Almost 8 in 10 US Adults Are Familiar With Sharing Economy Services for Travel

August 11, 2017

This article is included in these additional categories:

Customer Experience | Customer Service & Experience | Customer-Centric | Industries | Travel & Hospitality

As American adults become more familiar with sharing economy services for travel booking, they’re becoming increasingly likely to use them. That’s according to the latest annual Allianz Travel Insurance Sharing Economy Index produced in partnership with Ipsos.

The survey results show that 78% of American adults are familiar with sharing economy services used for travel, such as Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb. That’s up from 66% last year and 47% in 2015.

Familiarity has grown across all of the services tracked, including those that remain lesser-known:

  • Uber (73%, up from 35%);
  • Lyft (56%, up from 15%);
  • Airbnb (51%, up from 19% in 2015);
  • HomeAway (30%, up from 10%);
  • GetAround (18%, up from 7%).
  • Feastly (16%, up from 4%); and

Half of Adults Likely to Use At Least One Service For Summer Travel

The rising familiarity with these services has bled over into likelihood to use them. Among the adults surveyed in early May, 50% reported being very or somewhat likely to use sharing economy services for summer travel bookings. That represents another sizable increase, from 36% in 2016 and 17% in 2015.

The main advantages that adults see in sharing economy services over traditional bookings relate to better value for the money (35% for sharing services vs. 19% for traditional services) and a more authentic local experience (33% and 22%, respectively).

While more adults this year see sharing services as providing a better experience and support, traditional services still enjoy a strong perception advantage in these areas. In fact, respondents were almost twice as likely to believe that traditional services (30%) offer the best overall experience than felt the same way about sharing services (17%). Almost one-third (31%) consider the same, though, and another 22% don’t know.

Trust may be an issue: only 17% are “very trusting” of sharing economy services, though another 48% find them “somewhat” trustworthy. More than one-third (35%) claim to be less likely to use ride-sharing services following negative stories in the press.

About the Data: The results are based on an Ipsos survey of 1,009 US adults conducted from May 3-5, 2017.

45th Parallel Design Ad

Explore More Charts.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This