earticle

영어

The sharing economy (SE) has witnessed substantial growth since its inception, becoming a key component of the global economy and shaping various aspects of everyday life (Belk, 2014; Frenken & Schor, 2019; Sadiq et al., 2023; Sundararajan, 2019). Projections indicate that the global SE market will surge from 150 billion USD in 2023 to 794 billion USD by 2031, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 32 percent (Statista, 2023). SE platforms such as Swing, Airbnb, and Zipcar are now embedded in daily routines—ranging from commuting via shared bikes to booking accommodations or renting power banks while shopping. However, the expansion of the SE brings with it key challenges, especially in encouraging sustainable consumer behavior toward shared resources. Shared products tend to elicit weaker psychological ownership and identity association compared to personal possessions, which undermines one of the original promises of the SE: sustainability (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012; Belk, 2010; Botsman & Rogers, 2010). For example, car-sharing users often fail to incorporate shared vehicles into their self-concept, leading to diminished care and a reduced sense of responsibility (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012). This phenomenon poses a critical question: Can integrating shared products into a group’s extended self address this issue? For example, Zipcar personalizes its fleet by naming vehicles after notable figures from supported communities—such as LGBTQ+ icons or Black Lives Matter leaders—which may enhance user identification with the shared product and foster a stronger sense of responsibility (Lteif et al., 2024). This study introduces the concept of the "group extended self" initially proposed by Belk (1988), the extended self theory posits a deep connection between possessions and self-identity, encapsulated in the assertion, "We are what we have." While traditionally applied to material goods, this concept extends to non-material possessions, such as people, places, and experiences that contribute to one's identity. We propose that perceiving shared products as part of one's group extended self may heighten perceived social value and cultivate collective psychological ownership, ultimately encouraging consumer citizenship behaviors such as caring for and recommending the product. To test these hypotheses, we conducted an online experiment with 200 South Korean consumers recruited via Embrain. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a high group extended self condition, in which a shared electric bike was labeled with a group identity (“SEOUL E-bike”), or a neutral condition with a generic label (“UNIVERSE E-bike”). Results revealed that the group-identity framing significantly enhanced participants’ perception of the bike as part of their group extended self. This, in turn, increased their perceived social value and collective psychological ownership of the product, which subsequently boosted consumer citizenship behaviors, such as caring for and recommending the bike. Although consumers typically demonstrate low psychological attachment to shared products, which leads to reduced responsibility and engagement, our findings suggest that integrating shared products into the group extended self can significantly enhance consumer citizenship behaviors. By introducing and validating the pathway—group extended self → perceived social value → collective psychological ownership → consumer citizenship behaviors—this study offers both theoretical and practical contributions to promoting sustainable engagement in the sharing economy.