The role of collaborative consumption in the servitization of digital service platforms

Abstract This research aims to understand the digital service platform usage intention and behavior from the perspectives of technology adoption and collaborative consumption. Driven by the recent changes in consumer preferences toward non-ownership of digital products and convenience of accessing digital services, it argues that in addition to service and individual-related factors, collaboration indicating social factors (sense of belonging, sharing behavior, sense of sociability) will have a role in the adoption of servitization of the digital service platforms. It further claims that they will contribute to utilitarian, hedonic, and social value perceptions of digital service platforms so that positive value evaluations will lead to behavioral intention and actual usage behavior. It develops a model that incorporates service, individual, and collaboration-related factors and tests their relationships with value perception and hence digital service platform usage intention and behavior by structural equation modelling using a convenience sample data of 519 respondents. The results indicate that service-related factors affect utilitarian value, while collaboration indicating factors affect hedonic and social value. Overall model demonstrates that the intention to use collaborative consumption services is influenced by utilitarian, hedonic, and social value as well as individual-related factors. Furthermore, the intention to use these services leads to actual usage behavior. By linking value perception with service, consumer, and collaboration characteristics, this study draws attention toward a more comprehensive understanding of digital service adoption.