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Cognitive biases in the sharing economy

Mini Dissertation (MPhil (Corporate Strategy))--University of Pretoria, 2022.

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Other Authors: Van Eck, Danéel
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Van Eck, Danéel
author_browse Van Eck, Danéel
author_facet Van Eck, Danéel
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation (MPhil (Corporate Strategy))--University of Pretoria, 2022.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:42.666Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/90882 Cognitive biases in the sharing economy Van Eck, Danéel ichelp@gibs.co.za Bhyat, Shameema UCTD Mini Dissertation (MPhil (Corporate Strategy))--University of Pretoria, 2022. The Sharing Economy (SE), also known as collaborative consumption, is an unregulated industry, with individuals renting out underused assets to other individuals via a thirdparty platform. Due to the nature of the SE, there is an imbalance of information, servicestandard heterogeneity and risk involved in transacting with strangers. Despite these factors, the SE has disrupted traditional industries, with millions worldwide participating in this economy in one form or another, indicating that there are underlying factors which impact consumption behaviour in this economy. The SE uses online platforms and the ubiquitous nature of internet connectivity to reach global audiences, and similarly so, uses various online signals to convey information to those audiences. Online star rating systems and participant profile pictures are some key examples of digital signals employed in a typical SE business to convey information that would otherwise have been deemed unnecessary or automatically trusted in traditional economy businesses. When considering the short-term accommodation industry in the traditional economy, a 4-star rated hotel is accepted to depict an agreed level of service quality because that rating is assigned by a third-party regulatory board, underpinned by local government policy. Whereas a 4-star service rating score in the SE is based on individual experiences, which is highly subjective. Profile pictures are a core visual element on SE platforms, such as Airbnb, whereas that visual element is completely absent from hotel websites and their online booking systems. One research dimension lacking in current literature, is in consumer psychology, specifically that which is associated with biases in the Sharing Economy. This research focuses on cognitive biases, viz. bandwagon effect and affinity bias. Through an online survey of 165 respondents, various online signals were tested to determine if impacts consumption behaviour in the short-term accommodation SE, using Airbnb as a representative SE. The analysis indicated that affinity bias influenced responses to visual cues. Respondents, who had character traits of having affinity bias, used guest or host profile pictures in their SE participation decision-making pt23 Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) MPhil (Corporate Strategy) Unrestricted 2023-05-28T16:59:44Z 2023-05-28T16:59:44Z 19-04-2023 2022 Mini Dissertation * A2023 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90882 en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Cognitive biases in the sharing economy
title Cognitive biases in the sharing economy
title_full Cognitive biases in the sharing economy
title_fullStr Cognitive biases in the sharing economy
title_full_unstemmed Cognitive biases in the sharing economy
title_short Cognitive biases in the sharing economy
title_sort cognitive biases in the sharing economy
topic UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90882