Using Other People’s Things: Collaborative Consumption, Norms, and Implicit Bias

By Teresa Irene Gonzales

Over that past few weeks, my mother and eldest brother mentioned that they could not do what I’m doing. You see, this summer I’m spending time in Chicago to finish up data collection for an on-going project. Since I’m only going to be in the city for a few months, I’m renting a furnished condo that belongs to a woman I’ve never met. In fact, I’ve never even spoken to her; all of our communication happens via email. I think she’s traveling for the summer, but I don’t really know. I sit on her couch, watch her television, use her dishes, sleep on her bed, write blog posts using her desk, et cetera. It’s this intimate interaction with a stranger’s space and things that creeps out my family members. They can’t fathom allowing a stranger to use their home while they’re gone; and they can’t imagine how I’m able to stay in a stranger’s house.

When researching places to stay for the summer, I was focused on finding a place that was furnished and affordable. The thought of using another person’s things never once crossed my mind.

As a person who travels frequently, these kinds of housing options allow me to easily move between places and states without worrying about transporting all of my own things. Part of what makes shared housing so easy to access is the growth of the sharing-economy.

As Karen Sternheimer notes in a previous post, collaborative consumption (or the sharing economy) is not a new phenomenon. Think of yard sales, second-hand stores, and the hiring of young people to mow one’s lawn, lift heavy objects, or babysit one’s children. What is new is the platform, the ease of connection to others who engage in collaborative consumption, and the expansion of certain services.

Juho Hamari, Mimmi Sjöklint, and Antti Ukkonen found in a recent study that collaborative consumption has grown due to the spread of websites that promote these types of activities. For these researchers, collaborative consumption can be understood as “peer-to-peer-based activity of obtaining, giving, or sharing the access to goods and services, coordinated through community-based online services.”

This definition expands our thinking of the sharing-economy as something that might exist outside of a market transaction (although this is still a possibility, for instance Sternheimer talks about a hiking tour where the guide shares his knowledge as a way to meet new friends). Many people, for instance, use Craigslist, eBay, Uber, Airbnb, Kickstarter, local Freecycle groups, Sabbatical Homes, and Couchsurfing, to name a few online sources. These websites allow individuals to engage in sustainable consumption practices, purchase items locally, support the economic activity of their neighbors, and, oftentimes, save money.    

In some instances, these platforms – whether intentionally or not – have opened up access to certain services to a wider, more diverse audience. Uber’s relatively anonymous platform (it does have one’s name listed, although without a picture) has made it easier for Black and Latin@/x riders to catch a ride. In addition, drawing from anecdotal evidence from my sister and I, it is often difficult to hail a cab in majority Black and Latin@/x communities within Chicago. This is not the case when it comes to Uber. In addition, according to a self-study conducted by Uber, when comparing taxi services to Uber, researchers found that Uber is both a quicker and cheaper option for passengers in low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

While some collaborative consumption services open up access, issues of racial bias have emerged with other sharing-economy websites. For instance, the hashtag #Airbnbwhileblack highlights the difficulties that African-Americans encounter when trying to book a room on Airbnb. A recent study by Harvard researchers Benjamin G. Edelman and Michael Luca also finds that African Americans often must charge less and are more often penalized than non-Blacks for offering similar housing options.

A 2014 article in Salon outlines the importance of considering implicit bias – beliefs and attitudes that operate on a subconscious level and result in bias – in thinking about who has access to the sharing economy. Unlike explicit bias, where one may engage in derogatory remarks, or actively refuse someone access to a service based on their race, gender, sexuality, religion, et cetera, implicit bias operates under the surface and is difficult to identify. It is created by the insidious narratives about marginalized peoples and communities that pervade our society, socialize our ways of thinking and being, and frame our social interactions. It is also, oftentimes, invisible. This means that one may not realize that she/he is engaging in implicit bias.

As more people engage in the sharing economy, the norms we have around sharing our spaces and things will begin to change. Yet, in thinking about how collaborative consumption may open up opportunities for access to services and ways to save money, we also have to think about how our current prejudices frame these options. We have to ask: who are we willing to share with, and why?

Comments

[Erilyn Adams]

I have really enjoyed reading this blog post. Today, the sharing economy is becoming more and more popular. I even go to Goodwill or stores which sell used items and buy from there. Today one of the biggest things is shopping online. Used items can be bought online too. As far as using someone's apartment while they are away, personally I do not feel comfortable with that. I would also feel uncomfortable with the fact that you never met this person or talked to her face to face, just through email.
This article used sociology because the author talked about how ethnicities affect certain parts of the sharing economy. I believe there are many ways to save money and get items second hand. I do not believe that the news necessarily promotes or advertises the act of buying used items or going to garage sales. I do believe this sharing economy is accessible for everyone. I also think that the news, commercials on televisions and other places need to promote going to garage sales and thrift stores.
Using Other People’s Things: Collaborative Consumption, Norms, and Implicit Bias By: Teresa Irene Gonzales

[here]

I usually buy things on garage sales. I don't find it miserable to buy them in second hand shops too. It's just about our prejudices, I think.
Cheers,
Heredith Megan Kerst

[writingacoverletterguide]

Collaboration is the new name for teamwork. As they say, it takes two to tango and in your case three to tango. If I run out of ideas, I gather my family in the living room and I asked each and every head for an input and from there we brainstorm on what is the next best thing to do. If I run out of creative juice, I borrow some ingenuity in them and from there I'll get a new grasp of what my next project is.

[here]

I usually buy things on garage sales. I don't find it miserable to buy them in second hand shops too. It's just about our prejudices, I think.

[here]

Hello, thank you very much for a very fascinating post and informative information about joint consumption, I was interested in reading it. Learned a lot of interesting and informative things. I will use your advice in my daily life.