Sharing Is Caring? The Effect of Negative Peer-to-Peer Experiences on Loyalty in the Home-Sharing Context
(A2023-112595)

AUTHORS

Alina Gruener, University of Passau; Lea Postel, University of Passau; Jan Schumann, University of Passau

ABSTRACT

Negative experiences with other users as providers or consumers of services (i.e., negative peer-to-peer [P2P] experiences), are a characteristic drawback of interpersonal interactions on home-sharing platforms. Even though these experiences are often beyond a platform’s control, they may still be blamed on the platform due to the close association between the users of the platform and the platform itself. This paper advances the extant research on the dark side of the sharing economy by investigating the effect of negative P2P experiences on users’ platform loyalty through the lens of trust transfer theory. The results of an online survey of 240 home-sharing platform users show a negative bottom-up trust transfer mechanism that explains the effect of negative P2P experiences on platform loyalty. In addition, the authors identified relationship satisfaction as an important mitigating factor that platform providers can employ to create an ex ante buffer against negative P2P experiences.