The Importance of Environmental Sustainability in the Decision to Participate in the Sharing Economy

The Importance of Environmental Sustainability in the Decision to Participate in the Sharing Economy Authors: Florine Marechal Julie Roszak Supervisor: Karl-Johan Bonnedahl Student Umeå School of Business and Economics Spring semester 2017 Master thesis, one-year, 15 hp ii Abstract Global warming, increasing greenhouse gases emissions, global pollution, exhaustion of natural resources… Those are all consequences of human activities on the environment. Today's world is facing major environmental challenges and sustainability has become a burning topic during the last decades. In our consumption-focused society, the concept of the sharing economy has emerged as an alternative to existing consumption patterns. Advocating the "use rather than own" principle, this concept has a true potential in terms of changing the way we consume and produce to lead to more sustainable behaviors. Current literature has investigated the motivations influencing the decision to participate in the sharing economy. Three main motivations have been highlighted: economic, social and environmental. Indeed, the sharing economy offers the possibility to save or make money, strengthen social ties and reduce one's ecological impact. Even though the environmental aspect plays a part in the decision-making process, it is unclear whether it is a determining factor or only a secondary concern. Thus, our study aims at developing an in-depth understanding of the motivations that drive people's participation in the sharing economy and the role of environmental sustainability. To fulfill that purpose, we have formulated the following research question: How important is environmental sustainability among the motivations to participate in the peer-to-peer sharing economy? To answer our research question, we conducted a qualitative study. We interviewed six French users of the collaborative carpooling platform Blablacar. Questions about the sharing economy in general and use of this specific platform were asked. These interviews allowed us to understand users' perceptions and attitudes towards the sharing economy and to make the connection with the environmental motivation. Our findings reveal that the environmental motivation exists and is part of the decision- making process. We could note a behavior change as the willingness to use collaborative platforms in the future is increasing. At the same time, a growing environmental consciousness has been expressed. However, the economic motivation still strongly prevails over the environmental and social motivations to engage in sharing activities. This observation leads us to conclude about the uncertain future of the sharing economy as a more sustainable consumption pattern. Keywords: sharing economy, sustainability, motivations, collaborative platforms, carpooling, environmental challenges iii iv Acknowledgments We would like to begin by thanking our thesis supervisor, Karl-Johan Bonnedahl, for guiding us throughout this thesis work and providing us with constructive criticism. His advice and commitment have encouraged us to constantly improve our work and pushed us to do our best. We would also like to thank the participants in our study for their time and cooperation. Without them, this thesis work would not have been possible. Finally, we would like to thank our family and friends for their support and their valuable advice. Umeå May 22, 2017 Florine Marechal & Julie Roszak v vi Table of Contents 1 Introductory Chapter...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Subject Choice ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Problem Background and Research Gaps .............................................................. 2 1.3 Research Question .................................................................................................. 4 1.4 Research Purpose .................................................................................................... 4 2 Theoretical Framework.................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Sustainability .......................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 What is Sustainability? .................................................................................... 5 2.1.2 Sustainability, a Long-Term Concern ............................................................. 6 2.2 The Sharing Economy ............................................................................................ 7 2.2.1 The Notion of Sharing ..................................................................................... 7 2.2.2 An Ambiguous Definition ............................................................................... 8 2.2.3 A Recent but Fast-Growing Concept .............................................................. 9 2.2.4 Business Models and Classifications within the Sharing Economy .............. 11 2.3 Motivation theories ............................................................................................... 13 2.3.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ....................................................................... 13 2.3.2 Theory of Planned Behavior .......................................................................... 14 2.3.3 Self-Determination Theory ............................................................................ 14 2.3.4 Herzberg’s Dual Factor Theory ..................................................................... 15 2.3.5 Summary of the Motivation Theories ............................................................ 16 2.4 Research Connecting Sustainability and the Sharing Economy ........................... 16 2.4.1 The Sharing Economy, a Path to Sustainability ............................................ 16 2.4.2 Limits of the Sharing Economy regarding the Environment ......................... 17 2.5 Research on Users’ Motivations ........................................................................... 18 2.5.1 Economic, Social and Environmental Factors ............................................... 18 2.5.2 Relative Importance of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivators ........................... 19 3 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 21 3.1 Scientific Method ................................................................................................. 21 3.1.1 Ontology ........................................................................................................ 21 3.1.2 Epistemology ................................................................................................. 21 3.1.3 Research Approach ........................................................................................ 22 3.1.4 Research Design ............................................................................................ 22 3.1.5 Literature Search............................................................................................ 23 3.2 Practical Method ................................................................................................... 24 3.2.1 Qualitative Data Collection ........................................................................... 24 3.2.2 Illustrative Example Selection ....................................................................... 25 vii 3.2.3 Qualitative Sample Selection......................................................................... 26 3.2.4 Conducting the Interviews ............................................................................. 27 3.2.5 Transcribing ................................................................................................... 28 3.3 Qualitative Analysis ............................................................................................. 28 3.4 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................... 29 4 Qualitative Empirical Findings and Analysis .............................................................. 31 4.1 The Sharing Economy .......................................................................................... 31 4.1.1 Attitudes and Behaviors Towards Sharing Platforms.................................... 31 4.1.2 The Specific Example of Blablacar ............................................................... 33 4.2 Sustainability ........................................................................................................ 34 4.3 Motivations ........................................................................................................... 35 4.4 Thematic Analysis and Discussion ....................................................................... 37 4.4.1 Theme 1: Towards a Behavior Change ......................................................... 37 4.4.2 Theme 2: A Growing Environmental Awareness Towards More Sustainability ................................................................................................................................ 39 4.4.3 Theme 3: Prevalence of Extrinsic Motivations ............................................. 40 5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 42 5.1 General Conclusions ............................................................................................

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