Short answer
When designing or evaluating sharing economy platforms, consider both the intended sustainability benefits and the potential for negative impacts across financial, environmental, and social dimensions, and develop strategies to manage this duality.
- Field
- Innovation & Markets
- Source
- R and D Management (2023)
- Method
- Conceptual framework development
- Evidence
- Mixed findings
Sharing economy business models present a complex duality, offering potential benefits for financial, environmental, and social sustainability, but also posing risks that require careful evaluation. This innovation & markets research insight is drawn from a 2023 study published in R and D Management. Using Conceptual framework development, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: When designing or evaluating sharing economy platforms, consider both the intended sustainability benefits and the potential for negative impacts across financial, environmental, and social dimensions, and develop strategies to manage this duality.
Sharing Economy Models: A Dual Lens on Sustainability Performance
Sharing economy business models present a complex duality, offering potential benefits for financial, environmental, and social sustainability, but also posing risks that require careful evaluation.
R and D Management · 2023
Key Findings
- 01Sharing economy models have the potential to positively impact financial, environmental, and social sustainability.
- 02There are competing processes within sharing models that can lead to both positive and negative sustainability outcomes.
- 03A dual perspective is necessary to critically analyze the relationship between sharing business models and sustainability.
Application
Design takeaway
When designing or evaluating sharing economy platforms, consider both the intended sustainability benefits and the potential for negative impacts across financial, environmental, and social dimensions, and develop strategies to manage this duality.
How to apply
Use the proposed dual-process model as a lens to critically analyze the sustainability claims of any sharing economy initiative, identifying potential areas of concern and opportunities for improvement.
Project actions
- 01When researching a sharing economy product, consider its impact on resource use, waste generation, and social equity.
- 02Develop a framework to assess the sustainability of your own design project, considering both positive and negative outcomes.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Provides a novel conceptual framework for a complex issue.
- +Integrates relevant theoretical perspectives (resource-based view, practice theory).
Limitations
It's hard to measure all the impacts of a sharing model. Some benefits might be small, while some problems could be big.
Reliability & validity
The conceptual nature of the framework limits direct assessment of reliability and validity. Future empirical studies would be needed to establish these.
Think critically
How can a sharing economy model be designed to actively mitigate its potential negative impacts while maximizing its positive contributions to sustainability?
Design Principles
"Design for dual sustainability: Proactively balance the potential benefits and risks of innovative business models across all sustainability dimensions."
Understanding this duality is crucial for designers and strategists developing new ventures or adapting existing ones. It highlights the need to move beyond simplistic assumptions of inherent sustainability and to proactively design for positive outcomes while mitigating potential negative impacts.
What This Means for Your Design
Sharing things can be good for the planet and people, but sometimes it can also cause problems. We need to look at both sides to see if it's truly sustainable.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use the concept of dual sustainability to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen design context.
- 2.Incorporate a critical evaluation of potential negative externalities of your design solution.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
The sharing economy presents a complex sustainability profile, offering potential benefits in financial, environmental, and social dimensions, yet also harboring competing processes that can lead to negative externalities. A critical, dual-perspective evaluation is therefore essential when designing or assessing such models to ensure genuine progress towards sustainability.
Source
R and D Management
How sustainable is the sharing business model? Toward a conceptual framework
journal · 2023
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about sharing economy models: a dual lens on sustainability performance?
- When designing or evaluating sharing economy platforms, consider both the intended sustainability benefits and the potential for negative impacts across financial, environmental, and social dimensions, and develop strategies to manage this duality. Evidence: R and D Management (2023).
- Why does "Sharing Economy Models: A Dual Lens on Sustainability Performance" matter for design?
- Understanding this duality is crucial for designers and strategists developing new ventures or adapting existing ones. It highlights the need to move beyond simplistic assumptions of inherent sustainability and to proactively design for positive outcomes while mitigating potential negative impacts.
- How can designers apply this research?
- When designing or evaluating sharing economy platforms, consider both the intended sustainability benefits and the potential for negative impacts across financial, environmental, and social dimensions, and develop strategies to manage this duality.
- What were the main findings?
- Sharing economy models have the potential to positively impact financial, environmental, and social sustainability.. There are competing processes within sharing models that can lead to both positive and negative sustainability outcomes.. A dual perspective is necessary to critically analyze the relationship between sharing business models and sustainability.
- What research method was used?
- Conceptual framework development.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Mixed findings, based on a 2023 journal from R and D Management.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- Use the proposed dual-process model as a lens to critically analyze the sustainability claims of any sharing economy initiative, identifying potential areas of concern and opportunities for improvement.
- What are the limitations?
- The study is conceptual and does not provide empirical validation of the proposed framework. Specific contexts may yield different sustainability outcomes.