Construal level and collaborative consumption: An exploratory approach

Abstract

What motivates the participation in collaborative consumption, a part of the economy that will move 300 billion dollars by 2025? The literature presents external factors to the consumer as a form of incentive or limitation, such as economic opportunity, search for a sustainable society or emergence of a marketplace with no regulations. A few quantitative articles focused on understanding this access phenomenon, by analyzing the consumer as the main subject of research.However, it is possible to analyze this behaviour in the light of a theory that has not yet being explored within the collaborative consumer literature: The Construal Level Theory (CLT). This article aims to demonstrate that CLT presents a plausible explanation for adoption and access to collaborative consumption. The CLT's main idea is that consumers develop their interpretations on two levels: a higher one, focused on more abstract and simple situations; and a lower one, where judgments are conducted more concretely and complexly. Studies on CLT have shown that attitudes are usually constructed at high levels of interpretation, while behaviour is interpreted within lower levels. We propose that collaborative consumption can be reflected by consumers' high or low levels and so defining the consumer's behaviour in this context. K E Y W O R D S behaviour, construal level theory, dimensions, sharing economy

I do not own a car any more: An analysis of possessions’ disposal and changes in consumers’ identities

“…The re‐signification of relevant concepts, such as freedom, comfort, security and status reported by respondents is congruent with Sordi et al's () construal level theory, in which they classified six dimensions: Sustainable consumption, risks, social identity, confidence, cost savings and utility. The respondents in our study started to see freedom as the ability to move about the city without being responsible for any asset, for example, a car.…”

“…To our knowledge, no study to date has specifically addressed the perceptions of consumers after disposing of special possessions, such as cars (Price et al, ; Richins, ); in addition, the decision‐making process involved in disposing of a product deserves further research (Cruz‐Cárdenas & Arévalo‐Chávez, ). Few studies have analysed the influence of context on the disposal decision (Cruz‐Cárdenas & Arévalo‐Chávez, ; DeBell & Dardis, ; Hanson, ), which is particularly relevant if we consider the contemporary scenario in which consumption behaviours are changing because of perceptions of sharing economy benefits (Hamari et al, ; Sordi et al, ). Considering that possessions can also be related to the self (Belk, ), it is relevant to include in the disposal of possessions a discussion about identity.…”

“…Both Tatiana and Leila decided to sell their cars and adopt alternative means of transportation, changing their attitudes and behaviours of consumption, including those related to the basic needs of everyday life, such as urban displacement (Avital et al, ; Hamari, Sjöklint, & Ukkonen, ; Laamanen, Wahlen, & Campana, ; Owyang, Tran, & Silva, ). Their examples can be discussed with reference to collaborative consumption, which is expected to account for USD 300 billion of the economy by 2025 (Sordi, Perin, de Petrini, & Sampaio, ). In this type of consumption, consumers start to question the value of acquiring and accumulating goods, and the importance of these goods for their happiness and well‐being (Rifkin, ).…”

Introducing a three‐tier sustainability framework to examine bike‐sharing system use: An extension of the technology acceptance model

“…The first wave of empirical studies on the sharing economy primarily focused on different motives that influence the intentions to participate in the sharing economy, such as economic benefits, enjoyment (Hamari et al, ), community belonging and trust (Möhlmann, ). This was followed by diverse approaches and settings (e.g., Park & Armstrong, ; Sordi, Perin, Petrini, & Sampaio, ), with sustainability gaining traction (Chen, , ), probably because reduced or alternative modes of consumption, such as the sharing economy, can lead to positive sustainable outcomes (Scott et al, ). Stemming from this perspective, we tried to disentangle the various ways sustainability can be incorporated into the antecedents of bike‐sharing system users’ loyalty.…”

Why buy new when one can share? Exploring collaborative consumption motivations for consumer goods

“…Another key determinant can be found in consumer concern for sustainable consumption (Botsman & Rogers, 2010;Hamari et al, 2016;Möhlmann, 2015;Sordi, Perin, Petrini, & Sampaio, 2018).…”