - INTERPERSONAL TRUST - IS BEING TRANSFORMED FROM A SCARCE RESOURCE INTO

WHY TRUST MATTERS EXPLORES THE ORIGINS AN ABUNDANT ONE’’ OF TRUST AND HOW ONLINE TRUST IS BEGINNING TO REVOLUTIONIZE1 THE SCALE OF PEER-TO-PEER INTERACTIONS AND THE WORLD WE LIVE IN. Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

8 CHAPTER 1 9 WHY TRUST MATTERS

Trust is the leap of faith without which of engagement” and centralised some of “Trust is little human collaboration can exist. the systems needed to organise society. Regulations and contracting, supported a willingness It has allowed mankind to overcome by legal and financial institutions, its limits, and to cooperate with one allowed people to trade beyond their to commit to another. It is at the heart of any social immediate circle of trust. This fostered system, whether families or businesses, economic growth, which together with a collaborative and central to any social construct, from the development of and money and ownership to citizenship and information technologies, led to the effort before you democracy. It is the glue that holds our emergence of corporations. Businesses world together. moved from small-scale shops with know how the a well-known customer-base to larger- UNTIL RECENTLY, AN INDIVIDUAL’S NETWORK scale organisations catering to the other person OF TRUST HAS BEEN RESTRICTED. needs of a much broader audience in a competitive market. Today, a significant will behave” For thousands of years, trust was limited fraction of trust is facilitated by using to close circles of family and friends. brand to convey values, qualitative James Coleman One’s reputation in a community, typically attributes, and most importantly, the Sociologist a village, was the initial indicator people promise of current and future reliability. relied on to decide whether or not to collaborate with each other. To overcome By the end of the 20th century, trust these limitations, as communities grew had scaled globally, through institutions and as we grasped the advantages of and through brands. Interpersonal trust, the social contract, trust was scaled by however, was still limited to the people shifting it to governments and a variety you knew - to friends, family, colleagues, of institutions that formalized the “rules and perhaps to friends of friends. Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

10 For the first time in history, this is changing. to “higher stakes” offline experiences. 11 Scaling Trust Individuals are not merely exchanging Internet connectivity and new digital second-hand goods. They are staying in trust tools are scaling interpersonal strangers’ homes and sharing a city-to-city trust, allowing human exchange at ride in the car of someone they don’t know. a previously unimaginable scale, thereby Interpersonal Bond Intermediated Bond This empowerment of individuals is creating unlocking a massive untapped potential a radical shift away from centralised for collaboration. Online platforms, or institutions towards decentralised, more peer-to-peer marketplaces enabled by connected peers. In other words, we are databases, search engines, and connectivity Many-to-Many moving from a “one-to-many” configuration are creating new systems for the provision to a world where trusted interactions can and nurturing of unprecedented levels 6 occur on a “many-to-many” basis, changing of interpersonal digital trust. Peers are DIGITAL relationships between economic and social becoming part of population-scale digital TRUST GRIDS actors along the way, and creating a new trust grids, where reliable connections can “crowd-based” form of capitalism. Thanks be made not just with one’s friends and to online trust, and freed from limits of the family, but with the world at large. 5 past such as time and distance, individuals are empowered to share, rent or exchange As peer-to-peer platforms provide the BRANDS goods, knowledge, money, skills, network, and tools that allow people to trust each other, One-to-Many content at an unprecedented scale, unleashing individuals in turn are becoming their own formidable untapped value. Dormant capital brands. They build profiles and accumulate 4 can be put to more productive use, generating feedback from multiple one-shot interactions. INSTITUTIONS a wide variety of new consumption experiences. When aggregated, summarized, and made We can now use assets belonging to others visible to others, this history becomes part without the hassle and cost of ownership. of their “trust capital”. Peers can instantly 3 Great opportunities for resource efficiency download information about each other to are opening up and creating a wealth of new form an opinion on whether or not to trust GOVERNMENTS enriching online and offline social interactions. a specific individual. The implications of digital trust grids for interpersonal trust With 44 percent of the world’s population can be compared to the breakthrough in connected to the Internet[i] and with the communication when the telephone was 2 spread of mobile connectivity, we are only at invented. The phone suddenly enabled people COMMUNITIES the beginning of a profound behavioural shift. to communicate with anyone instantly; in One-to-One Online trust is not just an incremental change the same way, digital trust grids allow to society, it is a massive and disruptive change. individuals to download anyone’s trust capital with immediate effect. Trust is being 1 THE KEY BUILDING BLOCK OF SOCIETY - disrupted both in its reach and instantaneity. FAMILIES INTERPERSONAL TRUST - IS BEING TRANSFORMED FROM A SCARCE RESOURCE INTO AN ABUNDANT

Pioneered by eBay’s “low stakes” rating systems scale ONE. OUR POTENTIAL TO COLLABORATE AND in the late 1990s, online trust is now expanding CREATE VALUE HAS NEVER BEEN SO IMMENSE.

[i] Source: International Telecommunication Union Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

12 TRUST CAPITAL 13 Two people typically create trust over time through repeated interactions. Digital trust systems extract, Trust Capital summarise and make available the details about multiple one-shot interactions between a person and many other different individuals. Based on this accumulated track record, information can be aggregated Before Trust Age to enable anyone to “download” the trust capital of an individual instantly. Mary builds trust in Mary immediately downloads Joe‘s Interpersonal trust can thus be Joe transferred, shared and scaled. Joe over time through trust capital, accumulated through DIGITAL TRUST IS TO INTERPERSONAL TRUST WHAT THE INVENTION OF THE PHONE WAS TO repeated interactions multiple one-shot interactions BILATERAL COMMUNICATION: A HISTORICAL with different people BREAKTHROUGH SUDDENLY INTRODUCING i UNLIMITED REACH AND IMMEDIACY.

trust trust

MaryMary

i i i i i i interactions i i i i i time time

accumulated trust capital new peer Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

14 CHAPTER BUILDING 15 TRUST

‘‘THE D.R.E.A.M.S. FRAMEWORK PROVIDES THE FOUNDING BLOCKS OF TRUST IN ONLINE

BUILDING TRUST TAKES A LOOK AT HOW BLABLACAR COMMUNITIES’’ HAS BUILT THE WORLD’S LARGEST PEOPLE-POWERED TRAVEL2 NETWORK THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ITS TRUST FRAMEWORK, D.R.E.A.M.S. Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

16 CHAPTER 2 17 BUILDING TRUST

BlaBlaCar’s core mission is to Building a trusted environment is create a global people-powered THE GRADUAL EVOLUTION OF BLABLACAR’S TRUST LAYER: a continuous process. Through constant travel solution, connecting drivers iterations, BlaBlaCar identified tools with empty seats to passengers and product features, which facilitate looking for a ride over long-distance 1. Declarative information: Removing have immediate access to a passenger’s peer-to-peer interactions, allowing the journeys. To fulfil this vision it was anonymity was the first step in building ratings. This created a mismatch in ridesharing platform to become one of the critical to address travellers’ initial trust within the community. In the the information held by each party. An largest sharing communities worldwide. apprehensions of travelling with early days, it quickly became clear that online booking system was therefore Based on this experience, BlaBlaCar a stranger. It required building trust. members wanted to see the name and introduced to provide equal previous has developed a trust framework for the a photo of the person they would travel access to profile information. With collaborative economy. This is summarised It took BlaBlaCar five years to reach with. A stranger with a name and a face this system drivers can see the full by the acronym D.R.E.A.M.S. the first million members: a community is simply more trusted. passenger’s profile before accepting an large enough to spur viral growth. In incoming request to share a ride. It also these five years, BlaBlaCar developed 2. Verification: Feedback then indicated streamlines the process for drivers who a number of tools to enable its the need to verify phone numbers, as no longer need to speak over the phone members to trust each other, choose a wrong phone number could result in with numerous potential passengers, who they would travel with and share members missing their rideshare. and create an additional level of a journey with confidence. commitment by allowing passengers 3. Ratings: Drivers then requested a rating to pay online prior to the ride. With each year that went by, BlaBlaCar system to avoid having to prove their tested several different trust tools and trustworthiness from scratch at each 5. Two-way ratings: Recently, two- “ BUILDING developed a better understanding of new exchange. way ratings were introduced, whereby the building blocks of trust. Central when a member receives a rating, it’s to this was feedback from ridesharers 4. Booking system: Once the rating undisclosed until they leave one in A TRUSTED gathered through focus groups and system was introduced, passengers return. This process allows members BlaBlaCar’s Member Relations team. could easily see the ratings left for to leave a completely honest rating, ENVIRONMENT IS drivers by other members when they because they know the other member Over time, the team at BlaBlaCar were choosing a ride, but in the absence can’t leave a negative rating as revenge, steadily built up a number of trust of an online booking system, they called in response. It therefore improves the A CONTINUOUS tools through continuous innovation the driver on the phone. The latter did not overall accuracy of ratings. and product iterations. PROCESS“ Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age THE D.R.E.A.M.S. 18 THE D.R.E.A.M.S. FRAMEWORK FRAMEWORK 19 Building trust in online communities Applied to BlaBlaCar

Online trust on peer-to-peer platforms is created through a combination of the six following pillars: Declared photo and name D. Declared A. Active Declared information is the foundation of a trusted online Members of a collaborative service depend on each other profile. It is the information that is volunteered by the to provide the goods or service to which the platform is user, telling the community a bit more about themselves. dedicated. That’s why it’s vital to enable a reactive exchange No-one trusts a complete stranger, so this is the first between them, ensuring that the transaction progresses essential step in moving away from anonymity towards online smoothly from initial interest to realisation. To do this, Rated trust. Members can declare their name, age, preferences, and information about the level and frequency of a user’s activity ratings give a description of themselves in their own words. must be provided to the other party in a transaction, for example publishing the number of rides and including R. Rated statements such as “Laura will aim to reply within 3 hours”. Ratings allow for the aggregation of feedback from objective third parties. Ratings have been largely democratised by M. Moderated online services like eBay or Tripadvisor, but collaborative All information transferred by users of a sharing service platforms ask users to rate one another after having shared must be third-party verified, whether this is the verification Moderated higher-stakes experiences than ever before, “in real life”, of contact or bank details or the approval of User-Generated verification box offline. This enables people to build valuable peer-reviewed Content. Users need to know that everything they see online reputations and create interpersonal trust in a community. meets a required level of goodwill and authenticity, as ensured by the third party providing the sharing platform. Social E. Engaged facebook / LinkedIn In order to feel completely comfortable transacting with S. Social connections a fellow user of a sharing service, you need to believe Social networks allow users to connect their identity with that the other party is fully engaged, and will honour their their existing online identity, be it socially via Facebook, or commitment. Collaborative platforms that allow members to professionally via LinkedIn. Connecting a profile with other Active financially commit to a transaction ahead of the experience, existing social networks will allow a person to leverage their activity box via a pre-payment service, create trust through engagement. existing online presence to create trust. This is the sole parameter in the D.R.E.A.M.S. framework that is geared towards future interaction. It links past information Engaged to future commitment. “booking” box Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

20 Looking ahead Over time, as technology and the science 21 of trust progresses, the components As our understanding of what creates of each pillar will continue to evolve. online trust is refined over time, the tools For instance, the adoption of payment that enable peers to create trust evolve platforms has made it easier and safer in tandem. The reliability of ratings to process transactions and thus be is increasingly questioned as online “Engaged” in the transaction prior to the reputation systems become ubiquitous ride. Recent improvements in digital ID in society. Open feedback that cannot be verification solutions reinforce the D. for traced back to a verifiable transaction “Declared”, and M. for “Moderation”. The may lack legitimacy, like someone rating provision of insurance by the platform accommodation without proof that they also reinforces M. for “Moderation” and ever stayed there. Transactional ratings the platform’s role as a purveyor and - ones that originate from transactions administrator of new solutions to create that have verifiably occurred - enjoy a trusting ecosystem. greater legitimacy as they are founded on an actual experience. Amazon’s The right alchemy of what creates online recent “verified purchase” tag is trust is evolving, but overall, the six an illustration of the importance of pillars of D.R.E.A.M.S are the founding building credible ratings by tracing blocks of trust in online communities. them back to a credible experience. Transaction ratings are central to In Chapter 3 we will look at the level of sharing economy platforms that enable trust built in the BlaBlaCar community offline experiences. by using the trust tools outlined above.

“The right alchemy of what creates online trust is evolving, but overall, the six pillars of D.R.E.A.M.S are the founding blocks of trust in online communities“ Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

22 CHAPTER A TRUSTED 23 COMMUNITY

‘‘RIDESHARERS WHO HAVE NEVER MET, TRUST EACH OTHER ALMOST AS MUCH AS FRIENDS’’

A TRUSTED COMMUNITY SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH BLABLACAR MEMBERS TRUST EACH OTHER AND WHY BY3 ANALYSING THE RESPONSES OF OVER 18,000 SURVEYED RIDESHARERS ACROSS 11 COUNTRIES. Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

24 CHAPTER 3 Role of BlaBlaCar 25

A TRUSTED COMMUNITY Q: What in your opinion is the main role of BlaBlaCar? Connecting users 74%

Creating trust by moderation and certification of profiles 63% To understand the level of trust built within the BlaBlaCar community, Communicating and promoting ridesharing a -wide survey of BlaBlaCar members was conducted, generating 57% responses from 18,289 members across 11 countries.1

The survey took place in mid-2015 with BlaBlaCar. 74% of members responded marketplace visibility and liquidity the assistance of the French research with Connecting People, 63% with lead to a more mainstream usage, consultancy Le BIPE2. 62% of respondents Creating Trust by Moderation and 57% with implications for familiarity and were male and 38% female. 30% were with Communicating about Ridesharing. trust. 70% of respondents say that over 35 years old, and the largest age Connecting people and creating trust they feel more comfortable ridesharing group (43% of respondents) were between are fundamental elements in building because there are so many drivers Percentage of respondents who declare that the fact 25 and 34 years old. Close to half of the a reliable environment of collaboration and passengers on BlaBlaCar, with respondents (46%) were passengers only, and ultimately an online platform’s main little variation across countries. there are many drivers and passengers on BlaBlaCar 29% were drivers only, and 25% were reason for being. This confirms that what is true in 70% both drivers and passengers. the real world - that familiarity with make them feel more comfortable ridesharing. It is likely that “communicating about a service or situation enhances trust - Participants were first asked what, ridesharing” appears in the top three also applies to an online world where according to them, was the main role of (out of eight options provided) because trust relies on digital cues.

1. Countries included in the survey are: , , , , , , , , , , UK. Portions of the results we describe are based on an ongoing scientific research 2. BIPE is a strategy consulting firm founded in France in 1958 which specializes in economic research and forecasting, modelling and big data, socio-economic outlook and future trends analysis. BIPE supports study that Frederic Mazzella,BlaBlaCar Corporate Communications Verena Butt d’Espous, Arun Sundararajan and NYU research scientist Mareike Moehlmann are collaborating on. companies and industries in a wide variety of sectors all over the world. (www.bipe.com). Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

26 Measuring trust Measuring Trust 27 Trust is a difficult concept to define and evaluate. In order to assess the level of trust in BlaBlaCar’s Q: On a scale of 0-5, how would you rank your level of trust in...? ridesharing community, members were asked to rank the trust they placed in 80% a BlaBlaCar member with a full profile relative to the trust they placed in ‘‘THE DISTRIBUTION other familiar types of people, ranging from family and friends to strangers. OF TRUST SCORES IS Member with 51% Participants were asked to rate, on full profile on a scale from 0 to 5, the degree to which they trust these different personas. SKEWED TOWARDS 37% The survey revealed, as expected, that family and friends are trusted most, A HIGH LEVEL OF TRUST followed by colleagues, neighbours, social network contacts and strangers. FOR A BLABLACAR 8% When included as part of this trust 1% 1% 2% spectrum, a BlaBlaCar member with a full profile gets a consistently high MEMBER, WHERE AS 0 1 2 3 4 5 ranking, just behind friends, and well ahead of colleagues and neighbours. IT IS MORE BROADLY 80% Looking at the distribution of responses for two categories, namely a BlaBlaCar SPREAD ACROSS ALL Colleague member with a full profile and a colleague, the distribution of trust scores is skewed towards a high level TRUST LEVELS FOR of trust for a BlaBlaCar member, where 34% as it is more broadly spread across all A COLLEAGUE’’ trust levels for a colleague. 27% 24% 10% 2% 3%

0 1 2 3 4 5 Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

28 High Level of Trust 29

Percentage of respondents who ranked 4 or 5 out of 5 their level of trust in…

Family 94%

Friends 92%

Member with full profile on 88% 88% Colleague 58% of respondents give a high level of trust to Neighbour 42% a BlaBlaCar member with a complete profile Social media 16% contact When measuring specifically who This result gives a sense of the the need to meet in person before they trust highly3, a striking 88% magnitude of the social transformation engaging in high-stakes exchanges. of respondents say that they highly currently under way. Two ridesharers who have never met trust another BlaBlaCar member with end up trusting each other more than Study based on 18 289 respondents in 11 countries a full profile. This is close to the 92% When provided with the right set of colleagues who share the same office who highly trust their friends, and tools, users of online platforms are and meet every day. This holds true significantly higher than the 58% who able to recreate a sense of trust almost across all countries surveyed, revealing highly trust their colleagues. comparable to the level of trust in the universality of the phenomenon. friends, and robust enough to supersede

3. We compute the measure of a ”high level of trust” by summing up the percentage of respondents who graded their trust at a level of 4 or 5 on a response scale that ranges from 0 to 5 Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

5 30 To gain a deeper understanding of This is what is called the D.R.E.A.M.S. 51% of drivers giving a high importance 31 these results, the effect of BlaBlaCar’s effect, as trust is gained purely from the to ratings when choosing who to travel D.R.E.A.M.S. and Brand Effects brand was separated from that of information gathered through the trust with, as opposed to 73% of passengers. BlaBlaCar’s trust tools. tools that make up the framework. The difference is likely to reflect the fact that a passenger entrusts the Participants were asked to indicate A deeper analysis between different driver with the success and safety of Dissociating the impacts of the D.R.E.A.M.S. trust tools and the level of trust they would give trust levers and the extent to which a shared journey. The other main criteria the BlaBlaCar brand on creating high levels of trust ridesharers whose profiles included the BlaBlaCar members trust each other for choosing who to travel with include exact same information, but on another was conducted by building a series profile photos, speaking together on the generic platform. Interestingly, 67% of of models using logistic regression. phone prior to the ride and experience respondents highly trust ridesharers Even after controlling for a variety of levels, as well as comfort criteria such 88% with a full profile on a generic platform other variables, this analysis revealed as whether an individual is a smoker vs. 88% on BlaBlaCar. Although this that factors related to each of the and how many people will be in the Brand Effect +21% is lower than trust built through the six dimensions of the D.R.E.A.M.S. car. Comfort and civility go a long way branded platform, the trust level is framework are significantly correlated towards creating a trusted environment. 67% still higher than that associated with with higher levels of trust. colleagues or neighbours. Different peer-to-peer marketplaces D.R.E.A.M.S. Effect +17% Furthermore, the six pillars of use varying mechanisms of creating The Brand Effect: The difference in D.R.E.A.M.S. were increasingly correlated digital trust to foster online exchanges. 50% trust between the 67% on a generic with bilateral trust as the experience These mechanisms depend in part on Average trust platform and 88% on the BlaBlaCar level of a member on the platform the stakes involved in the exchanges. platform can be attributed to the brand. grew. These correlations were higher for favours a low-stakes and (Colleague, Neighbour) This difference shows that brands still members who had been on the platform low trust strategy, while eBay and Etsy play an important role, and remain for more than one year than for newer use ratings, but do limited moderation an essential and powerful trust proxy members. by themselves. At the other end of the in today’s economy. The broader and spectrum, platforms such as BlaBlaCar longer-term implication for platforms THIS INDICATES THAT MEMBERS MAY START and , who offer high-stakes offline is that whilst they are empowering OUT BY GARNERING THEIR TRUST FROM experiences, put a lot of thought and individuals to trust each other, they must A BRAND, BUT OVER TIME, BECOME MORE effort into creating the highest possible also create trust in their own ability to FAMILIAR WITH THE TRUST TOOLS AND SHIFT level of trust between their users, host and moderate interactions. THE BASIS FOR THEIR DECISIONS TO THE through ratings, moderation, verified IDs TRUST CAPITAL OF THE DRIVER/PASSENGER. and insurance. The D.R.E.A.M.S. Effect: When the effect of the brand is stripped away, Looking more specifically at which levers But does activity on a high-trust Person with Member with what remains reflects the efficiency create trust, ratings remain a critical collaborative platform like BlaBlaCar full profile on full profile on of platform trust tools. Compared to criterion affecting both drivers’ and encourage members to use other GENERIC PLATFORM an average level of trust4, 17% more passengers’ choice to travel with a peer. collaborative services? Chapter 4 members highly trust a ridesharer with However, a notable difference exists investigates the spread of trust further. a full profile on a generic platform. between drivers and passengers, with

4. Average level of trust, 50%, obtained by combining trust in a neighbour and in a colleague. 5. High importance is defined as respondents having responded with a value of 4 or 5 on a scale ranging from 0 to 5 Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

32 CHAPTER SPREADING 33 TRUST

‘‘RIDESHARING IS MAKING PEOPLE MORE PRONE TO TAKING PART IN OTHER COLLABORATIVE

SPREADING TRUST DISCUSSES THE SPILLOVER ACTIVITIES’’ EFFECT OF TRUST CREATED IN ONE COLLABORATIVE SPACE4 TO OTHER COLLABORATIVE SERVICES. Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

“ Together, collaborative 34 other forms of sharing economy activities trust built on one platform has positive 35 CHAPTER 4 by between 1.3x to 3.1x, relative to the spillovers for the entire collaborative platforms are creating the baseline or pre-BlaBlaCar levels of economy. participation. new digital trust ecosystem When analysing the results between the where trust built on one SPREADING TRUST The highest spillover multiples identified different age categories, the potential platform has positive are for sharing skills and peer-to-peer spillovers are systematically higher for If interpersonal trust can now one collaborative service could have and co-working platforms still remains house rental. Interestingly, these are millennials6. This is consistent with the spillovers for the entire spread beyond a restricted circle, positive spillovers on the usage of other relatively limited amongst the members the two of the categories which had more digitally-connected generation’s collaborative economy“ can familiarity with one peer-to- collaborative services. of BlaBlaCar’s community. the highest absolute levels of prior tendency to use collaborative platforms. peer marketplace create a positive participation, indicating the possibility However, the gap between millennials spillover to other platforms? BlaBlaCar members were asked about Members were then asked whether that such spillovers are bilateral, or and non-millennials is not as wide as the other collaborative services they had their participation in platform-based in both directions. In other words, one might have expected. The difference Close to half of BlaBlaCar members used prior to ridesharing. One quarter ridesharing had made them want to try familiarity built on other platforms may between their answers and those of (48%) declare that ridesharing has made of respondents declared that they were other types of collaborative services. have spilled over to BlaBlaCar, in the the rest of the sample only differ by them more open to others. The survey already active on peer-to-peer house Combining respondents who answered same way that ridesharing is making single digit percentage points. The TRUST explored whether this openness could rental platforms and sharing skills “yes, I started doing this since people more prone to taking part in consistency of the results across age result in ridesharers wanting to try other platforms, whilst 39% were active on ridesharing”, and “yes, I intend to do other collaborative activities. Together, groups reveals that the collaborative forms of sharing economy consumption, used-goods marketplaces. Activity on this”, the analysis reveals that potential collaborative platforms are creating trend is a social shift affecting and tested whether the familiarity with peer-to-peer car rental, spillovers can increase participation in the new digital trust ecosystem where a broad cross-section of society today.

I already did this prior to ridesharing Since Ridesharing

80% 80%

x1.3 x1.5 x1.9 x1.7 x1.3 13% 44% 17% 24% 39% 19% 11% 32% x1.5 25% 26% 26% Prior to ridesharing 14% Since ridesharing Non-millennials x2.0 x2.1 Non-millennials x2.5 x3.1 x1.8 x1.9 10% 10% 10% 10% 8% 10% 8% 10% 6% 5% 9% 11% Prior to ridesharing Since ridesharing Millennials Millennials Peer-to-peer Crowdfunding Co-working Peer-to-peer Sharing Buying and selling Peer-to-peer Crowdfunding Co-working Peer-to-peer Sharing Buying and selling car rental house rentals skills of used goods car rental house rentals skills of used goods

6. Millennials are respondents between the ages of 18 years and 35 years in 2015. Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

36 “Close to half 37 of BlaBlaCar members declare that ridesharing has made them more open to others“ Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

38 39 Internet connectivity has removed many of the obstacles, such as time and distance, that have historically hindered human collaboration. However, CONCLUSION a connection without trust has natural limitations. The development of digital trust tools over the last ten years is radically repainting this picture, liberating human beings from the shackles of scarce interpersonal trust. Connected peers, empowered by their trust capital, are now part of a global trust grid offering boundless opportunity for collaboration.

This research conducted jointly by BlaBlaCar and NYU Stern shows that online platforms are enabling users to recreate a sense of trust robust enough to supersede the need to meet in person before engaging in high-stakes exchanges. 88% of respondents highly trust a BlaBlaCar member with a full profile - a level of trust that is strikingly close to the 92% who highly trust their friends.

The power of this behavioural shift is manifest in its occurrence across countries “WE ARE AT THE and across age groups. In less than a decade, century-old social constructs have been superseded. Organisations are being disintermediated by connected peers, ownership is being replaced by shared usage, and even our ancestral apprehension DAWN OF AN INCREDIBLY of strangers is changing. As we reinforce our faith in each other through successful economic and social interactions with online peers, we grow the overall level of trust in society. When human beings trust each other more, a virtuous cycle of collaboration is set in PROMISING ERA. motion. The possibilities become endless. TOGETHER, WE ARE We are at the dawn of an incredibly promising era. Together, we’re entering the Trust Age. ENTERING THE TRUST AGE.“ Entering the Trust Age Entering the Trust Age

Professor and Rosen Faculty Fellow at New York University’s Stern School 40 Arun Sundararajan 41 of Business, and author of the forthcoming book The Sharing Economy. ABOUT THE He has published over 50 scientific papers, won numerous Best Paper awards, and advises government around the world about digital policy. His op-eds AUTHORS have appeared in , the Financial Times, the Guardian and Le Monde. Tweet him @digitalarun

Frédéric Mazzella Founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar, the world’s leading ridesharing community. Prior to founding BlaBlaCar, Frédéric worked at NASA (USA) and NTT (Japan). He holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters in Computer Science from Stanford and a Masters in Physics from Ecole Normale Supérieure. Tweet him @mazaic No part of this publication, either text or image, may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission, except to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law.

Graphic design: Natalia Kalaska Photo credits: Amy Mary Phillips, Victor Torres

Printed in France | 2016