Tensions Behind the Trade: How Divergent Service Preferences Shape Peer‐To‐Peer Sharing Choices

The landscape of ‘sharing’ services encompasses services ranging from access‐based services (car sharing) to peer‐to‐peer sharing platforms (Couchsurfing). These services differ in the levels of exchange and altruism, creating conflicting consumer motivations. Prior research has investigated this tension, but not how it affects service preferences and choices. This study investigates service preference tensions in peer‐to‐peer sharing services. Using a mixed‐methods design, we i dentify five service preference tensions through user interviews (shared cars, tools, clothes) and test how these tensions manifest in consumption choices by linking them to concrete service attributes in a conjoint experiment ( n = 487). Our findings consistently point to consumers resolving the tensions pragmatically: most consumers neither seek purely altruistic sharing nor clear market exchange, but instead optimize price, convenience, and low social friction. We discuss the implications for designing more sustainable P2P sharing business models and for advancing research on sharing economy (SE) consumption.