Persuading reluctant customers: the online marketing communications of car sharing firms

Circular economy offers face significant difficulties when competing with traditional offers in the market. A particular challenge is the lack of consumer interest and adoption, which hinders the success of business-to-consumer (B2C) sharing business models. The study introduces an online communications framework, based on rhetoric theory, to explore how B2C car-sharing firms persuade potential customers. The framework is tested and refined through a qualitative content analysis of six major car-sharing providers in the USA and the UK. The results reveal that firms use evidence- and reason-based appeals focused on utility but have difficulty addressing consumer concerns about sharing business models, particularly regarding ownership. Interestingly, the potentially large environmental sustainability benefits of car sharing and commensurate branding are not emphasised as much as the literature on the subject would indicate; it rather appears that car-sharing firms struggle to leverage this factor in their communications. This study contributes to the literature on consumer behaviour and marketing in the circular and sharing economy by providing a theoretical perspective for understanding how firms view their offers and consumers and seek to communicate benefits and assuage worries.