A cross-sector exploration of the barriers to customer satisfaction in the sharing economy

Abstract

The relevance of the sharing economy model has attracted the academic interest, leading to distinct lines of inquiry. However, an empirical examination of the factors influencing customer satisfaction in the sharing economy context – regarded as the degree to which a customer is willing to recommend a purchased service – is yet to be conducted. We aim to fill this gap by examining the influence of some relevant barriers related to the adoption of sharing economy on customer satisfaction across diverse sectors. We conduct our analysis based on data from the Flash Eurobarometer 467. Results reveal differences in the barriers-customer satisfaction relationships across sectors. Lack of trust and confidentiality issues negatively affect customer satisfaction in all sectors, inadequate ICT infrastructure has a significant negative effect only in the accommodation sector, and the remaining barriers mainly have a negative influence in sectors as transport, accommodation, food-related services.