Customer Orientation Approaches in Sharing Economy Platforms: Insights from Multi-Actor Interactions
(A2025-126112)

AUTHORS

Nour Mohamed, University of Passau; Jan Schumann, University of Passau

ABSTRACT

Customer orientation is vital for delivering value and is well understood in traditional firms, which adopt a customer-centric approach through effective information management and inter-organizational resource utilization. However, the rise of sharing economy platforms necessitates expanding this framework due to the interactions among providers, consumers, and the platform itself, which shape customer experiences in ways distinct from traditional businesses. This dynamic reveals a research gap, as existing studies often overlook these specific interactions, highlighting the need to explore customer orientation in this context. Our study employs a service-dominant logic perspective to explore customer orientation within sharing economy platforms. Using a mixed-method approach that combines platform content analysis with 18 in-depth interviews of Airbnb hosts and guests, we identify three key dimensions: (1) a community-centric mindset, (2) collaborative information management, and (3) ecosystem resource pooling. The findings offer insights for sharing economy platforms seeking to enhance customer orientation practices.