Is the collaborative consumption the new buying? Social and economic aspects influencing collaborative consumption

Collaborative consumption is becoming a phenomenon of great interest for both scholars, marketers and public institutions. The spread of peer-to-peer sharing platforms allows consumers to acquire products and services in alternative ways. This aspect is redesigning a number of sectors, such as the transport and accommodation marketplaces with the spread of new business models that provide consumers with both economic (financial) and social (socialization, sustainable consumption) benefits. Albeit in presence of an extensive emerging literature on the collaborative consumption phenomenon, the effect of social and economic benefits on the usage of collaborative products and services is lacking. Thus, using a Structural Equation Model, tested on 385 Italian collaborative users, this study aims at identifying antecedents of sharing intention (sustainable consumption and consumers’ innovativeness) and of the intention to use Blablacar (social and economic benefits). Furthermore, the direct relationship between the two intentions is examined. Implications are discussed.