Antecedents of Trust in Sharing Economy Platforms: Prioritization Using the Best-Worst Method

ObjectiveThe sharing economy represents a new business model in which individuals share their assets with others. In other words, the sharing economy enables people to grant access to their possessions for others' use. In some cases, this access is temporary and may even serve as a means of selling products and services. Typically, this sharing of assets by consumers occurs through online platforms. Given the rapid growth of sharing economy businesses, trust has emerged as the most critical issue faced by companies operating in this sector. These businesses require extensive trust-based relationships between users and service providers. However, most individuals in these businesses are unfamiliar with one another, which presents challenges for sharing economy enterprises. Accordingly, this study aims to identify the antecedents of trust in the sharing economy. MethodologyThis research was conducted using an exploratory mixed-method approach in two stages. The first step involved identifying the topic and determining the research problem as part of the qualitative content analysis process. The second step focused on sample selection. A systematic review method was employed to select the articles. Initially, the research question, “What are the antecedents of trust in the sharing economy?” was formulated. In the next stage, articles were searched across scientific journals and various databases, such as ScienceDirect, Emerald, Scopus, and Google Scholar, from 2014 to 2023. This search utilized keywords such as "trust," "sharing economy," and "trust in the sharing economy," resulting in the collection of 730 articles. After reviewing the articles, 438 were excluded based on their titles, 192 based on their abstracts, and 40 based on their full text and content, leaving 60 articles from reputable scientific journals and international conferences for analysis. It is noteworthy that the search and selection of articles continued until it was confirmed that adding more articles would not yield any new antecedents of trust in the sharing economy. After the article selection, the process of qualitative content analysis commenced. In this stage, after selecting words and sentences as meaning units, each article was reviewed twice by the researchers. Once the antecedents were identified, codes with similar concepts were grouped under specific sub-category names to form sub-categories. Sub-categories with common concepts were then grouped and labeled as main categories. Regarding the validity of the categorization, a coding and categorization guide was developed and reviewed by two subject-matter experts. After receiving their feedback, necessary revisions were made. In the second stage, the Best-Worst Method (BWM), a multi-criteria decision-making method, was used to prioritize the categories. Accordingly, a Best-Worst questionnaire was prepared and sent to 10 experts in the field of the sharing economy, selected through the snowball sampling method. Finally, the data from the Best-Worst questionnaire were analyzed using Excel software. FindingsAfter a thorough examination, 26 indicators were identified as antecedents of trust in the sharing economy. These 26 antecedents were then grouped into six main categories. The identified categories include platform value propositions (social values, cultural values), brand experience (user experience, service personalization), consumers' ethical perceptions (platform security, user protection, transparency), perceived quality (service quality), platform branding (brand personality, brand strength), and platform capabilities (technical capabilities, reliability). ConclusionThe results of the analysis indicate that platform branding is the most important category among the identified antecedents of trust in the sharing economy. In contrast, consumers' ethical perceptions were found to be the least significant category. After discussing the research limitations and offering suggestions for future research, practical recommendations were provided for businesses operating in the sharing economy sector.