Resoundingly Human

One of the fastest growing business trends, the sharing economy, is an economic model that involves peer-to-peer selling or sharing of goods and services that can be accessed as easily as opening an app on your smartphone. In addition to well-known examples in the transportation and hospitality industries, like Airbnb and Uber, and consumer good sales sites like eBay and Etsy, the sharing economy trend is continuing to expand into other areas, including fashion, healthcare and alternative transportation like bike and scooter sharing programs.  With the number of shared economy users in the U.S. estimated to grow to 86.5 million people by 2020, it raises questions as to its impact on the competitive landscape.   In this episode, I am joined by Hui Li, professor with Carnegie Mellon University, whose recent study in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, “Competitive Dynamics in the Sharing Economy: An Analysis in the Context of Airbnb and Hotels,” explored the impact of Airbnb and the sharing economy overall on the hospitality industry, with some unexpected results.