RT Article
T1 The Presentation of Self as Good and Right: How Value Propositions and Business Model Features are Linked in the Sharing Economy
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 159
IS 4
SP 997
OP 1021
A1 Wruk, Dominika
A1 Oberg, Achim
A1 Klutt, Jennifer
A1 Maurer, Indre
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 2019
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1785607898
AB The sharing economy as an emerging field is characterized by unsettled debates about its shared purpose and defining characteristics of the organizations within this field. This study draws on neo-institutional theory to explore how sharing organizations position themselves vis-à-vis such debates with regard to (1) the values these organizations publicly promote to present themselves as “good” sharing organizations and (2) the business model features they make visible to appear as having the “right” organizational model. This study examines the online self-representations of 62 prototypical sharing organizations in Germany with regard to value propositions and business model features. A semantic network analysis of the features reveals two distinct categories of sharing organizations: grassroots initiatives and platform-based organizations. By showing how value propositions and business model features are linked in the sharing economy, the findings indicate the different legitimation strategies of grassroots initiatives and platform-based organizations, which we term “sustainability by model” and “sustainability by feature.” These findings broaden our understanding of the strategies that organizations apply to cope with societal expectations in the emerging sharing economy.
K1 Business model features
K1 semantic network analysis
K1 Legitimation strategy
K1 Value proposition
K1 Institutional Theory
K1 Sharing Economy
DO 10.1007/s10551-019-04209-5