Exploring the Collaborative Consumption Journey: The Case of Access-Based Consumption

Abstract

This study explores the collaborative consumption journey in purchase funnel, covering both the pre-accommodation and during/post-accommodation stages, and extends knowledge toward the intersection of customer experience and the field of shared economics. Firstly, we identify all potential touchpoints in multiple stages of the collaborative consumption journey through in-depth interviews and then we investigate experiential dimensions of the collaborative consumption journey by means of a qualitative study and the prioritization of dimensions of customer experience through the Analytical Hierarchical Process methodology by analysing two different types of access-based consumption: the renting platform Airbnb and the lending platform Couchsurfing. Touchpoints were framed under four groups: (a) brand-owned, (b) partner-owned, (c) customer-owned and (d) social/external. The results demonstrate that sensory, affective and cognitive dominant experiences act as the primary roles for both collaborative consumption platforms in the pre-accommodation stage, whereas the collaborative consumption experience is enriched with distinct experiences in the during/post-accommodation stage. The cognitive experience is relatively more important for Airbnb, while sensory experience plays a more critical role in the Couchsurfing journey in the pre-accommodation stage. These experiences then shift into affective and relational experiences during/post-accommodation stage.

Keywords

• customer journey
• touchpoint
• collaborative consumption
• sharing economy
• Airbnb
• Couchsurfing

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