Abstract

Bank Credit Suisse estimates that the total turnover of businesses in the sharing economy will increase from $15 billion in 2013 to up to $335 billion in 2025, and already millions of people around the world are planning their city trips by staying overnight with private hosts or borrowing a private car for the weekend. This paper deals with this type of business models that promote the exchange of tangible and intangible resources between private individuals (peer-to-peer or P2P business models). The question of how profit-oriented P2P business models are characterised and what challenges they face is explored in order to fill the existing research gap for these still young business model types and to provide recommendations for action in the further development or start-up of P2P companies. With the multiple case study approach, the thesis pursues a qualitative research methodology in which four P2P business models are examined in more detail. Based on the analysis of the literature on two-sided markets and business models, the Business Model Canvas (BMC) by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2011) was selected as the framework for investigating the characteristics of P2P business models. Challenges are identified through problem-centred interviews with the practice partners, for which the challenges of two-sided markets, such as the chicken-and-egg problem or the creation of trust, are first examined and then verified in the interviews. As an interim result of the empirical analysis, a generic BMC for profit-oriented P2P business models with their typical characteristics was developed. With regard to the challenges, typical problems of P2P platforms were identified with the help of the interviews, which both influence the business models externally and are rooted in them. These include challenges such as the emergence of a grey market, the changing quality of offers, legal framework conditions, the creation of trust with new members and uncertainty on the part of providers when setting prices.

Authors