Achieving loyalty for sharing economy platforms: an expectation–confirmation perspective

Abstract

PurposeThis study explores how sharing platforms achieve platform loyalty through various operation management strategies.Design/methodology/approachA multiple case study method has been conducted in two Chinese sharing economy industries: ride- and bike-sharing. Data were collected through 30 semi-structured interviews with managers from four platform companies (DiDi, Uber China, ofo and Mobike). Individual case studies were developed from the triangulation of all existing data. Concurrent with the development of these individual case studies was a cross-case analysis. Emerging patterns have been identified and compared to previous findings in the literature to build upon and modify the existing knowledge base and to formulate a series of propositions.FindingsPlatform asset characteristics and mergers and acquisitions affect supply network readiness and operational capacity, respectively, and this effect would consequently contribute to achieving platform loyalty through user satisfaction. Moreover, externality, as a moderator, may influence the strength of the relationship between satisfaction and platform loyalty.Practical implicationsThe proposed theoretical model provides an overarching framework for sharing platform companies to design and operate their businesses while carefully examining the situations, contexts and actions of users and other stakeholders and choosing an appropriate strategic mechanism to drive platform growth.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to empirically explain how firms in a sharing economy sector could gain platform loyalty by adopting an expectation–confirmation theory perspective.

Understanding passengers’ satisfaction and loyalty towards ridesharing services

“…The customer loyalty concept is an essential element of the success of ridesharing platform companies (Jia et al, 2020).…”

“…The customer loyalty concept is an essential element of the success of ridesharing platform companies (Jia et al., 2020). It is especially relevant to this platform, which makes its products and/or services indispensable and valuable to its users (Laczko et al., 2019).…”

Value configurations in sharing economy business models

“…Customers focus on distinct access rights for using goods and services for the limited time span when their utilization rather than acquiring ownership or long-term property rights are needed (Bardhi and Eckhardt 2012 ; Belk 2014 ; Hartl et al 2016 ). Ownership can especially be replaced by permanent access when customers are loyal to the sharing provider (Akhmedova and Marimon 2020 ; Jia et al 2020 ). This trend also impacts B2B relations as technical improvements allow to ‘share’ production capacities and thus to integrate production capacities into sharing systems (Belk 2014 ; Brettel et al 2014 ; Lee et al 2015 ).…”

Sharing Economy as a New Form of Consumer Cooperation in the Digital Age

“…The sharing economy as a special form of consumer cooperation is considered in many works (Akopova et al 2020;Alpidovskaya et al 2019;Bogoviz et al 2019a, b;Cheng 2020). Many prominent scholars study digitalization as a socio-economic environment conducive to the development of sharing (Dangi and Narula 2020;Huang and Kuo 2020;Jia et al 2020;Khan et al 2020;Maalouf et al 2020;Matharu et al 2020;Popkova and Haabazoka 2019;Popkova and Sergi 2020;Wang et al 2020).…”