Do we need rules for “what's mine is yours”? Governance in collaborative consumption communities

Abstract

With collaborative consumption, people are provided with access to a good rather than owning it. The current study addresses the problem of regulation in collaborative consumption communities, investigating whether governance increases cooperation, if and why consumers support a governance system and whether supporters and non-supporters differ in their distrust in others. To address these questions, an experiment (within-subject design) was conducted. After reading vignettes, participants indicated how likely they would cooperate and whether they support governance or not—giving reasons for their evaluation. The majority of participants support governance and governance increases cooperation. Supporters argue that humans are egoistic, whereas non-supporters are concerned about negative consequences, asking for alternative incentives. Supporters of governance also differ from non-supporters according to their trust in others. The current study allows valuable recommendation, as more and more sharing networks are created, facing the problem of whether to regulate access or not.