Should A Sharing Platform Invest In Self-Fulfillment Products?

The emergence of a sharing economy increases the utilization of existing products/services and reduces the consumption of new resources. We develop an analytical model to study whether a sharing platform should invest in self-fulfillment products or not and that the platform how to choose from three business modes. We consider two factors (i.e. consumers' type and product's cost) that effect the outcomes. We find that when the proportion of high-type consumers is high enough, B2P (i.e. fully self-fulfillment mode) is the optimal mode for the sharing platform; when the proportion of two types of consumers is approximately equivalent, B2P and P2P (i.e. fully collaborative consumption among consumers) are the optional optimal modes: when the product cost is low or high, P2P is the optimal mode, when the product cost is moderate, B2P is the optimal mode; When the proportion of high-type consumers is low, B2P and hybrid mode are the optional optimal modes: when the product cost is low or high, hybrid mode is the optimal mode, when the product cost is moderate, B2P is the optimal model. Our research enriches the theory of sharing economy and offers some guidelines for the sharing platforms in practice. For sharing platforms that provide instant services, the openness of the platform and whether to provide self-fulfillment products can be determined according to the preference of consumers and the product cost.