Do we need harsh punishment? The effect of coercive power in collaborative consumption services

Purpose The study aims to investigate factors impacting consumers’ intention to adopt collaborative consumption (CC, hereafter) services. It extends the existing knowledge of CC services by testing and validating the moderating role of coercive power and the mediating role of attitude. Design/methodology/approach Applying random sampling, the data was collected through the mall intercept method across four cities in India and was analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modeling and artificial neural network to test the proposed hypotheses. A follow-up qualitative study consisting of 15 in-depth structured interviews helped validate the results of the quantitative research. Findings Results of the conducted survey revealed that a sense of community, reason-based trust and enjoyment positively impact consumers’ attitudes toward CC services. Attitude positively impacts intention and shows a partial mediating influence on the relationship between motivations and intentions. Furthermore, the results revealed the moderation of the perceived coercive power of the service provider. The results of the follow-up qualitative study validated the results of the quantitative research. Practical implications Managers of CC firms must understand the relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in formulating the attitudes of consumers and intentions toward CC services. CC managers should acknowledge the influence of the consumer’s perceived coercive power of service providers and consumer’s reason-based trust. Originality/value To the best of the authors knowledge, the current research is the first of its kind. It has justifiably and logically applied self-determination theory and a slippery slope framework in a single context. By testing the moderating impact of coercive power, the research extends the existing literature on CC and the applicability of coercive power in CC. The present study extends the knowledge regarding the consumer’s perception of reason-based trust and the perceived coercive power of service providers in CC.