Antecedents of Customer Participation on Sharing Platforms: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

Given the substantive influence of the digital revolution on the sharing economy, it is timely and relevant to ask why some sharing platforms (e.g. Airbnb and Uber) achieve significant success while others fail. To determine which factors encourage customers to participate in sharing goods and services on sharing platforms, and when they do so, this study conducts a meta-analysis of empirical findings from 192 independent samples, extracted from 167 studies involving 171,344 customers. As the results clarify, customer-related factors (customer motives, customer competence, customer satisfaction and subjective norms) are key antecedents. However, platform-related factors (service quality of the platform, trust in the platform, performance expectancy and effort expectancy) and service-provider-related factors (service quality of the provider, trust in the provider and provider gender) also exert meaningful effects. To assess the generalizability of these antecedents, the meta-analysis includes contextual moderators, namely customer type (previous provider experience), provider type (private/professional supply), platform characteristics (rivalry on the platform, prestige of ownership and services/goods) and exchange type (for-profit/non-profit and ownership transfer). The findings advance the literature on the sharing economy and provide specific guidance for platform managers about when to focus on certain antecedents.