Do Russian consumers understand and accept the sharing economy as a new digital business model?

Abstract

Increasing studies on sharing economy address a fast growing and spreading across the world phenomenon. Massive distribution of sharing economy applications contributes to co-evolution of consumer perceptions of the advantages, risks and opportunities of collaborative consumption. Future dynamics and transformation of sharing economy depends on both supply and demand sides of its diffusion as a digital business model. By diversifying the same concept (e.g. UBER) across the countries and contexts providers adapt to business environment, including existing regulation, protective measures, consumer perceptions and expectations. The current study is based on a large-scale survey of Russian consumers, evaluating their experience and expectations in the area of sharing economy in a context of an emerging market. As emerging markets face numerous market inefficiencies, they might be the most active and willing adepts of sharing economy practices. This adoption however is determined by the readiness and ability of both businesses and consumers in emerging market to deploy the full potential of collaborative consumption. Moreover, other determinants might be the differences in sharing economy consumer behavior, expectations and norms in emerging markets.