Assessing the impact of knowledge and perceived economic benefits on sustainable consumption through the sharing economy: A sociotechnical approach

Abstract

Today's advanced technologies are promoting the rise of the sharing economy. This emerging trend has shaped modern society and transformed the way businesses operate, encouraging better future growth. However, these benefits will materialize only if users engage in the sharing economy in a continuous or sustainable manner. This study aims to depict the key factors that ensure the intention of sustainable consumption through the sharing economy. Towards this end, a sociotechnical framework is adopted to analyze and assess the impact of knowledge and the perceived economic benefits on the intention toward sustainable consumption through sharing, taking into consideration the mediating roles of trust and attitude. The structural equation modelling technique is used to test the statistical significance of the relationships between the various constructs of the proposed model. The results show that knowledge and technology have indirect and significant effects on the intention to engage in sustainable consumption through trust. Furthermore, attitude mediates the relation between the social aspect and the intention to engage in sustainable consumption, and the perceived economic benefits directly influence the intention to engage in sustainable consumption through the sharing economy.