THE SHARING ECONOMY IN THE OPINION OF POLISH CONSUMERS

Abstract

This article is devoted to the issue of the sharing economy. In Poland, the sharing economy is a relatively new area but with high development dynamics. Therefore, the paper aims to answer the question: „is Polish society ready to adopt the sharing economy concept?”
In Poland, there is a research gap in the context of the sharing economy. The phenomenon of collective consumption concerning Polish consumers is a relatively new area that requires careful research . For this purpose, a pilot study was used with the use of the diagnostic survey method using the questionnaire survey technique.
The presented research results show that 39.7% of the respondents have come across the sharing economy concept. However, ignorance of the concept does not mean that the respondents did not use services based on the assumptions of the sharing economy. 56.7% of respondents used at least one service provided by the sharing economy. There is a visible relationship between the respondents’
age and education and their awareness of the sharing economy. The highest knowledge of the sharing economy was found in the age group under 36 and among respondents with higher education. Most of the respondents support the directions of activities presented by the sharing economy and use its services.
The conducted research is of a pilot nature. However, it allows drawing attention to an important issue in the acceptance of new solutions related to the application of the sharing economy by the older generation of Polish consumers. This is a field for further research on a much wider research sample.