UNDERSTANDING CONSUMERS PROPENSITY TO SHARE PRODUCTS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1003336
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2014
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2016
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
888 N EUCLID AVE
TUCSON,AZ 85719-4824

Performing Department
Family & Consumer Sciences

Non Technical Summary
This study investigates what can be done to encourage consumers toshareproducts. In particular, we want to find out what productsconsumers currentlyshare among each other (e.g., in neighborhoods) and for what reasons they share these products but not others. Then, we seek to identify the specificfacilitators and barriers in the sharing of products as perceived by consumers and address how consumers can be motivated to share products and, in particular,howsharing can be digitally facilitated by apps and online platforms. The overall goal of this study is to find pathways of using sharing of products to decrease overconsumption which generally has negative effects on individual consumer wellbeing (e.g., overspending) and the natural environment (overuse of natural resources).

Animal Health Component

30%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

70%

Applied

30%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
604	6099	3100	100%

Knowledge Area
604 - Marketing and Distribution Practices;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3100 - Management;

Keywords

product sharing

consumer behavior

overconsumption

sustainable consumption

sharing platforms

Goals / Objectives
Major objectives of this project areto 1) develop an understanding of consumer practices in sharing products and other collaborative consumption experiences; 2) identify barriers to and facilitators of sharing products; 3) design and conduct empirical studies; and 4) derive managerial implications focused at enabling sharing of products among consumers.

Project Methods
First, we conducta series of in-depth interviews of consumers (qualitative research component). The interviews serve to identify possiblereasons for or against sharing of products. Second, wewill conduct an onlineconsumer survey. Responses are to be collected from adult respondents involved in household purchases accessed via a national online panel provider (ensuring demographic representativeness). Based on this quantitative study, we willquantify the level to which the reasons identified in the prior steps are utilized by a representative sample of the population of consumers in deciding to participate in sharing or to reject participation.

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems:The project was terminated prematurely because no funding could be attained to cover expenses for data collection (interviews and survey study). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project was concluded after conducting the literature review and development of the interview guideline because no funding for the collection of data could be secured via grants. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project was concluded after conducting the literature review and development of the interview guideline because no funding for the collection of data could be secured via grants. Academic lectures on the sharing economy/collaborative consumption for undergraduate and graduate students were held at the University of Duesseldorf, Germany; Wuppertal University, Germany. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Impact Statement: Economic and environmental resources are limited. Consumers increasingly engage in pro-environmental, more sustainable, or simply more "ethical" forms of consumption that serve to be more frugal with regard to resource consumption. A rather novel form of consumption is discussed under the label of "collaborative consumption" which refers to economic and social systems that enable shared access to goods, services, data and talent. This means that consumers no longer buy and own material goods but prefer to have access to these goods and prefer to pay for the experience of temporarily using them (e.g., by renting them or sharing them with others). Such development not only affects consumers and their interaction with products, rather, it enables the development of entirely new business models that focus on the provision of value-in-use of products, create social equity, and may reduce environmental resource strain. What has been done? Developing a better understanding of the sharing of products among consumers was the starting point for this research project that investigated what can be done to encourage pro-social sharing of tangible products. A comprehensive literature review was conducted that covered the following questions: 1. What products do consumers share for what reasons? 2. What are facilitators and barriers in the sharing of products as perceived by consumers? 3. How can consumers be motivated to share tangible products (and how can sharing be digitally facilitated)? Based on the literature review, a guideline for conducting in-depth interviews with consumers was developed and pretested. Additionally, opportunities for funding were monitored. Unfortunately, no grants could be identified/secured to cover the cost of large scale data collection so the project was terminated/is on hold until grant funding can be secured. The major objectives of this projects that have been accomplished are: 1. Develop an understanding of consumer practices in sharing products and other collaborative consumption experiences - this has been achieved by conducting a comprehensive literature and media review. 2. Identify barriers to and facilitators of sharing products - this was also part of the literature and media review completed. 3. Design of empirical studies - this goal was partially accomplished in that an interview guideline for conducting in-depth consumer interviews was developed and pretested.

Publications

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A literature review has been conducted on sharing, sharing economy, collaborative consumption. Initial plans for a consumer survey have been made (development of survey). The work on the project has been halted.

Publications