Providers Versus Platforms: Marketing Communications in the Sharing Economy

Abstract

Peer-to-peer (P2P) business models have become increasingly prevalent in the marketplace. However, little is known about what factors influence consumer perceptions of purchases from firms using these models. The authors propose that features inherent to the P2P model lead consumers to perceive high provider–firm independence, where providers are viewed as relatively independent from the platform on which they offer goods/services. Across a series of studies, the authors show that when P2P brands use provider-focused (vs. platform-focused) marketing communications, consumers perceive a purchase as helping an individual provider to a greater extent, which increases consumers’ willingness to pay and their likelihood of both making a purchase and downloading the brand’s app. This is because provider-focused marketing communications in this context lead consumers to think about their purchase from the provider’s perspective, thus adopting an “empathy lens.” The authors further show that this effect does not extend to other business models. This work thus identifies provider- (vs. platform-) focused marketing communications as a way for marketing managers of P2P brands to drive important purchase-related outcomes.

Reality Check: Infusing Ecological Value into Academic Marketing Research

“…For example, Bhagwat et al’s (2020) observations of corporate social activism by brands and marketers’ worries about the financial implications of such actions led them to study this concern as a research question. Similarly, Costello and Reczek (2020) observed that some sharing platforms focused on their providers while others referred to their own platforms in their marketing communications. This observation led to an investigation into the effectiveness of these different approaches and underlying mechanisms.…”

The Role of Gender in Pay-What-You-Want Contexts

“…Although in most buying situations buyers focus on economic motives (e.g., paying a low price), specific business models and transaction types exist that uniquely activate both economic and social payment motives. For example, recent research on peer-to-peer (P2P) businesses shows that provider-focused (vs. platform-focused) marketing communications lead consumers to think about their purchases from the provider’s (vs. platform’s) perspective, which increases their willingness to pay (Costello and Reczek 2020). Similarly, we posit that in PWYW transactions, buyers may be socially motivated and consider what is appropriate to the seller in determining what to pay.…”

Marketing Communication of Multinational Retail Chain during Global Pandemic in the Online Environment

“…With effect from 16 March 2020 from 6.00 am, all retail shops and all retail establishments providing services were closed for a period of 14 days, except forshops offering food, meat, bread and pastry, fruit and vegetables, newspapers and also pharmacies, drugstores, feed stores for animals and operations of online shops [9].However, SHS Web of Conferences 9 2, 010 (2021) Globalization and its Socio-Economic Consequences 2020 this situation eventually lasted much longer, the first wave of looseningthe restrictions did not come until April 22, 2020.For this time, the Public Health Authority in Slovakia proposed measures in commercial operations that persist even after the emergency: customers can only enter stores with their nose and mouth covered; they are obliged to use hand sanitizer or disposable gloves; one customer per 10 square meters is recommended, with 2 meter intervals between customers; the trader should ensure frequent ventilation of the premises and regular disinfection of the contact surfaces [10,11,12].…”