Marketing Perspectives on Supply and Demand in the Sharing Economy: Who Are the Target Generations?

The sharing economy is an interesting socio-economic system that has been studied by many researchers worldwide. It is an area that will affect the patterns of behaviour, processes and thinking experienced in various fields. The sharing economy is specific in that some people who have an asset they do not fully use may be willing to share it with consumers who do not have the asset but need it for a specific reason but are unable to or do not want to buy it. Platforms operating in the sharing economy need to know whom to target with their marketing strategy to spend marketing costs effectively. We used cluster analysis, a chi-square test, a Kruskal-Wallis test and descriptive analysis of data collected from 684 respondents across Generations X, Y and Z within the Czech Republic. We identified who constitutes the general supply of and demand for unused assets. While the willingness to supply prevails among Generation Y, the willingness to demand prevails among Generation Z. For Generation X, the willingness to supply and the willingness to demand are almost equal. Using cluster analysis, we defined three basic groups of participants in the sharing economy: double-sided active participants, one-sided active participants and inactive participants. We summarise new findings from not only a theoretical but also a practical perspective. Implications for Central European audience: Platforms active in the sharing economy may better understand Czech customers regarding their supply of and demand for unused assets. The results could also be useful for managers in other countries of the Central European region. The findings may help enrich the theoretical knowledge of the sharing economy and its impact on marketing. Platforms can save money on marketing communications by focusing their marketing communications on a specific generation.