COLLABORATIVE

CONSUMPTION
Collaborative Consumption
● Is defined as the common use of a good or service by a group of people.
● Is also considered as the interaction between two or more subjects through
digitized media, or also not digitized media, and its main function is to satisfy the
necessity of two or more people.
● Can be mainly carried by digital platforms, what makes easier for people to use it for
its own advantage.
Context
Was firstly mentioned in 2007 in an article published in “Leusire Report” by Ray Algar.

Become popular in 2010 with the publishing of “What’s mine is yours: The rise of
collaborative consumption” by Rachel Botsman.

According to Times magazine, collaborative consumption is on of the 10th most

brilliant ideas which are about to change the world.
 Collaborative Consumption is the
reinvention of traditional market
behaviors—renting, lending, swapping,
sharing, bartering, gifting—through
technology, taking place in ways and
on a scale not possible before the
internet.
The term – championed by
What's Mine Is Yours author
Rachel Botsman – is a catchy way
to describe the growing trend of
sharing underutilized goods and
services rather than buying them
outright.
Redistribution markets like eBay
and Around Again enable goods
no longer needed by their
original owner to be reused
elsewhere.
Car sharing, co-working
spaces or launderettes, for
example, allow people to use
products owned by service
providers for a usage fee.
For examples, networks of local collaborators who share a common working space (impact hubs) are linked
into global skill and knowledge sharing networks. The global network Hub culture connects these
innovators, social entrepreneurs and cultural creative, enabling them to collaborate and share knowledge
through the use of their own digital currency, the Ven. The Land share network in the UK, Australia and
Canada connects people with underused land to people who want to garden or farm.
The Risks of Collaborative Consumption
It relies on trust

The only reason that this kind of relationship works is because participants take for
granted that the other people participating are not only going to take on the role of
an “obtainer” and benefit from the relationship.
They know for sure that they will not just benefit from it, but that they will also
comply with the role of being a “provider” in the economy.
The participants are easily tempted with a great incentive to fail to collaborate and
keep the resources he or she was given, as well as the resources he or she was
supposed to give.
The goods can be damaged or lost
If one of these two people, either accidentally or on purpose, damages or loses the
item lended to him or her.
This causes a fracture, given that the other part didn’t lose or damage the good he or
she was given the right to use.
This situation can be even worse if the harm or extraviation was done by a third
party who was not included in the deal firsthand.
There’s one specific reason why a sharing economy is used widely. Collaborative
Consumption diminishes costs for one or both of the parts involved.
This reason is more than enough to achieve this type of relationship.
A sharing economy provides the user with something they don’t usually have access
to easily.
If the user does not have the resources to provide in exchange, Collaborative
Consumption will fail.
CASES “UBER AND AIRBNB”
● The outcome of sharing economy is inevitable challenges
traditional market faces with the emergence of
collaborative consumption.
● During last four years at least 100 private companies,
offering owners to make a profit of the property they
possess without the need of extra payment, have been set
up. Yet Uber and Airbnb have brought consumption to a
brand new level.
● Until the very last moment, private taxi companies had a
monopoly in a transportation industry. Yet there are
hundreds and hundreds of ordinary drivers, who go the
same way as you do and who can pick you up and drive for a
lower price. Why not? Uber helped a lot of people
transform their personal vehicles from a financial burden
into a source of income.
● Why bother buying a house in a picturesque
location if a place to spend your vacation in
can be easily found on Airbnb? There is no
need for a buying an estate overseas renter to
overpay.
● Airbnb and Uber provide access to estates
and cars. The fact that these companies faced
with resistance and pressure of those, who
are used to making hay of licensing, does not
surprise at all.
● Economists have not decided yet whether the
sharing economy is beneficial or not. They are
to find the answer whether there is a surplus
value, or new services are taking the place of
already existing businesses. Either is correct.
● Airbnb and Uber’s experience inspired to
expand the horizons of sharing economy.
“DogVacay and Rover”
● DogVacay is an online community that
connects pet parents with over 20,000 pet
sitters across North America.
● is a pet boarding marketplace connecting
pet owners with families willing to take
care of their pets while they are away.
● Rover is the nation's largest network of 5-
star pet sitters and dog walkers. Similar to
DogVacay, Rover connects pet parents
with people who will treat their dogs like
family.
● Rover and DogVacay share the
same mission: To make life better for
dogs and the people who love them.
● This union will make it easier for pet
parents to get trusted care for their
dogs, for pet sitters to connect with
more dog owners nationwide, and
most importantly, for dogs to get the
best possible care.
In conclusion...
Nowadays, technologies and humans are going hand in hand, there comes a point where we do not
know, if we are improving technology or if technology is improving us, and a clear example of this
statement, is the issue reviewed in this essay about collaborative consumption, that is a new type of
economic activity, combining elements of the classical commercial economy with elements of
sharing activities as old as life itself, but new technologies have allowed it to be monetized and
scaled globally. It has a redistributive effect, changes the role of the consumer for the producer
(prosumidor), and has a huge economic potential, born in 2007, but become so popular in 2010,
and of the 10 best ideas that will change the world. Who knows what future will bring us