The defense will take place online on Tuesday November 22, 2022 from 4:30 - 6:30 pm (Vienna Time)
Members of the Thesis Committee:
Chair: Angéla Kóczé, Romani Studies program, CEU
Advisor: Yusaf Akbar, Department of Economics and Business, CEU
External examiner: Mark Esposito, Hult International Business School
Internal examiner: Aysu Senyuz, Department of Economics and Business, CEU
ABSTRACT
Led by pioneers such as Uber and Airbnb, Sharing Economy platforms have disrupted several industries and redefined the boundaries of multiple businesses in the last decade. Besides, Trust is a complex and multifaceted concept that has been widely recognized as one of the most determinant factors in the success of sharing platforms. This dissertation seeks to investigate the role and importance of trust relative to other factors in the use of understudied consumer-to-consumer sharing platforms (C2CSP). The thesis also aims to confront different types and dimensions of trust in C2CSP and unveil its effects on usage from both supply and demand perspectives.
In the first study, I develop a conceptual model grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1991) and examine the effects of 11 consumer factors on the usage intentions of C2CSP. Using responses from a diverse pool of 248 millennial university students, Structural Equation Modeling with Partial Least Squares method (PLS-SEM) revealed the importance of a trust-building compound formed by familiarity, trust in the other users, and structural assurance in affecting the use of C2CSP. Furthermore, sustainability factors, dominated by the perception of positive environmental impact and financial benefits, have a positive influence on C2CSP consumption, while social experience was found without significant effect. The study provides an empirical validation of the Theory of Planned Behavior in the context of the sharing economy and suggests implications for trust research and practitioners.
The second study extends research on the sharing economy by providing one of the first quantitative works to examine the differences between types and dimensions of trust, based on the Interdisciplinary Model of Trust (McKnight and Chervany, 2001), and their effects on ridesharing usage from both supply and demand perspectives. Data were collected from a sample of 474 riders and drivers of a major ridesharing platform in the CEE region and analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results show that trust in the platform, through its integrity-benevolence dimension, is the main type of trust that influences engagement in ridesharing services for both riders and drivers. Also, the study provides evidence of trust transfer from the platform to the sharing peers. For riders, this transfer is due to relatively balanced effects of trust in the platform’s ability and trust in the platform’s integrity-benevolence. For drivers, however, the transfer is solely caused by their trust in the platform’s ability. Results also show that drivers' propensity to trust affects their intention to provide ridesharing services. Finally, both riders and drivers do not consider COVID-19 risk as an impediment to engage in ridesharing. The empirical evidence from this study suggests several managerial implications for ridesharing platforms and directions for future research.
Please contact Andrea Szalay (szalaya@ceu.edu) for ZOOM link.