The role of legitimacy and reputation judgments in users’ selection of service providers on sharing economy platforms

Yann Truong (1) , Claire-Lise Ackermann (2) , Richard Klink (3)

1 BSB - Burgundy School of Business (BSB) - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Dijon Bourgogne (ESC)
2 ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business
3 Loyola University [Maryland, Baltimore]

Information systems literature suggests that reputation is the main judgment form that captures user-related information online. Drawing on social judgment literature, we contend that a user's online characteristics and past actions are not all reputation-based, but also legitimacy-based, and that transaction stake determines whether users will use reputation or legitimacy judgment to evaluate other users. Using Airbnb, we show that level of stake in a transaction determines the judgment form (reputation or legitimacy) that guests resort to when evaluating a host. Moreover, we find that providing extensive information on a host to potential guests in low-stake transactions is counterproductive.

Mots clés: Sharing economy; Platform; Social judgment; Legitimacy; Reputation

Domaines: Sciences de l'information et de la communication

Yann Truong, Claire-Lise Ackermann, Richard Klink. The role of legitimacy and reputation judgments in users’ selection of service providers on sharing economy platforms. Information and Management, 2021, 58 (8), pp.103529. ⟨10.1016/j.im.2021.103529⟩. ⟨hal-03412788⟩