Sharing Economy and its impacts on modern consumption

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

MUNARO, Cristina ^[1], BERTOLDO, Jeferson ^[2]

MUNARO, Cristina. BERTOLDO, Jeferson. Sharing Economy and its impacts on modern consumption. Revista Científica Multidisciplinar Núcleo do Conhecimento. Year 05, Ed. 11, Vol. 19, pp. 115-123. November 2020. ISSN: 2448-0959, Access link: https://www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/marketing-en/sharing-economy, DOI: 10.32749/nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/marketing-en/sharing-economy

ABSTRACT

This work analyzes the Sharing Economy and its impacts on modern consumption. Such an approach is due to the fact that the sharing economy is a new benefit to consumers and a nuisance to traditional companies, as it is more economical. The objective of this study is to analyze how the Sharing Economy has been transforming the way companies innovate and the behavior of people. This purpose will be achieved from the bibliographic research, where all the information collected will be analyzed. The research showed how important this new economy is, how it is changing the way of consuming certain services and their benefits compared to the traditional one.

Keywords: Sharing Economy, modern consumption, Airbnb, Uber, Farmsquare.

1. INTRODUCTION

This work analyzes the Sharing Economy and its impacts on modern consumption, where it is understood that the sharing economy is a new benefit for consumers, but for some traditional companies it can be a nuisance, since the sharing economy is more economical for the consumer. pocket of those who consume it and the fact that consumer behavior has changed, as they are now looking for opinions from individuals to find out what is worth it, emphasizing that, in the shared economy, communication is mediated by technology, but the process of purchase is settled between natural persons and no longer legal and natural persons. This selectivity came with the advent of the internet, where the consumer went from a passive consumer to ads, to a content producer and with a voice to say about everything they see or consume.

The purpose of this article is to present a brief theoretical basis on the sharing economy, with examples of the main platforms used and also the benefits of this new economy for consumers.

This article will be obtained from the bibliographic research where the benefits of the shared economy will be cited and how it came about.

2. EVOLUTION OF THE ECONOMY

From the beginning, the economy as an activity has been adapting to current situations. According to Batista (2012), Feudalism was a mode of social organization in the Middle Ages and with its method of community production it was founded for several centuries. Then came the Modern Age, with mercantilist and physiocratic models, the first being focused on agricultural activity and the second on international trade.

According to Batista (2012), until the beginning of the 20th century, classical economic theory determined the paths of the production process, emphasizing that, in order to have economic success, a nation needed to have principles of free competition. For Smith, the ideal economy would be a self-regulating market system that would automatically satisfy the economic needs of the population.

For Aguiar, Guimarães, Silva and Pereira (2014), economics is a mutable science, at the beginning it was focused on domestic issues, soon after with the process of production and distribution of goods. Currently, a new form of economy is on the rise.

Based on the Marketing 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 principles of Kotler, Kartajaya and Setiawan (2010), one can understand the differences in the economy along with the evolution of marketing.

Table 1 Comparison Marketing 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0

Source: Kotler, Kartajaya and Setiawan (2010. pg. 6)

It can be seen that the sharing economy fits into Marketing 3.0, as it is the only one with one-to-many interaction, where the main basis of the sharing economy is to be from one individual to many.

3. CONSUMPTION EVOLUTION

When you look at the past, you can understand how the consumer market has changed a lot in a short time. At the beginning of the 20th century, the industry was the one who controlled the market, there was not much effort to sell the products, as consumers expected the same. In the middle of the 20th century, with the technological advances in transport, it became possible for consumers to travel to stores and in the hitherto novice, retail trade. With the emergence of retailers, industries distributed more products in different stores, so competition emerged and became more fierce, since many businesses offered the same products (POMERANZ, 2010). Finally, in the 1960s, the marketing strategy was geared towards mass media, where the emphasis was on the product to reach a consumer base. In the late 1970s, the telephone customer support system emerged, which, together with the credit cards created in the 1950s, gave a great stimulus to sales through catalogs and telemarketing (POMERANZ, 2010).

In the decades that follow, companies see great potential in advertising targeted to niches. At the end of the last century, there is a consumerist and demanding society, thus giving rise to new forms of payment, facilitating the purchases of these avid consumers. For Bourdieu (1981), the logic behind the consumer revolution consists of the combination between competition belonging to the means of production to meet consumers’ desires and the fight for distinction from the search for novelties. Given this fact, marketing had to evolve, since at that time and to this day, the consumer is in control.

Among all the evolutions of marketing, it is understood that traditional ways of marketing have lost their efficiency as people become more selective about what is shown to them.

Marketing had to change, as it needs to keep up with current forms of consumption, that is, the way people consume services and products have evolved, since, in this new scenario, consumer psychology has changed and the shopping process has also changed. According to Emília Chagas, CEO of Contentools, “The purchase process has changed. Nobody wants to be the target of ‘commercial speeches’ anymore. By offering useful content, the company starts to receive attention and reputation online”, so the more technology advances and the amount of information is absorbed by people, winning them over with just a commercial or magazine ad, becomes more difficult. When it is necessary to buy or contract some type of product or service, the consumer of the digital age is much more critical and cautious. Through Internet searches, opinions left by other customers, he provides himself with information that is decisive for whether or not to buy a particular product. This is a market trend according to Pomeranz (2010, p.12):

265 milhões de indivíduos trocaram, no ano passado, 1.5 bilhão de informações nas redes de relacionamento formadas por blogs e comunidades virtuais, muitas vezes falando sobre as empresas e seus produtos. Companhias que não gerenciarem a exposição de suas marcas nesse ambiente correm o risco de perder vendas e destruir suas reputações (POMERANZ, 2010, p.12).

With so many changes and evolutions, the sharing economy has emerged that has been changing the lives of many people, changing some choices that were previously made in the old process where there was only one service or product model, such as a hotel or taxi.

4. SHARED ECONOMY

The shared economy, also called collaborative consumption, is a commercial practice that allows the collective use of certain services, the famous Peer to Peer (person to person) that unites those who want to offer and those who want to consume.

The sharing economy originated in the 1990s in the United States, driven by technological advances that reduced the costs of peer-to-peer online transactions (SHIRKY, 2012), enabling the creation of new business models based on exchange and in the sharing of goods and services between unknown people (SCHOR, 2014).

After all, what is a shared economy? According to Miller (2016) it can be said that it is “a model where people are creating and sharing goods, services, spaces and money with each other.” Ganshy (2010, apud in SILVEIRA; PETRINI; SANTOS, 2016)

According to Souza (2015):

Este movimento veio logo depois de um período de grande consumismo durante o século XX e início do século XXI. Algumas pessoas começaram a refletir sobre esse consumo exacerbado e perceberam que ele estava fazendo mal para as pessoas e para o mundo (BOX 1824, 2015). Perceberam que fazia mais sentido consumir de forma colaborativa. Consumo colaborativo, no entanto, não tem a ver com um compartilhamento forçado e educado. Pelo contrário, ele coloca em vigor um sistema em que as pessoas dividem recursos sem perder liberdades pessoais que apreciam e sem sacrificar seu estilo de vida (BOTSMAN e ROGER, 2011).

Consumption has always been present in the daily lives of human beings, since the need to consume was aimed at survival, such as food and housing. In the 20th century, this consumption increased considerably, resulting in consumption to satisfy desires, and thus bringing satisfaction to those who consumed these goods or services.

It is estimated that the growth of the shared economy will enhance reuse and possibly reduce idleness of goods, consequently bringing positive factors for sustainability.

4.1 AIRBNB

Airbnb was founded on August 11, 2008 by Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia in San Francisco, California, with the aim of uniting people interested in renting their own home or part of it to a tourist looking for accommodation anywhere in the world for a short period.

In 2017, Airbnb had already reached more than 4 million accommodations, including rooms, entire houses, apartments, boats and castles in more than 65,000 cities around the world.

This number has been growing exponentially, as advertised accommodation prices are often cheaper than many hotels.

4.2 UBER

In 2009, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, faced with a need found when they were in Paris in the middle of a blizzard, could not find a taxi to return to their hotel. Faced with this situation, they came up with the idea of creating an application where it was possible to request a private driver with just a touch of the smartphone.

The application allows an agile connection between driver and passenger via smartphone, facilitating communication and the search for a (paid) ride. Again, yet another platform that benefits from the sharing economy.

Uber transformed the way people consume this type of service, the app came bothering taxi drivers, who until that moment took care of this sector.

Currently, Uber is present in 65 countries with more than 3 million registered drivers and more than 75 million users.

4.3 FARMSQUARE

Launched in 2006 by the actor and presenter, Rodrigo Hilbert, the main function of the tool is to exchange or donate healthy food, where the farmer in a certain region advertises his food and the consumer closest to him can go get it.

Farmsquare makes it easy to find fresh and healthy produce and also to avoid waste, as many unsold foods end up being thrown away.

5. SHARED ECONOMY BENEFITS

The sharing economy benefits both those who have the product or service to offer and those who are looking for them. Also serving as extra income for many families, or being the main income, in the case of those who are Uber drivers.

For Schor (2014), participation in sharing economy activities is motivated by economic, environmental and social factors, and varies due to the diversity of platforms and activities. Some people participate for economic benefits, such as saving money (BOTSMAN; ROGERS, 2011), or earning money through platforms (SCHOR, 2014); some, aiming to make new friends (BOTSMAN and ROGERS, 2011); and others are attracted by the fad or novelty of platforms (SCHOR, 2014).

The cost of services or products is another positive point, often being lower than the cost of traditional market models. Access to these means is facilitated, since it is possible to download a mobile application to perform the necessary actions and these platforms are intuitive, facilitating navigation, making these new services available to anyone.

6. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

In this article it was possible to affirm that the traditional economy is giving way to a shared economy. It means that we are in the era of one-to-many collaboration. The sharing economy is slowly changing our social and community relationships.

The consumer has adapted to this new form of economy and is increasingly using these means, what attracts the public are the low costs and the ease of accessing these products.

As carried out in this article, it was noted that consumption has changed compared to the conjectures of traditional consumption and that the public has been welcoming this new economy, proof of this is the number of users that has been gradually increasing on the aforementioned platforms and the trend is that this number will be even higher in the future.

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^[1] Graduated in Advertising from Centro Universitário Anhanguera and post-graduated in Digital Marketing and Consumption from Grupo Unis.

^[2] Advisor. Graduation in Letters. Undergraduate degree in Veterinary Medicine. Specialization in Teaching in Higher Education.

Sent: April, 2020.

Approved: November, 2020.