Consumer hacks in the sharing economy

• Published in: Journal of business research Vol. 167; p. 114172
• Main Authors: Dion, Delphine, Mimoun, Laetitia, Anlamlier, Eda, Chatterjee, Lagnajita, Trujillo-Torres, Lez
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.11.2023
• Subjects: Access-based consumption; Consumer misbehavior; Platform; Sharing economy; Value creation; Value destruction; Value creation; Platform; Consumer misbehavior; Value destruction; Access-based consumption; Sharing economy
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114172
• ISSN: 0148-2963

•We portray the heterogeneity of consumer misbehaviors by moving beyond the normative view.•Consumer hacks are savvy misbehaviors that outmaneuver the company’s policies and guidelines surrounding the consumer experience.•Given access-based interconnections, consumer hacks can destroy but also create value for other consumers and the platform.•Consumer hacks benefit the platform when value creation is aligned along three layers: egoistic, mutualistic, and corporate.•In case of misalignment, consumer hacks damage the platform’s value creation process and the consumer experience. Access-based platforms are complex, interconnected, and dependent on all consumers, which creates significant opportunities for consumer hacks. Drawing from the study of a clothing rental platform, we investigate how consumer hacks impact value creation for the platform and other consumers. We contribute to the literature on access-based consumption and consumer misbehavior by introducing consumer hacks. We highlight the heterogeneity of misbehaving consumers’ motivations, revealing that consumer hacks expand beyond dissatisfied consumers. Moreover, we stress how hacks’ diffusion, mainly via social media, can increase their breadth, speed, and impact on value. Adopting a multi-layered perspective to value creation, we show that consumer hacks can create and destroy value by inducing misalignments between egoistic, mutualistic, and corporate value outcomes. Finally, we evidence the dark side of customer engagement by introducing consumer hacks as a highly active customer engagement with value-destroying potential. Our results also have implications for managing access-based platforms.