An Experimental Vignette Study on the Attractiveness of Ownership-Based Carsharing Communities: A Social Capital Theory Perspective

Although the sharing economy is rapidly growing, it is still in its infancy. One of the key challenges is successfully expanding the number of users joining the sharing economy. Our research empirically assesses which organizational form is most successful in attracting new consumers to the sharing organizations that are co-owned by their users. The structure and scope of these sharing communities may differ substantially: while closed sharing communities are neighborhood based, open sharing communities establish broad communities without geographical boundaries. Building on social capital theory, we find that open sharing communities are more attractive than closed sharing communities because they foster trust and alleviate perceived scarcity risk. Yet, important boundary conditions exist. While a social and environmental orientation increases the likelihood to join open sharing communities, this is not the case for closed sharing organizations. These results highlight the value of examining distinct organizational forms of sharing organizations.