Collaborative economy: the factors influencing providers' trust in collaborative economy platforms.

Abstract

With the rise of online platforms, and especially since the coronavirus crisis, the collaborative economy is becoming more and more present in many people’s lives and might continue on this path in the years to come. This form of economy requires thus more attention and investigation to experience it in the best way. Since the transactions take place between two strangers who meet through an interface, sharing platforms require a high level of confidence. However, even though the general topic of collaborative economy has already been widely investigated, the antecedents of trust and its effects on participation remain to be developed further. Therefore, the present paper focuses on the aspect of trust, which is at the heart of any relationship between the users and the firm. Based on various past studies, this paper established a framework to explain the factors influencing providers' trust in a collaborative economy platform, and its influence on their participation. The hypotheses developed were assessed by the means of an online questionnaire with 183 participants. The findings suggest that a good reputation and the perceived security and privacy of a platform enhances providers’ trust in it. However, the familiarity, the past experience and the quality of the platform do not account for any variation of trust. The results also support the idea that trust is a powerful driver that pushes providers to participate in a collaborative economy platform. Based on the insights, this paper provides theoretical and managerial implications as well as suggestions for future research.