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Reputation Effects in Socially Driven Sharing Economy Transactions

Author

Listed:
  • Maarten Ter Huurne

    (Research Group Crossmedia Communication in the Public Domain, University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Utrecht 3584 CS, The Netherlands)

  • Amber Ronteltap

    (Research Group Crossmedia Communication in the Public Domain, University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Utrecht 3584 CS, The Netherlands)

  • Chenhui Guo

    (Department of Accounting and Information Systems, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA)

  • Rense Corten

    (Department of Sociology/ICS, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3584 CH, The Netherlands)

  • Vincent Buskens

    (Department of Sociology/ICS, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3584 CH, The Netherlands)

Abstract
Reputation has often been proposed as the central mechanism that creates trust in the sharing economy. However, some sharing platforms that focus primarily on social rather than economically driven exchanges have managed to facilitate exchanges between users without the use of a reputation system. This could indicate that socially driven exchanges are in less need of reputation systems and that having sufficient trust is less problematic. We examine the effect of seller reputation on sales and price as proxies for trust, using a large dataset from a Dutch meal-sharing platform. This platform aims to stimulate social interactions between people via meal sharing. Multilevel regression analyses were used to test the association of reputation with trust. Our main empirical results are that reputation affects both sales and price positively, consistent with the existing reputation literature. We also found evidence of the presence of an information effect, i.e., the influence of reputation on sharing decreases when additional profile information is provided (e.g., a profile photo, a product description). Our results thus confirm the effectiveness of reputation in more socially driven exchanges also. Consequently, platform owners are advised to use reputation on their platform to increase sharing between its users.

Suggested Citation

  • Maarten Ter Huurne & Amber Ronteltap & Chenhui Guo & Rense Corten & Vincent Buskens, 2018. "Reputation Effects in Socially Driven Sharing Economy Transactions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:8:p:2674-:d:160875
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Esther J. Veen, 2019. "Fostering Community Values through Meal Sharing with Strangers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-14, April.
    2. José Alberto Martínez-González & Eduardo Parra-López & Almudena Barrientos-Báez, 2021. "Young Consumers’ Intention to Participate in the Sharing Economy: An Integrated Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Elfriede Penz & Barbara Hartl & Eva Hofmann, 2018. "Collectively Building a Sustainable Sharing Economy Based on Trust and Regulation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-6, October.
    4. Shiikha, Yulia & Ledingham, Rebekah & Playford, Denese, 2023. "The ties that bind: Social network analysis describes the social element of medical workforce recruitment to rural/remote Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    5. Puiu Andreea-Ionela, 2020. "Motivations of Young Consumers to Participate to Collaborative Consumption," Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 9(2), pages 43-55, December.
    6. Tom Erik Julsrud & Tanu Priya Uteng, 2021. "Trust and Sharing in Online Environments: A Comparative Study of Different Groups of Norwegian Car Sharers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-14, April.
    7. Davlembayeva, Dinara & Papagiannidis, Savvas & Alamanos, Eleftherios, 2020. "Sharing economy: Studying the social and psychological factors and the outcomes of social exchange," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    8. Kas, Judith, 2022. "The effect of online reputation systems on intergroup inequality," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    9. Rayenda K. Brahmana & Hui‐Wei You & Evan Lau, 2022. "Does reputation matter for firm risk in developing country?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 2110-2123, April.
    10. Kas, Judith, 2022. "The effect of online reputation systems on intergroup inequality," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 96, pages 1-1.
    11. Rense Corten & Judith Kas & Timm Teubner & Martijn Arets, 2023. "The role of contextual and contentual signals for online trust: Evidence from a crowd work experiment," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-17, December.
    12. Meijian Yang & Enjun Xia, 2021. "A Systematic Literature Review on Pricing Strategies in the Sharing Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-28, August.
    13. Kas, Judith & Delnoij, Joyce & Corten, Rense & Parigi, Paolo, 2022. "Trust spillovers in the sharing economy: Does international Airbnb experience foster cross‐national trust?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 21(3), pages 509-522.

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