The Influence of Legitimacy on User Behavior in the Sharing Economy

Abstract

In this paper we look at the legitimacy of sharing services as perceived by consumers and how it shapes their behavior. In doing so we shift the focus of legitimacy research that has traditionally been on investors and employees to consumers whom we identify as major stakeholders in the sharing economy and empirically investigate the impact of perceived legitimacy on consumer behavior. We conduct prescreened semi-structured focus groups and identify differentiated ways in dealing with legitimacy in the sharing economy.