Developing an environmental assessment method for sharing business considering consumer behavior: A case study of bike-sharing in Japan

Sharing business (SB), such as car-sharing, clothing rental, and power tool sharing, has become more prominent in recent years. The environmental outcomes of SB are largely influenced by consumer behavior and choice, such as ownership changes and substitution patterns. However, prior studies have rarely conducted in-depth investigations on how consumer behavior and choice affect the environmental impacts of SB and how business and policy interventions can support the transition to more environmentally-desirable outcomes. To address this, we propose a method for assessing the environmental impacts of SB by integrating consumer choice modeling, product life cycle simulation, and scenario analysis. We employ random utility theory to quantify consumer choice based on online survey questionnaire data. In a case study, we apply the proposed method to a bike-sharing service in Japan to obtain insights on the current situation and future scenarios. Results show that currently, respondents rely on cars for most trips and bike-sharing is not a common choice for recurring trips. In future scenarios, in which business and policy interventions are implemented, a considerable share of respondents indicated a shift to other modes, including bike-sharing, thereby reducing the total greenhouse gas emissions. The method and the results can be useful for business stakeholders and policymakers to gauge the effectiveness of interventions aimed at inducing environmentally-sustainable consumer behavioral change.