Determining the Reasons of University Students ‘Participation in Online Sharing Platforms.

Ayhan Şengöz

doi:10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/disertaciones/a.15180

##plugins.block.makeSubmission.linkLabel##

Determining the Reasons of University Students ‘Participation in Online Sharing Platforms.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/disertaciones/a.15180

PDF HTML (Español (España)) XML (Español (España))

Published: Jan 7, 2026

Issue: Vol. 19 No. 1 (2026): La comunicación como fundamento de la transparencia en los museos

Section Avances (Miscellanea)

Keywords: online sharing platforms sharing economy users attitudes motivation participation intention

Authors

Ayhan Şengöz
Anadolu University

Abstract

In recent years, consumers, particularly young individuals adept at using information and communication technologies, have shown a growing interest in online sharing platforms. Young people’s rapid adoption of these platforms, coupled with increased financial investments and their innovation potential, underscores the importance of studying this phenomenon. However, there is a notable lack of qualitative and quantitative studies exploring the motivations for participation, which are fundamental to understanding user behavior. This study aims to identify why university students participate in online sharing platforms and examine how these motivations influence their intention to participate. The findings are expected to support the development of more user-friendly platforms. A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted to uncover the factors influencing participation, followed by proposing a conceptual model based on these findings. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypotheses and validate the model. The analysis revealed compatibility between the model and the data, with most hypotheses confirmed. Results indicate that financial benefits, social interaction, trust in comments and ratings, and sustainability significantly enhance participation intentions.

How to Cite

Şengöz, A. (2026). Determining the Reasons of University Students ‘Participation in Online Sharing Platforms. Anuario Electrónico De Estudios En Comunicación Social "Disertaciones", 19(1). https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/disertaciones/a.15180

References

Albinsson, P., Perera, B., & Belk, R. (2018). The rise of the sharing economy: Exploring the challenges and opportunities of collaborative consumption. Praeger. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9798216009252

Bardhi, F., & Eckhardt, G. (2012). Access-based consumption: The case of car sharing. Journal of consumer research, 39(4), 881-898. https://doi.org/10.1086/666376 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/666376

Belk, R. (2007). Why not share rather than own? The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 611(1), 126-140. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716206298483 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716206298483

Belk, R. (2014). You are what you can access: Sharing and collaborative consumption online. Journal of business research, 67(8), 1595-1600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.10.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.10.001

Bellotti, V., Ambard, A., Turner, D., Gossmann, C., Demkova, K., & Carroll, J. (2015). A muddle of models of motivation for using peer-to-peer economy systems. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (s. 1085-1094). https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702272 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702272

Benkler, Y. (2004). Sharing nicely: On shareable goods and the emergence of sharing as a modality of economic production. Yale Law Journal, 114, 273. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/4135731

Botsman, R., & Rogers, R. (2010). What’s mine is yours. The rise of collaborative consumption. Harper Collins Publishers Inc.

Böcker, L., & Meelen, T. (2017). Sharing for people, planet or profit? Analysing motivations for intended sharing economy participation. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 23, 28-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2016.09.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2016.09.004

Bucher, E., Fieseler, C., & Lutz, C. (2016). What’s mine is yours (for a nominal fee)–Exploring the spectrum of utilitarian to altruistic motives for Internet-mediated sharing. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 316-326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.002

Chase, R. (2015). Peers Inc: how people and platforms are inventing the collaborative economy and reinventing capitalism. PublicAffairs.

Clark, V., & Ivankova, N. (2015). Mixed methods research: A guide to the field (Vol. 3). Sage publications.

Cook, K., Yamagishi, T., Cheshire, C., Cooper, R., Matsuda, M., & Mashima, R. (2005). Trust Building via Risk Taking: A Cross-Societal Experiment. Social Psychology Quarterly, 68(2), 121-142. https://doi.org/10.1177/019027250506800202 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/019027250506800202

Creswell, J., & Clark, V. (2010). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage publications.

Frenken, K., & Schor, J. (2017). Putting the sharing economy into perspective. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 100(23), 3-10. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788117814.00017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2017.01.003

Friedman, G. (2014). Workers without employers: shadow corporations and the rise of the gig economy. Review of Keynesian Economics, 2(2), 171-188. https://doi.org/10.4337/roke.2014.02.03 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/roke.2014.02.03

Gagné, M., & Deci, E. (2014). The History of Self-Determination Theory in Psychology. The Oxford handbook of work engagement, motivation, and self-determination theory (p. 1-10). Oxford. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199794911.013.006

Galbreth, M., Ghosh, B., & Shor, M. (2012). Social sharing of information goods: Implications for pricing and profits. Marketing Science, 31(4), 603-620. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1120.0706 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1120.0706

Gansky, L. (2010). The mesh: Why the future of business is sharing. Penguin.

Giesler, M. (2006). Consumer gift systems. Journal of consumer research, 33(2), 283-290. https://doi.org/10.1086/506309 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/506309

Hamari, J., Sjöklint, M., & Ukkonen, A. (2016). The sharing economy: Why people participate in collaborative consumption. Journal of the association for information science and technology, 67(9), 2047-2059. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23552 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23552

Hawlitschek, F., Teubner, T., & Gimpel, H. (2016). Understanding the sharing economy--Drivers and impediments for participation in peer-to-peer rental. 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), (s. 4782-4791). https://doi:10.1109/HICSS.2016.593 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2016.593

John, N. (2013). Sharing and Web 2.0: The emergence of a keyword. New media & society, 15(2), 167-182. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812450684 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812450684

Kaplan, A., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons, 53(1), 59-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

Keetels, L. (2013). Collaborative Consumption: The influence of trust on sustainable peer-to-peer productservice systems. https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/13084

Kenney, M., & Zysman, J. (2016). The rise of the platform economy. Issues in science and technology, 32(3). https://issues.org/rise-platform-economy-big-data-work/

Keymolen, E. (2013). Trust and technology in collaborative consumption. Why it is not just about you and me. Bridging distances in technology and regulation, 135, 135-150.

Kim, J., Yoon, Y., & Zo, H. (2015). Why People Participate in the Sharing Economy: A Social Exchange Perspective. PACIS,76. http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2015/76

Lamberton, C., & Rose, R. (2012). When is ours better than mine? A framework for understanding and altering participation in commercial sharing systems. Journal of Marketing, 76(4), 109-125. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.10.0368 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.10.0368

Lampinen, A., Huotari, K., & Cheshire, C. (2015). Challenges to participation in the sharing economy: the case of local online peer-to-peer exchange in a single parents’ network. Interaction Design and Architecture(s) Journal, 16-32. https://doi.org/10.55612/s-5002-024-001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.55612/s-5002-024-001

Mayer, R., Davis, J., & Schoorman, F. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of management review, 20(3), 709-734. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1995.9508080335 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/258792

Möhlmann, M. (2015). Collaborative consumption: determinants of satisfaction and the likelihood of using a sharing economy option again. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 14(3), 193-207. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1512 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1512

OECD. (2016). Protecting Consumers In Peer Platform Markets: Exploring The Issues, OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 253, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5jlwvz39m1zw-en DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/5jlwvz39m1zw-en

Olson, M., & Kemp, S. (2015). Sharing economy: an in-depth look at its evolution & trajectory across industries. Piper Jaffray Investment Research.

Owyang, J. (2013). The collaborative economy. Altimeter, United States. http://www.collaboriamo.org/media/2014/04/collabecon-draft16-130531132802-phpapp02-2.pdf

Pagel, M. (2012). Wired for culture: The natural history of human cooperation. Penguin.

Prothero, A., Dobscha, S., Freund, J., Kilbourne, W., Luchs, M., Ozanne, L., & Thøgersen, J. (2011). Sustainable consumption: Opportunities for consumer research and public policy. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 30(1), 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1509/jppm.30.1.31 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1509/jppm.30.1.31

Qualman, E. (2012). Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and. John Wiley & Sons.

Ryan, R., & Connell, J. (1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of personality and social psychology, 57(5), 749. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.5.749 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.57.5.749

Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1521/978.14625/28806

Schiel, F. (2015). The phenomenon of the sharing economy in Germany: Consumer motivations for participating in collaborative consumption schemes. Twente: University of Twente. https://essay.utwente.nl/68106/

Schor, J. (2016). Debating the sharing economy. Journal of Self-Governance and Management Economics, 4(3), 7-22. https://greattransition.org/publication/debating-the-sharing-economy DOI: https://doi.org/10.22381/JSME4320161

Schor, J., & Fitzmaurice, C. (2015). Collaborating and connecting: the emergence of the sharing economy. In Handbook of research on sustainable consumption. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783471270.00039 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783471270.00039

Schor, J. B., Fitzmaurice, C., Carfagna, L. B., Attwood-Charles, W., & Poteat, E. D. (2016). Paradoxes of openness and distinction in the sharing economy. Poetics, 54, 66-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2015.11.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2015.11.001

Slee, T. (2015). What’s yours is mine: Against the sharing economy. Or Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1bkm65n

Van de Glind, P. (2013). The consumer potential of Collaborative Consumption: Identifying the motives of Dutch Collaborative Consumers & Measuring the consumer potential of Collaborative Consumption within the municipality of Amsterdam. https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/14225

Wang, C., & Zhang, P. (2012). The evolution of social commerce: The people, management, technology, and information dimensions. Communications of the association for information systems, 31(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.03105 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.03105

Query Statistics