Student Research Bursary Report

Student Research Bursary Report Recipient: Laura Piscicelli, Nottingham Trent University The role of values in collaborative consumption This PhD research investigates the role of values in the acceptance, adoption and diffusion of alternative patterns of consumption based on sharing, renting, swapping, bartering, lending and borrowing. Falling under the umbrella name of ‘collaborative consumption’, these practices have recently thrived through a favourable combination of societal, economic and technological factors. Consumers can now share a car on demand via Zipcar or find lifts on BlaBlaCar rather than owning a car; they can stay in someone else’s home through Airbnb instead of booking a hotel, and get help for moving on TaskRabbit rather than hiring a moving company. These innovative models of consuming have attracted growing attention in the context of sustainability and resource efficiency for their potential to prevent new purchases, intensify the use of idle assets and promote the reuse of possessions that are no longer wanted. Despite the untapped potential of collaborative consumption, the trend is in its infancy and the current uptake of sharing services in the market is still very limited. A number of start-ups have collapsed and others are encountering serious difficulties in becoming established due to a lack of resources to scale-up (e.g. consumer base, money). Consequently, there is a need for insightful understandings of why people engage in collaborative consumption practices and how to design Product-Service Systems (PSSs) that might succeed in mainstreaming these alternative, potentially more sustainable, ways of consuming. Social psychology and social practice theory offer two different disciplinary perspectives to conceptualise pro-environmental behaviour. This research investigated the possibility to resolve these differences through a mixed methods study on the role of values in collaborative consumption. The research limited its scope to the case study of Ecomodo, a UK-based online marketplace where people can lend and borrow each other’s objects, spaces and skills. A quantitative survey questionnaire was administered online to Ecomodo users to measure their value priorities and orientation. Results from the quantitative data analysis were then followed-up through qualitative semi-structured interviews. Findings were used to draw implications for design. Two different approaches, design for sustainable behaviour and practice-oriented design, were evaluated for their potential to inform the design of sustainable PSSs. The DSR Student Research Bursary supported the researcher’s participation at the ‘Intellectual Party/Lancaster Sociology Summer Conference’, held in Lancaster (UK) on July 2013. The conference proved a valuable occasion for gaining knowledge on social practice theory. The bursary also contributed towards the data collection of this PhD research by funding part of the interview travel expenses.