An Analysis of the Origins of Collaborative Consumption and its Implications for Marketing

Myriam Ertz, Fabien Durif, Ma

Abstract

Collaborative Consumption (CC) is currently subject to many debates and controversies. From a more conceptual perspective, more intense studies and considerations of collaborative consumption schemes, may potentially reposition marketing. This article is a first step into that direction. It reviews the key macro developments which led to the (re-)emergence of collaborativity in consumption / production. An inter-disciplinary analytic framework revealed that Collaborative Consumption results from tightly technological, economic, political and societal changes, namely: (1) The web transformed consumers’ relationship to objects; (2) advanced economies are becoming more efficient through collaborative exchanges; (3) the withering of the State and its increased adjustment to the market ethos led citizens to mutate from political militants into engaged consumers; (4) consumers view consumption as central projects in their lives