Consumer’s attitude to the sharing economy in Russia

Abstract

This research focuses on the main characteristics of a sharing economy, which is one of the fastestdeveloping sectors of 4.0 industry in the world and in Russia. Because of the increasing role of the consumer as one of the key economic agents in a sharing economy, the research is focused on sharing economy adoption factors at a consumer level. Sharing economy development perspectives and adoption factors, including the drivers and impediments that consumers face, are analyzed in the paper. To identify the factors determining consumer behavior in the sharing economy in Russia, a quantitative survey with 2 576 respondents was conducted. The analysis of empirical data revealed six main factors in the sharing economy from the consumer's perspective: attitude to the sharing economy, difficulties in starting to participate in the sharing economy, perceived risks, the role of property, influence of referent groups, and hygienic factors of the sharing economy. After cluster analysis, three consumer clusters were determined: consumers with a neutral attitude to the sharing economy, skeptical consumers, and competent consumers. The results of the analysis are relevant both for academic research and management practice, and make it possible to draw conclusions about the problems and perspectives of the development of a sharing economy in Russia, which are based on the analysis of the impediments and stimulating development factors (drivers) in the context of the behavioral model of Russian consumers in the sharing economy.