Variety and Success of Business Models in the Dutch Peer Economy

Abstract

Peer economy businesses have emerged in recent years as a promising development to disrupt mainstream consumerism and contribute to the minimalization of resource use. Moreover, the peer economy is imposing new ways of doing business, thereby posing a threat to traditional businesses. Unsurprisingly, the phenomenon has gained increased attention from both researchers and practitioners. Despite this surge and interest, there is a lack of empirical research regarding the diversity and success of peer economy business models. This study addresses this void by mapping the Dutch peer economy and investigating whether complementarities between business model elements explain their performance. For this, the business models of 88 Dutch peer economy initiatives are operationalized and analyzed. Based on this data, a taxonomy comprising of five groups of business models that account for the total collection of empirically-relevant business models across the Dutch peer economy is revealed. In addition, this study produces no convincing evidence that the complementarities between business model elements predict higher levels of success. This study ends with a discussion of the results and its implications, and suggests a number of future research directions.