Motivating Role of Digital Technology in Pet Sharing : through the Activity Theory Lens

Sammanfattning: The sharing economy refers to the activities facilitated through the digital platform that enable people to obtain, give, or share access to digital or physical resources and services. Although the sharing economy practice in the real-world is thriving and pervasive, there is a lack of scholarly work. Sharing pets activity is not a new concept, and people shares pets on digital platforms such as websites, and digital groups on social media. Sharing pets activity is different from sharing other things. Because the motivations of sharing pets are all related to the love for pets, and it is related to accessibility, ownership of pets, and interaction and relationship between human beings and pets. These particular features deserve scholarly attention. Activity Theory is applied in this study, as it shapes the way of data collection and analysis. The sharing pets practice is analyzed as individual and collective activity systems, to understand the motiving role of digital platform in sharing activity. The finding indicates that digital platform plays a crucial role in sharing activity, and according to activity, it facilitates the activity of the sharing pet in three ways: It facilitates the achievement of motive by users in each level of activity systems; it reduces the contradiction caused by the interaction of two activity system; it also promotes the transition of motives so that users can have more motives to participate in sharing pets activity.