dissertation research
"AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIMENSIONALITY OF THE COLLABORATIVE ECONOMY
FROM A SERVICE-DOMINANT LOGIC PERSPECTIVE"
FROM A SERVICE-DOMINANT LOGIC PERSPECTIVE"
The overall purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to a better understanding of the collaborative economy (CE). The CE involves direct or mediated peer-to-peer (p2p) resource exchanges, which can occur with or without compensation, and allows for ownership transfers as well as access to goods, services, and experiences. Regarding the CE, this dissertation has two primary objectives. The first is to develop a conceptual typology for collaborative exchanges with the second being to investigate factors associated with the use and evaluation of one broad marketplace within the CE.
This dissertation represents an initial attempt to systematically and theoretically explore various elements of the CE. First, this research is grounded in Service-Dominant Logic, which acts as an overarching framework as it helps to explicate the nature of mutually beneficial resource exchange by multiple actors within socially constructed and contextually relevant service networks that are governed by social and cultural norms called “institutions”. Next, an in-depth literature review informs the dimensionality of the collaborative economy in order to provide a means for classifying, describing, and evaluating the CE across three key dimensions. Next, a conceptual model of consumer motivations for participation in one key area of the CE, that being collaborative consumption (CC), will be developed and tested. CC includes p2p service provision or resource exchange, for a fee or some compensation, coordinated by a third party or mediator. One well-known example in this domain, Airbnb, connects consumers looking for lodging with individuals who have accommodations available.
As much of this research is exploratory in nature, we follow convention in utilizing a mixed-methods approach, first utilizing qualitative research including open-ended qualitative CIT surveys and semi-structured depth interviews, followed by quantitative survey analysis. Results of this dissertation suggest that there are both social and functional drivers of behavioral intentions relative to CC exchanges. As this new or (re)institutionalized economic model challenges our current understanding of service provision, its continual expansion has significant implications for the future of service delivery.
This dissertation represents an initial attempt to systematically and theoretically explore various elements of the CE. First, this research is grounded in Service-Dominant Logic, which acts as an overarching framework as it helps to explicate the nature of mutually beneficial resource exchange by multiple actors within socially constructed and contextually relevant service networks that are governed by social and cultural norms called “institutions”. Next, an in-depth literature review informs the dimensionality of the collaborative economy in order to provide a means for classifying, describing, and evaluating the CE across three key dimensions. Next, a conceptual model of consumer motivations for participation in one key area of the CE, that being collaborative consumption (CC), will be developed and tested. CC includes p2p service provision or resource exchange, for a fee or some compensation, coordinated by a third party or mediator. One well-known example in this domain, Airbnb, connects consumers looking for lodging with individuals who have accommodations available.
As much of this research is exploratory in nature, we follow convention in utilizing a mixed-methods approach, first utilizing qualitative research including open-ended qualitative CIT surveys and semi-structured depth interviews, followed by quantitative survey analysis. Results of this dissertation suggest that there are both social and functional drivers of behavioral intentions relative to CC exchanges. As this new or (re)institutionalized economic model challenges our current understanding of service provision, its continual expansion has significant implications for the future of service delivery.
Objective OneThe first objective of this research was to delineate the CE domain and develop a typology for the p2p exchanges that occur within it in order to gain a better understanding of what constitutes CE, and specifically what areas are important for business. To accomplish this goal:
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OBJECTIVE TwoThe overall objective of this chapter is to explore the CE marketplace most relevant for a business context - Collaborative Consumption (CC). Specifically, this objective was met by conducting two qualitative studies designed to contribute to our understanding of factors likely to drive consumers’ participation in CC.
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OBJECTIVE ThreeThe final objective is to develop and empirically test a model of the drivers of CC for consumers. This study utilized a survey-based design piloted with students, followed by a data collection utilizing Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk).
This research also focuses on the often triadic, and more so networked, nature of the CE, which is particularly interesting from an S-D logic perspective. The traditional view of “companies” providing value to “consumers” as a one-way exchange rather than as a mutually beneficial dialogue is clearly being disrupted. Furthermore, our understanding of “employees” is also being challenged with a greater emphasis being placed on the role of numerous actors engaging in mutually beneficial (i.e., service-for-service) exchange. Managerial and theoretical implications are provided. |