Consumer Knowledge and Participation in the Sharing Economy

This study examines the level of consumer knowledge regarding the concept and characteristics of the sharing economy along with the role of the three economic players in the sharing economy. This study develops scales for measuring a consumer’s knowledge level and the knowledge level using these scales as well as analyzes the impact of knowledge levels, socio-demographic variables, social capital, and knowledge sharing on participation in the sharing economy. The scales measuring the level of knowledge in the sharing economy were composed of 22 questions for the concept, 30 questions for the characteristics, and 15 questions for the role of the economic parties. Consumer’s knowledge level regarding the concept and characteristics of the sharing economy and the role of the economic players was very low. In particular, the knowledge on the concept was insufficient. Women’s knowledge on the sharing economy showed higher scores than men. Consumers with higher scores in social capital and knowledge sharing showed higher scores of the knowledge level on the sharing economy than those behind in these two variables. A higher knowledge level of the sharing economy resulted in higher participation in the sharing economy. Issues and directions for future studies on the sharing economy were proposed.