In Sharing Economy We Trust: Examining the Effect of Social and Technical Enablers on Millennials' Trust in Sharing Commerce

Abstract Sharing commerce is an e-commerce business model where service providers (who provide possession of goods) and customers (who acquire temporary ownership for a fee) are connected through commercial networking systems tailored by service enablers. Research on sharing commerce to date investigate key drivers of consumer engagement in sharing commerce platforms, but relatively little attention has been given to the role of trust, and trust formation. Drawing on the socio-technical theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of social and technical enablers on consumer trust and whether trust influences users' continued use and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) in the context of sharing commerce. Results of an empirical study (N = 211 active Airbnb millennial users) indicate that social referrals, information quality and transaction safety positively affect users’ trust, which in turn facilitate their continued intention to use the sharing commerce platform and share positive word-of-mouth testimonials and postings thus sharing positive consumption experiences with other consumers. Results also suggest that transaction security is approximately four times more effective at increasing trust than social referrals and 2.68 times more effective at enhancing trust than information quality.