Potential for well-being in peer-to-peer sharing economy: a systematic review and modeling

Humans pursue well-being in their lives. Well-being encompasses positive emotions, life satisfaction, healthy functioning, meaning of life, and self-growth. In ancient times, sharing was an intimate behavior that consolidated communities and led to an ideal life, which refers to well-being in the present. Sharing economy sheds light on a novel business model in which people can develop their well-being while sharing resources/goods and services among strangers. However, prior research shows that users participate in the sharing economy because of self-interest rather than social interaction or sustainability. Sustainable well-being is important not only for us but also for our communities and our planet. This study investigates how the components of well-being can be built into a sharing economy and foster users to pursue it in the long-term. It reviews and synthesizes prior studies to (1) elucidate the components of well-being in the peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing economy, (2) model the sharing ecosystem with components of well-being from a global perspective, and (3) discuss the design solutions for a P2P sharing platform to facilitate well-being. Furthermore, it provides examples of practices to illustrate the proposed model. We believe this study not only motivates platformers to consider users’ well-being but also promotes sustainable functioning of the sharing ecosystem.