Terms of reference

The moral economy of reputation in a sharing economy platform

Bibliographic Data

ID2398178
AuthorsKarolina Mikołajewska-Zając (0000-0001-7982-9142, Koźmiński University, Warsaw, Poland, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume21
Issue2
Pages148-168
Publication date2018-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Social Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1368-4310 • E-ISSN: 1461-7137
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1368431017716287
OpenAlexW2803569412
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited35

Reputation is often seen as central to the coordination of transactions in sharing economy platforms. Participants perform a double role regarding reputation management: while engaging in exchanges with other peers, they build their individual 'reputation capital' and simultaneously execute community oversight. In Couchsurfing (CS), a network often cited as paradigmatic of the sharing economy, there is, however, a clear bias for positive references. In the digital economy literature, participants' friendly behaviour is understood as motivated by self-interest and an incentive to maintain a positive reputation. Social research on reputation in CS attributes the bias to fear of retaliation, but also hints at norms of reciprocity leading travellers to require positive feedback for hospitality. This article analyses the lived experience of reputation management in CS and argues that participants seek to reconcile direct and general reciprocity. It proposes breaking these practices down into boundary-work and creative avoidance and argues these result in insufficient protection of inexperienced participants against problematic members

Epistemology · Sociology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Philosophy · Sharing Economy and Platforms

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