Sharing Economy vs Traditional Services [CHART]

Chart: Consumer perceptions of sharing economy services vs traditional services

Some 83% of US adults report being familiar with at least one sharing economy service used for traveling, such as AirbnB, Lyft, or HomeAway, according to a report from Ipsos and Allianz Global Assistance. That’s up from about two-thirds (66%) expressing familiarity with such services a couple of years ago.

Yet usage of these services – and trust in them – appears to be stagnant, if not declining. Slightly fewer than half (47%) plan to use one this summer, and the percentage of respondents indicating that they would be “very likely” to do so, at 19%, is a marked fall from last year’s 26%.

Moreover, there’s been a dip in trust for these services: 62% this year say they find these services to very or somewhat trustworthy, down slightly from 65% last year.

The shift in perceptions, however slight, is interesting given that two of the bigger names – Uber and Lyft, have enjoyed some recent positive momentum (albeit not without some continuing issues for Uber). For example, a YouGov report found that Lyft was one of the most improved brands in terms of positive buzz in 2017, while an analysis from NetBase indicated that Uber is the most-loved transportation brand on social media, with its new CEO having a positive effect on brand perception. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.