APPEARANCE OF CONSCIOUS CONSUMERS IN SHARING ECONOMY
APPEARANCE OF CONSCIOUS CONSUMERS IN SHARING ECONOMY

Summary/Abstract: Sharing economy is a relatively new business model and it is continuously extending dynamically due to the rapid development of digital technology, importance of sustainable development and change of customer behavior. Sharing economy can also build trust among individuals which is a really important factor in Hungary, because there is a lack of trust among people due to the historical background. Previous studies mainly focus on definitions, conditions of successful operations, regulation issues but less on customer behavior. The objectives of this article are to identify and specify the main features and economic, social and environmental forces of sharing economy and present the main motivation factors and general customers’ attitudes of sharing economy’s users based on two researches in Hungary. As motivation incentives, prompt and flexible service, trust and personal interaction, as well as ease of use are listed by sharing economy consumers, besides certain economic benefits. Online qualitative survey in Hungary has revealed that people participating in the sharing economy have much greater consumer awareness, are much better promoters of sustainability and show increased level of trust when dealing with unknown partners compared to their peer consumers who are not new to online shopping, yet have never used sharing-based community services.

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