IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v134y2018icp254-264.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“It's not my fault, I am in the right!” Exploration of neutralization in the justification of the support and use of a controversial technological collaborative consumption service

Author

Listed:
  • Ertz, Myriam
  • Lecompte, Agnès
  • Durif, Fabien

Abstract

Community-based platforms (CBPs) such as Uber and Airbnb are increasingly prevalent in modern society. Inherent disintermediation and informality render these web-based systems especially attractive in the eyes of consumers, while exacerbating old problems and spawning new challenges. This study posits CBPs as ethically and morally questionable, and thus as controversial consumption schemes. Drawing on the neutralization theory research stream, this study seeks to identify how supporters and users justify the existence of controversial consumption systems such as CBPs. Our results show that, to justify CBPs, supporters and users both tend to depend heavily on neutralization techniques such as appealing to higher loyalties, condemnation of condemners, denial of victims, denial of responsibility and invocation of normalcy. Interestingly, these techniques are used in conjunction with non-neutralization techniques to defend controversial collaborative services such as Uber.

Suggested Citation

  • Ertz, Myriam & Lecompte, Agnès & Durif, Fabien, 2018. "“It's not my fault, I am in the right!” Exploration of neutralization in the justification of the support and use of a controversial technological collaborative consumption service," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 254-264.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:134:y:2018:i:c:p:254-264
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.06.032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162517307874
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.06.032?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mair, Johanna & Reischauer, Georg, 2017. "Capturing the dynamics of the sharing economy: Institutional research on the plural forms and practices of sharing economy organizations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 11-20.
    2. Carroll, Archie B., 1991. "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 39-48.
    3. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    4. Murillo, David & Buckland, Heloise & Val, Esther, 2017. "When the sharing economy becomes neoliberalism on steroids: Unravelling the controversies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 66-76.
    5. Béatrice Parguel & Renaud Lunardo & Florence Benoît-Moreau, 2017. "Sustainability of the sharing economy in question: When second-hand peer-to-peer platforms stimulate indulgent consumption," Post-Print hal-01819619, HAL.
    6. Acquier, Aurélien & Daudigeos, Thibault & Pinkse, Jonatan, 2017. "Promises and paradoxes of the sharing economy: An organizing framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 1-10.
    7. Verena Gruber & Bodo Schlegelmilch, 2014. "How Techniques of Neutralization Legitimize Norm- and Attitude-Inconsistent Consumer Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(1), pages 29-45, April.
    8. Andreas Chatzidakis & Sally Hibbert & Andrew Smith, 2007. "Why People Don’t Take their Concerns about Fair Trade to the Supermarket: The Role of Neutralisation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 89-100, August.
    9. Laurell, Christofer & Sandström, Christian, 2017. "The sharing economy in social media: Analyzing tensions between market and non-market logics," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 58-65.
    10. Martin, Chris J., 2016. "The sharing economy: A pathway to sustainability or a nightmarish form of neoliberal capitalism?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 149-159.
    11. Barnes, Stuart J. & Mattsson, Jan, 2017. "Understanding collaborative consumption: Test of a theoretical model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 281-292.
    12. Parguel, Béatrice & Lunardo, Renaud & Benoit-Moreau, Florence, 2017. "Sustainability of the sharing economy in question: When second-hand peer-to-peer platforms stimulate indulgent consumption," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 48-57.
    13. Strutton, David & Vitell, Scott J. & Pelton, Lou E., 1994. "How consumers may justify inappropriate behavior in market settings: An application on the techniques of neutralization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 253-260, July.
    14. Bicchieri,Cristina, 2006. "The Grammar of Society," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521574907.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Myriam Ertz & Jonathan Deschênes & Emine Sarigöllü, 2021. "From User to Provider: Switching Over in the Collaborative Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-21, May.
    2. Rey-Moreno, Manuel & Medina-Molina, Cayetano, 2020. "Dual models and technological platforms for efficient management of water consumption," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    3. Hallem, Associate Professor Yousra & Abbes, Associate Professor Intissar & Hikkerova, Professor Lubica & Taga, Media Planner Nadia, 2021. "A trust model for collaborative redistribution platforms:A platform design issue," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    4. Nguyen, Stephanie & Nicod, Lionel & Llosa, Sylvie, 2024. "Preventing bypass on sharing economy platforms: The impact of message framing on users’ bypass intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anne Bäro & Felix Toepler & Timo Meynhardt & Vivek K. Velamuri, 2022. "Participating in the sharing economy: The role of individual characteristics," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3715-3735, December.
    2. Pies, Ingo & Hielscher, Stefan & Everding, Sebastian, 2020. "Do hybrids impede sustainability? How semantic reorientations and governance reforms can produce and preserve sustainability in sharing business models," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 174-185.
    3. Akbari, Morteza & Foroudi, Pantea & Khodayari, Maryam & Zaman Fashami, Rahime & Shahabaldini parizi, Zahra & Shahriari, Elmira, 2022. "Sharing Your Assets: A Holistic Review of Sharing Economy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 604-625.
    4. Schneckenberg, Dirk & Roth, Steffen & Velamuri, Vivek K., 2023. "Deparadoxification and value focus in sharing ventures: Concealing paradoxes in strategic decision-making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    5. Florian Hawlitschek & Nicole Stofberg & Timm Teubner & Patrick Tu & Christof Weinhardt, 2018. "How Corporate Sharewashing Practices Undermine Consumer Trust," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-18, July.
    6. Pankov, Susanne & Schneckenberg, Dirk & Velamuri, Vivek K., 2021. "Advocating sustainability in entrepreneurial ecosystems: Micro-level practices of sharing ventures," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    7. Acquier, Aurélien & Daudigeos, Thibault & Pinkse, Jonatan, 2017. "Promises and paradoxes of the sharing economy: An organizing framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 1-10.
    8. Valeria Andreoni, 2020. "The Trap of Success: A Paradox of Scale for Sharing Economy and Degrowth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, April.
    9. Michael Martin & David Lazarevic & Charlie Gullström, 2019. "Assessing the Environmental Potential of Collaborative Consumption: Peer-to-Peer Product Sharing in Hammarby Sjöstad, Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, January.
    10. Daniel Trabucchi & Laurent Muzellec & Sébastien Ronteau, 2019. "Sharing economy: seeing through the fog," Post-Print hal-03718526, HAL.
    11. Baumber, Alex & Scerri, Moira & Schweinsberg, Stephen, 2019. "A social licence for the sharing economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 12-23.
    12. Zhang, Yaomin & Pinkse, Jonatan & McMeekin, Andrew, 2020. "The governance practices of sharing platforms: Unpacking the interplay between social bonds and economic transactions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    13. Andrzej Bąk & Elżbieta Nawrocka & Daria E. Jaremen, 2022. "“Sustainability” as a Motive for Choosing Shared-Mobility Services: The Case of Polish Consumers of Uber Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-21, May.
    14. Wei, Xiaoyong & Lo, Chris.K.Y. & Jung, Sojin & Choi, Tsan-Ming, 2021. "From co-consumption to co-production: A systematic review and research synthesis of collaborative consumption practices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 282-294.
    15. Susanne Pankov & Vivek K. Velamuri & Dirk Schneckenberg, 2021. "Towards sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems: examining the effect of contextual factors on sustainable entrepreneurial activities in the sharing economy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1073-1095, February.
    16. Emmanuelle Reuter, 2022. "Hybrid business models in the sharing economy: The role of business model design for managing the environmental paradox," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 603-618, February.
    17. Geissinger, Andrea & Laurell, Christofer & Sandström, Christian, 2020. "Digital Disruption beyond Uber and Airbnb—Tracking the long tail of the sharing economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    18. Meisam Ranjbari & Gustavo Morales-Alonso & Ruth Carrasco-Gallego, 2018. "Conceptualizing the Sharing Economy through Presenting a Comprehensive Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-24, July.
    19. Sirkeci Kübra & Arıkan Esra, 2021. "The Infinite Wardrobe: Female Consumers’ Value Perceptions Regarding Collaborative Consumption of Apparel," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 16(2), pages 150-170, December.
    20. Delacroix, Eva & Parguel, Béatrice & Benoit-Moreau, Florence, 2019. "Digital subsistence entrepreneurs on Facebook," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 887-899.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:134:y:2018:i:c:p:254-264. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.