Segmentation of collaborative consumption consumers: Social identity theory perspective

Abstract

The aim of this study is to show how consumers' pursuit of social identity drives collaborative consumption. A survey conducted among active participants in various forms of collaborative consumption found four types of users with clearly distinguishable characteristics: Social Followers, Distrustful Prosumers, Doubtful Laggards and Traditional Spenders. We use social identity theory to explain why those users who engage in collaborative consumption because of sociability and seeking excitement are also highly environmentally conscious (Social Followers), while very frugal users show the least trust towards what collaborative consumption has to offer (Distrustful Prosumers). We observe favourable social identity for collaborative consumption in the Social Followers segment and unfavourable social identity in the Doubtful Laggards segment. Our findings suggest that social identity plays an important role in forming consumers’ intentions to participate in collaborative consumption. At the general level of collaborative consumption, our study confirms previous findings that social values outweigh environmental and economic values. However, this study contributes to the discussion and closes the research gap by explaining that each component may predominate depending on the type of collaborative consumption user.