• Analyzing the Trust Mechanism of the Sharing Economy Based on Innovation Diffusion Theory and Innovation Resistance Theory

Abstract

In the modern Internet sharing economy, any idle resources can be rented out. Skills, spaces, physical assets, and other assets can all be traded. This study employed innovation diffusion theory to explain how the sharing economy permeates and spreads into people’s lives. Innovation resistance theory was used to explain how rating mechanisms reduce risks for people participating in the sharing economy. Subsequently, this study referred to social exchange theory to investigate how people offer rewards to one another to form the trust mechanism required for the sharing economy. This study performed a case analysis on four firms providing four types of idle spaces. The theoretical mechanisms developed in this study were applied to establish a model of innovation diffusion in the sharing economy that reduces resistance and enhances trust. When mutual trust is established among people, the effects of the sharing economy can connect and cohere people through the power of Internet technologies, thereby facilitating the spread of mutual recommendations and trust among people worldwide, and thus creating value.

Keywords: Innovation Diffusion Theory, Innovation Resistance Theory, Sharing Economy, Trust Mechanism