Take me on a ride: The role of environmentalist identity for carpooling

Sharing does not need to involve corporate providers but can also happen on a peer-to‐ peer (P2P) basis. P2P sharing platforms who match private providers and users are thus dealing with two different customer segments. An example of this is carpooling, the sharing of a car journey. Recent years have seen considerable research on why people use sharing services. In contrast, there is little knowledge of why people may offer a good for sharing purposes. Drawing on identity theory, this paper suggests that users and providers of carpooling need to be addressed differently. A pilot study and two studies, including both actual car owners and nonowners confirm that the extent to which one identifies as an environmentalist predicts car owners' willingness to offer carpooling, but does not affect nonowners' willingness to use carpooling services. These findings remain robust when controlling for various potential confounds. Furthermore, Study 2 suggests that an environmentalist identity plays an important role for car owners' actual decision to offer a ride via an online platform. These results suggest that marketers of P2P platforms need to pursue different strategies when addressing potential users and providers on the same platform

The impact of powerful authorities and trustful tax payers: Evidence for the extended slippery slope framework from Austria, Finland and Hungary

Tax authorities utilize a wide range of instruments to motivate honest taxpaying ranging from strict audits to fair procedures or personalized support, differing from country to country. However, little is known about how these different instruments and taxpayers' trust influence the generation of interaction climates between tax authorities and taxpayers, motivations to comply, and particularly, tax compliance. The present research examines the extended slippery slope framework (eSSF), which distinguishes tax authorities' instruments into different qualities of power of authority (coercive and legitimate) and trust in authorities (reasonbased and implicit), to shed light on the effect of differences between power and trust. We test eSSF assumptions with survey data from taxpayers from three culturally different countries (N = 700) who also vary concerning their perceptions of power, trust, interaction climates, and tax motivations. Results support assumptions of the eSSF. Across all countries, the relation of coercive power and tax compliance was mediated by implicit trust, which leads to an antagonistic climate and enforced motivation. The connection from legitimate power to tax compliance is partially mediated by reason-based trust. The relationship between implicit trust and tax compliance is mediated by a confidence climate and committed cooperation. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Collectively Building a Sustainable Sharing Economy Based on Trust and Regulation

The articles in this Special Issue on the sharing economy's role in fostering sustainability comprise eight contributions to answer how trust and regulation shape relations of providers and consumers. We identify indispensable aspects of the sharing economy to show its potential in fostering sustainability. This is in some contrast to existing definitions and applications of sharing economy business models, which do not place sustainability in their focus. The studies employ a variety of methods, covering quantitative and qualitative research to investigate building of communities on the consumer side, as well as trust-building and implementation of regulations in the interaction between providers and consumers in Asia and Europe. Some areas in the sharing economy foster sustainability, some foster social cohesion and in the end build social capital, but others focus at first sight on convenience and lifestyle

Explaining consumer choice of low carbon footprint goods using the behavioral spillover effect in German-speaking countries

The aim of the research was to investigate how to stimulate sustainable consumer behaviors that lead to a lowering of the carbon footprint. Because of environmental challenges at the individual and societal levels, researchers agree that behavioral change is necessary. We argue that when already performing a sustainable behavior, this behavior can spill over to other sustainable actions, even to more difficult ones. First, we studied whether a positive behavioral spillover occurs between product categories and whether the spillover effect depends on the ease or difficulty of the sustainable behavior. Second, we investigated whether high awareness of sustainability determines the spillover between categories. We conducted three online experiments in Central Europe, investigating whether spillover takes place between behaviors assigned to the same category (transport or food) or between behaviors assigned to different categories (transport or food). In all three studies participants had to make two independent decisions. In studies 1a (N=281) and 1b (N=195), the effect of the ease/difficulty of the behavior was tested. In study 2 (N=164), awareness of CO2 emission reducing effects was manipulated. Findings revealed a behavioral spillover between sustainable choices

Power versus trust - what matters more in collaborative consumption?

Purpose - Collaborative consumption, such as car sharing, speci fi cally implicates customer-to-customer interaction, which must be regulated by service providers (companies, peers and self-regulating communities), comprising different challenges for business organizations. While in conventional business relations, consumers are protected from undesirable customer behavior by laws, regulations (power) in the context of collaborative consumption are rare, so that trust becomes more relevant. It is the purpose of the study to investigate possible mechanisms to prevent undesirable customers in collaborative consumption. Design/methodology/Approach - In between subject designs, samples of 186 and 328 consumers fi lled in experimental online questionnaires with vignettes. Analyses were made of differences among car sharing companies, private persons and car sharing communities in terms of the power of providers, trust in providers and trust in other users of the shared goods, undesirable customer behavior and consumer - provider relations. Findings - Companies, private persons and self-regulating communities differ in terms of perceived power and trust. Participants speci fi cally perceive mainly coercive power with the car sharing company, but with the private person and the community, reason-based trust in other users is perceived as prevalent. Nevertheless, undesirable customer behavior varies only marginally over the models. Originality/value - The present study is the first to investigate measures to prevent undesirable customer behavior over different collaborative consumption models. This enables appropriate identification of market segments and tailoring of services. The study identifies opportunities for companies in contrast to private persons and self-regulating communities and, in doing so, provides important stimulation for marketing strategy and theory development

Preferences for Attributes of Halal Meat: Empirical Evidence from the Muslim Community in Vienna, Austria

The aim of this contribution is to approximate Muslims’ preferences towards selected attributes of halal meat. A comprehensive literature review on the influence of religion was undertaken with special emphasis on Muslims, a significant and growing community in Austria. An empirical study was conducted to estimate part‐worth utilities. In particular, the attributes of halal label, price, slaughtering method, and country of origin were included in the empirical design. Based on the literature review, a conjoint experiment model was developed to approximate the importance of selected attributes and attribute levels. The methodological approach followed the so‐called limit conjoint analysis. With this method, a no‐choice option is included in the experimental design, meaning it comes closer to real shopping behaviour. A sample from the Austrian Muslim community was selected. Data collection within this community was demanding, mainly because of cultural aspects. The results of the conjoint experiment show that the most important attribute is the halal label. This clearly demonstrates the significance of correct and trustworthy labelling of halal products

Geschlechterstereotype auf Führungsebene

Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit behandelt die Unterrepräsentanz von Frauen in Führungspositionen mit dem Versuch, aufzuzeigen, inwieweit hierfür auch im 21. Jahrhundert Geschlechterstereotype eine Rolle spielen. Zu diesem Zweck wurden Todesanzeigen weiblicher und männlicher Führungskräfte, die in vier deutschsprachigen Zeitungen in den Jahren 2004 und 2010 veröffentlicht wurden, analysiert. Die Durchführung gestaltete sich analog zu zwei Vorgängerstudien (Kirchler, 1992; Rodler, Kirchler & Hölzl, 2001) um eine Vergleichbarkeit der Studien gewährleisten und somit eine mögliche Veränderung der Geschlechterstereotype von 1974 bis 2010 abbilden zu können. Die in den Nachrufen enthaltenen Attribute wurden 58 Kategorien zugeordnet und die Daten aller drei Studien anhand einer Korrespondenzanalyse verglichen. Aus der grafischen Repräsentierung ist ersichtlich, dass sich der Trend der Annäherung der Beschreibungen weiblicher und männlicher Führungskräfte über die Jahre hinweg fortsetzt, um schließlich 2010 im Vergleich das höchste Maß an Ähnlichkeit aufzuweisen. Des Weiteren ergab die Analyse geschlechtsspezifischer Attributionsmuster, dass weibliche Führungskräfte 2010 zunehmend mit erfolgskorrelierten Attributen beschrieben werden und ihr Erfolg vermehrt auf stabile Personeneigenschaften zurückgeführt wird. Eine erwartete Tendenz zu mehr personenorientierten Eigenschaften konnte in den Beschreibungen der Verstorbenen nicht gefunden werden

Editorial: Sharing Economy and the Issue of (Dis)trust

Economy has changed; while in earlier times the possession of goods has been important to consumers, nowadays consumers rather try to have access to them (Belk, 2014). The so-called sharing economy enables consumers to share goods and services, such as rooms (cf. Airbnb), mobility services (cf. Blablacar), or self-produced vegetables (cf. community gardens). The Internet was key to the development of the sharing economy; with this achievement, the sharing economy expanded (Puschmann and Alt, 2016), and research on the sharing economy accumulated. Trust is a fundamental aspect that keeps the sharing economy running (Möhlmann, 2015). Trust means that consumers make themselves vulnerable toward different actors (Rousseau et al., 1998). There needs to be trust toward the sharing organization (e.g., Airbnb), toward consumers offering their goods and services, toward other consumers and also toward the technology providing the platform. Several articles (e.g., Kong et al., 2020) address the important issue of trust in the sharing economy, but the more or less antagonist of trust, i.e., distrust, has not been addressed in research so far. Distrust is often seen as an individual’s unwillingness to accept vulnerability to the actions of other people based on pervasive negative perceptions and expectations of the other people’s motives, intentions, or behaviors (Bijlsma-Frankema et al., 2015). The relevance of distrust often resonates implicitly in the publications on trust in the sharing economy (e.g., Möhlmann, 2015), but was not explicitly addressed in previous research. For that reason, the current Research Topic opens up a forum, in which research not only on trust but also on distrust in the sharing economy can gain center stage

"Sustainability is a nice Bonus" the role of sustainability in carsharing from a consumer perspective

Carsharing has been discussed as one of the most prominent examples of the sharing economy. The worldwide growth of services whereby consumers share access to cars rather than owning a car themselves could be a sustainable solution to environmental problems. However, first research indicates that consumers' environmental concerns play a minor role for using a carsharing compared to financial considerations. Moreover, prior research on B2C carsharing services may not be applicable to P2P services. The current research addresses this gap by investigating the role of sustainability in B2C and P2P carsharing from consumers' perspective. By applying quantitative as well as qualitative methods three studies show that consumers' image of carsharing is "greener" than owning a car and that environmental concerns play a role when consumers decide to use P2P service over B2C services. However, interviews with carsharing users indicate that the sustainable impact of carsharing is rather perceived as a positive side effect than a main argument for carsharing. This should be considered by policy makers and marketers when promoting carsharing because of sustainable benefits

The Relationship Between Austrian Tax Auditors and Self-Employed Taxpayers: Evidence From a Qualitative Study

A constructive, highly professional relationship between tax authorities and taxpayers is essential for tax compliance. The aim of the present paper was to explore systematically the determinants of this relationship and related tax compliance behaviors based on the extended slippery slope framework. We used in-depth qualitative interviews with 33 self-employed taxpayers and 30 tax auditors. Interviewees described the relationship along the extended slippery slope framework concepts of power and trust. However, also novel sub-categories of power (e.g., setting deadlines) and trust (e.g., personal assistance) were mentioned. Furthermore, also little-studied categories of tax behavior emerged, such as accepting tax behavior, e.g., being available to the tax authorities, or stalling tax behavior, e.g., the intentional creation of complexity. The results comprehensively summarize the determinants of the tax relationship and tax compliance behaviors. Additionally, results highlight future research topics and provide insights for policy strategies