“Sustainability is a nice bonus” the role of sustainability in carsharing from a consumer perspective

Hartl, Barbara; Sabitzer, Thomas; Hofmann, Eva; Penz, Elfriede

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.138

Cited by 88 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Given the increased public awareness of CO 2 emissions and their detrimental effect on climate change, it seems that not only value seeking and convenience benefits (Botsman and Rogers, 2010;Schaefers, 2013) but also environmental benefits represent important drivers of carsharing usage intention. This finding contradicts extant literature that states that ecological benefits are only a nice side effect of using carsharing services (Hartl et al, 2018). One possible explanation for the relevance of ecological benefits in the current study might be the reliance on a label communicating a specific benefit (fewer CO 2 emissions) of the carsharing service.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…More specifically, we postulate that the perception of ecological benefits is driving carsharing usage. While there is a growing interest in sustainable products and services (Atkinson and Rosenthal, 2014), environmental benefits have been identified as a nice add-on rather than a driver of carsharing usage (e.g., Lindloff et al, 2014;Hartl et al, 2018;Ramos et al, 2020). Our research offers new important insights into the role of perceived ecological perspective, even more dramatic figures are reported in the San Francisco Bay area for public transit: In November, the use of public transportation was 90% below the pre-pandemic level (Cohen, 2020a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Consumers' Intention to Use Shared-Mobility Services in German Cities

Garaus

2021

Front. Psychol.

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One sector that severely suffers from the outbreak of the coronavirus is carsharing (i.e., short-term car access). The downswing of the carsharing industry may not only experience negative economic consequences but also ecological ones. Carsharing has the potential to reduce emissions, occupied space, and congestion and hence can actively contribute to mitigating climate change. As Bill Gates strikingly states: “Covid-19 is awful. Climate change could be worse.” For this reason, it is important to understand which underlying mechanisms drive carsharing usage during the Covid-19 pandemic. The current research has the overall objective to provide deeper insights into the mediating mechanisms that explain carsharing usage intention during the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, we draw on signaling theory to explore how different claims (environmental claims, safety claims) that prompt two different opposing underlying processes (perceived ecological benefits, perceived physical risk) influence carsharing usage intention. An online experiment employing a 3 (environmental claim vs. safety claim vs. no claim) × 2 (high information diagnosticity vs. low information diagnosticity) between-subjects design with participants acquired by the online panel platform Clickworker was conducted in April 2020. Fictitious labels and fictitious advertisements served as stimulus material and constituted the five experimental conditions. The data were analyzed by a multicategorial moderated mediation analysis and a multivariate analysis of covariance. Results reveal that environmental claims can stimulate perceived ecological benefits, which, in turn, positively affect carsharing usage intention. Interestingly, our research demonstrates that safety claims cannot decrease perceived physical risk in the context of Covid-19 and carsharing. Nevertheless, perceived physical risk has a (marginal) negative influence on carsharing usage intention and hence should not be discarded altogether. The findings of this article offer new insights into the mental processes that guide consumer decision-making during the coronavirus crisis and also offer important policy implications by highlighting the relevance of environmental claims during the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the negative influence of perceived physical risk on carsharing usage intention points to the need for alternative measures to reduce users' risk perceptions.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Consumers' Intention to Use Shared-Mobility Services in German Cities

Garaus

2021

Front. Psychol.

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“…Previous research in the sharing economy has focused on users of sharing services. Their motives to use sharing services of products they do not own are well investigated (Hamari, Sjoklint, & Ukkonen, 2016; Hartl, Sabitzer, Hofmann, & Penz, 2018; Hawlitschek, Teubner, & Gimpel, 2016). A common finding is that economic and pragmatic rather than environmental and idealistic considerations dominate the decision to consume sharing services.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Take me on a ride: The role of environmentalist identity for carpooling

Hartl

Kamleitner

Holub

2020

Psychology and Marketing

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Sharing does not need to involve corporate providers but can also happen on a peerto-peer (P2P) basis. P2P sharing platforms who match private providers and users are thus dealing with two different customer segments. An example of this is carpooling, the sharing of a car journey. Recent years have seen considerable research on why people use sharing services. In contrast, there is little knowledge of why people may offer a good for sharing purposes. Drawing on identity theory, this paper suggests that users and providers of carpooling need to be addressed differently. A pilot study and two studies, including both actual car owners and nonowners confirm that the extent to which one identifies as an environmentalist predicts car owners' willingness to offer carpooling, but does not affect nonowners' willingness to use carpooling services.These findings remain robust when controlling for various potential confounds. Furthermore, Study 2 suggests that an environmentalist identity plays an important role for car owners' actual decision to offer a ride via an online platform. These results suggest that marketers of P2P platforms need to pursue different strategies when addressing potential users and providers on the same platform. K E Y W O R D Scarpooling, environmentalist, identity, peer-to-peer platform, sharing economy

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“…[11] Environmental concern and a sustainability mindset have become prominent in society, to which the circular economy promises to respond-often rebranded as the "sharing economy"-by using existing resources more efficiently, reducing waste and surplus, refurbishing goods, facilitating donations and recirculation systems, and discouraging new acquisitions through rental services. Previous research shows that sustainability is not the primary driver of the "sharing economy" (the economic incentive and social benefits are), but a "nice bonus" (Hartl et al 2018), an "unintended consequence" (Botsman and Rogers 2010a, p. 74) or a byproduct (Wilhelm et al 2017a), as it is most often not significant in survey research (Habibi et al 2016;Hamari et al 2016;Möhlmann 2015).…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Heart and Wallet Paradox of Collaborative Consumption

Guyader

2019

Linköping Studies in Arts and Sciences

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At the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Linköping University, research and doctoral studies are carried out within broad problem areas. Research is organized in interdisciplinary research environments and doctoral studies mainly in graduate schools. Jointly, they publish the series Linköping Studies in arts and Science. This thesis comes from the division of Business Administration at the Department of Management and Engineering.

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“Sustainability is a nice bonus” the role of sustainability in carsharing from a consumer perspective

Cited by 88 publications

References 55 publications

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Consumers' Intention to Use Shared-Mobility Services in German Cities

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Consumers' Intention to Use Shared-Mobility Services in German Cities

Take me on a ride: The role of environmentalist identity for carpooling

The Heart and Wallet Paradox of Collaborative Consumption

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