WHAT IS THE SHARING ECONOMY? The sharing economy is a new economic opportunity for customers to access goods whenever they are required at that moment - with access trumping ownership. For example, if a person only uses a car once a month, they could rent a car from a sharing economy company like ZipCar instead of paying a monthly car payment for a car they barely use. Following the economic recession, many Americans have become less wasteful in using their economic resources. In addition, more Americans are expressing an interest in being more socially conscious of green initiatives and other social responsibilities (Neilson). These trends have resulted in a new focus on shared resources.
Beyond just the economic benefits, goodwill and community building are important drivers of the sharing economy. Today, people who feel the burden of the current economic period may prefer to rent or sell to their peers instead of giving their business to major corporations. Furthermore, the Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) business model is allowing many individuals to exploit their own resources
Cited: Ciccone, Alicia. "The Sharing Economy." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 05 Sept. 2012. Web. 01 July 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/the-sharing-economy_n_1857201.html Empson, Rip Kotler, Philip, and Kevin Lane Keller. "Chapter 8 Identifying Market Segments and Targets." Marketing Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2012. Melby, Caleb Magazine, 19 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 June 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/calebmelby/2012/10/19/peter-thiel-may-invest-150-million-in-airbnb-at-2-5-billion-valuation/ Metcalf, Gabriel, and Jennifer Warburg. "A Policy Agenda for the Sharing Economy."SPUR.com. The Urbanist, Oct. 2012. Web. 02 July 2013. http://www.spur.org/publications/library/article/policy-agenda-sharing-economy. Olson, Kristine "The Globally, Socially Conscious Consumers." The Global, Socially Conscious Consumer. Nielson, 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 July 2013. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2012/the-global-socially-conscious-consumer.html. "The Sharing Economy: All Eyes on the Sharing Economy." The Economist. 9 Mar. 2013. The Economist