Digital Disruption beyond Uber and Airbnb—Tracking the long tail of the sharing economy

• Published in: Technological forecasting & social change Vol. 155; p. 119323
• Main Authors: Geissinger, Andrea, Laurell, Christofer, Sandström, Christian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Elsevier Inc 01.06.2020; Elsevier B.V; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Airbnb; Business schools; Digital disruption; Economic aspects; Innovations; Long tail; Service industries; Sharing economy; Social change; Social media; Social media analytics; Transportation; Uber; Social media analytics; Long tail; Uber; Airbnb; Digital disruption; Sharing economy
• ISSN: 0040-1625; 1873-5509; 1873-5509
• DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.06.012

The sharing economy can be regarded as a discontinuous innovation that creates increased abundance throughout society. Extant literature on the sharing economy has been predominantly concerned with Uber and Airbnb. As little is known about where the sharing economy is gaining momentum beyond transportation and accommodation, the purpose of this paper is to map in what sectors of the economy it is perceived to gain traction. Drawing on data from social and traditional media in Sweden, we identify a long tail of 17 sectors and 47 subsectors in which a total of 165 unique sharing-economy actors operate, including sectors such as on-demand services, fashion and clothing, and food delivery. Our findings therefore point at the expanding scope of the sharing economy and relatedly, we derive a set of implications for firms. •This paper explores where the sharing economy is currently gaining traction.•We identify 17 sectors and 47 subsectors in which a total of 165 actors operate.•Sectors such as on-demand services, fashion and food delivery seem to be growing.•The sharing economy may result in creative destruction in several industries.