An Exploration into the Nature of Sharing 2.0: The Cases of Uber and Airbnb

Abstract

In the last decade, the recent advancements in ICTs, the socio-economical scenario and an evolution in consumers’ behaviors enabled the rise of a phenomenon commonly defined as “sharing economy”. Some outstanding performances of companies that have been included in this umbrella contributed to generate buzzing and discussion around the phenomenon, not rarely by bringing into the debate easily-abused terms such as “disruption” and “revolution”. This work provides a broad view on the denominations utilized with respect to the scenario and its various subgroups, followed by an overview on the enabling factors aforementioned. Successively, Uber and Airbnb, the two major business cases emerged on the scene, are analyzed at the light of the notions of double-sided platforms and business model canvas introduced in a former theory review, with the aim of providing an overview of the dynamics at their foundations. Finally, their commonalities and patterns are resumed, highlighting common practices, strategies and problematics.