Pollution, resource depletion, and to a lesser extent, global warming called into question mass consumption. Public policies, media broadcasters, tech giants, and supranational entities (e.g., United Nations) nudged societies into alternative consumption forms that have been deemed more sustainable, such as collaborative consumption (CC). This paper aims at proposing a theoretical–empirical model that explains the materiality of sustainable collaborative practices through bike-sharing. The study further analyzes how connections, mediations, and inductions occur between individuals, platforms, and providers in bike-sharing systems of Porto Alegre in Southern Brazil and Vancouver's bike-sharing in Canada. We tracked these actants using the Actor–Network Theory through 30 interviews with consumers and managers. The findings suggest a dynamic ecosystem of mechanisms that mediate interactions and enact “sustainable collaborative consumption (SCC)” through digital solutions and physical equipment. The results illustrate that SCC is positively influenced by three avenues: (1) sustainable individual actions, (2 ) digital platforms, and (3) sustainable physical equipment.

Purpose: The study presents a dynamic and complex procedural experience performed by small microbreweries in a cluster in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Thus, this article aims to establish theoretical propositions about coopetition strategies in this context. Originality/value: One of the gaps in the organizational studies is an understanding of how the process of developing a new strategic dynamic takes place. We consider coopetition to be a process that involves narrow strategies of simultaneous coopetition and cooperation between competing firms, in different areas and levels of interaction. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative, exploratory research was conducted, using data triangulation and multiple methods. The case study technique was adopted to perform an in-depth examination of the phenomenon of secondary data collection, participant observations, and semi-structured interviews. Findings: The results showed that microbreweries are developing a strategic process of coopetition through greater sharing of resources, information, interactions, learning, and inter-organizational and intra-organizational knowledge, essentially in the stages of distribution and sales. The reports and evidence of the research showed synergy between the mechanisms and common goals found, thus demonstrating the dynamic of these small businesses.

The sharing economy (SE) includes economic, social, and technological arrangements to promote collaborative relations between users and providers willing to share assets through digital platforms (DP). Even evolving fast, there is an opportunity to discuss how DP establishes connections between users and providers and uses a digital agency to mediate and flatten consumption relations in SE. Therefore, the authors propose a framework and future research directions that explore characteristics of the actants (roles, agency, behavioral attitudes) in the process of flattening consumption relations through DP in SE (connections, mediation, induction). To structure this framework, the authors consolidated the various definitions of its main elements and adopted the actor-network theory concept of translation as the theoretical-methodological approach to analyze the associations that determined how flattening consumption relations occur in SE.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly transformed the world’s population by accelerating social, economic, market, and technological changes. In this context, the sharing economy has promoted alternative business models that transcend traditional capitalism in a digital movement disseminated by individuals, communities, and platforms that bring organizations, consumers, and providers together. Our study aims to identify and map how digital platforms based on cooperative principles can develop the sharing economy. We developed exploratory qualitative research while using netnography as a methodological procedure. First, we discuss the sharing economy based on digital platforms that foster cooperation. Second, we describe how platform cooperativism can be an alternative to the individualistic ethos of the sharing economy. Finally, we discuss alternatives with social and economic impacts to solve employment and income problems after the Covid-19 pandemic. The research contributes to the various initiatives and cooperative applications emerging in a developing country.

No início do ano de 1970, a Ford do Brasil S.A., trouxe um campeão de vendas dos USA, o Ford Maverick. O automovel caiu rapidamente no gosto popular, neste novo segmento de carros médios, passando a ter uma legião de admiradores. Esta pesquisa objetiva, a luz da teoria das cadeias meio-fim, comparar o comportamento e valores de usuários do Maverick de duas diferentes gerações em épocas diferentes: nos anos 70 quando o automóvel foi lançado, cujos principais consumidores eram da geração Baby Boomers e dos filhos de esta geração, a geração X. Para este estudo foi utilizado a técnica de laddering, com entrevistas em profundidade com 47 entrevistados, sendo 20 pertencentes a geração Baby Boomers (indivíduos nascidos entre 1940 e 1960) e os outros 27 entrevistados, nascidos entre 1970 e 1990 que fazem parte da geração X, em que seus depoimentos permitiram acomparação das gerações. Os resultados da análise de conteúdo e da análise utilizando o laddering permitiu o desenvolvimento de mapas hierárquicos dos valores respectivos de cada geração. Estes mapas deram como resultado: a geração Baby Boomers demostrou como valor fundamental para a aquisição do Maverick na época a questão da segurança financeira e motor potente V8 como maior fator motivacional para aquisição deste automóvel. No caso da geração X o estudo indicou como esperado, o valor nostalgia e saudosismo como maior impulsionador para ainda ter este automóvel, seja como colecionador ou hobby. As gerações apresentam como em comum, o valor de nostalgia e saudosismo. Os resultados sugerem novas abordagens para os estudos do comportamento de consumo e marketing geracional.