ABSTRACT
Consumer behavior across a spectrum of markets is experiencing a powerful disruptive paradigm shift. Driven by limited natural resources, expanding middle-class, outdated business models, and pressures to reduce wastage, consumers are moving from a sole-ownership, to a shared-ownership model with guaranteed access. While many companies are already active in this space, including BMW, Daimler, Fiat, Peugeot, Volkswagen, and Renault, much work remains to be done. Analytics and tools to help design collaborative consumption services do not exist to any significant degree. Finally, general platforms for bringing together communities, and aggregating and federating informed consumers, in a manner that addresses the contractual, liabilities and privacy aspects of users, to create virtual super-users for the purpose of negotiation.
