How Blockchain Is Redefining Ethical Marketing in the Sharing Economy

How Blockchain Is Redefining Ethical Marketing in the Sharing Economy

The sharing economy has fundamentally changed how we think about ownership, access, and value creation. From Uber and Airbnb to newer blockchain-based platforms, companies are discovering that the rules of ethical marketing are shifting beneath their feet.

While traditional sharing platforms like Uber and Airbnb have created massive value by connecting people with underutilized resources, they've also exposed significant ethical challenges. Platform workers lack real ownership of their contributions, users have limited control over their data, and value extraction often flows primarily to platform owners rather than the community of participants.

Enter blockchain technology. Unlike traditional sharing platforms that operate through centralized control, blockchain enables a new model of economic coordination that could reshape how companies approach ethical marketing entirely. Our analysis of 163 academic studies on blockchain in business reveals three fundamental shifts that forward-thinking executives need to understand.

From Platform Control to Stakeholder Empowerment

Traditional sharing platforms maintain tight control over user experiences and data. Uber drivers, for instance, have little say in how the platform operates or how their performance data is used. Their historical ratings and customer relationships exist solely within Uber's ecosystem and cannot be transferred elsewhere.

Blockchain-based platforms flip this dynamic. Users can maintain ownership and control of their data, reputation, and digital assets across multiple platforms. This shift transforms consumers from passive participants into active stakeholders with real influence over platform governance and value creation.

Consider the implications for marketing strategy. Instead of targeting passive consumers, companies must now engage with empowered prosumers who expect transparency, shared governance, and equitable value distribution. Marketing becomes less about persuasion and more about collaboration and co-creation.

From Business Model Innovation to Asset Management Revolution

Most sharing economy platforms have focused on business model innovation, finding new ways to monetize existing assets without fundamentally changing how those assets are managed or owned. Airbnb doesn't own real estate; it simply facilitates transactions between property owners and travelers.

Blockchain enables something more radical: asset tokenization and programmable ownership. Through blockchain, companies can create digital tokens representing fractional ownership of physical or digital assets. A real estate company could tokenize a building, allowing hundreds of small investors to own shares that automatically distribute rental income. A music company could tokenize song rights, letting fans directly participate in an artist's success.

This shift has profound implications for marketing. Rather than marketing access to products or services, companies can market actual ownership stakes and ongoing value participation. The relationship between company and customer becomes fundamentally different when customers are also owners.

From Centralized to Distributed Marketing Operations

Traditional marketing assumes centralized control over brand messaging, customer relationships, and value proposation. Marketing departments create campaigns, manage customer data, and measure performance from corporate headquarters.

Blockchain's distributed nature challenges this model. When multiple stakeholders across a blockchain network all contribute to value creation, marketing becomes a collaborative effort requiring input and buy-in from the entire ecosystem. Smart contracts can automatically execute marketing agreements and distribute rewards based on predetermined criteria.

This doesn't eliminate the need for marketing strategy, but it fundamentally changes how that strategy gets implemented. Successful blockchain-based companies will need to master distributed marketing operations where community members, business partners, and even competitors collaborate on shared marketing initiatives.

The Stakeholder Capitalism Advantage

These shifts point toward a broader transformation: the rise of stakeholder capitalism in digital platforms. While traditional sharing platforms primarily serve shareholders and to some extent customers, blockchain platforms can be designed to create value for all stakeholders in the ecosystem.

This creates significant competitive advantages. Blockchain platforms that successfully implement stakeholder capitalism principles see higher levels of trust, participation, and innovation from their communities. Network effects become more powerful when all participants have skin in the game.

For marketers, this means moving beyond customer acquisition and retention toward community building and ecosystem development. Success metrics expand beyond traditional marketing KPIs to include measures of stakeholder engagement, value distribution equity, and ecosystem health.

Practical Implications for Business Leaders

Companies exploring blockchain-based business models should consider several key questions:

Governance and Decision-Making: How will marketing decisions be made when stakeholders have real influence over platform operations? Companies need new frameworks for collaborative marketing strategy that maintain brand coherence while enabling distributed input.

Value Creation and Distribution: What new value propositions become possible when customers can be owners and contributors rather than just consumers? Marketing teams need to develop expertise in tokenomics and community incentive design.

Trust and Transparency: How do increased transparency requirements change marketing messaging and brand positioning? Companies must prepare for a world where supply chain data, financial flows, and operational metrics may be visible to all stakeholders.

Technical and Legal Frameworks: What regulatory and technical capabilities are needed to market in blockchain-based ecosystems? This includes understanding token regulations, smart contract capabilities, and cross-border compliance issues.

The Path Forward

The transition from traditional to blockchain-based sharing economy platforms won't happen overnight. However, companies that start building capabilities now will be better positioned for the future.

The most successful approaches will likely be hybrid models that combine the user experience advantages of traditional platforms with the transparency and stakeholder alignment benefits of blockchain technology. Companies should start by identifying specific use cases where blockchain's unique capabilities create clear value for all stakeholders.

The sharing economy has already shown us that digital platforms can create tremendous value by coordinating resources and relationships in new ways. Blockchain takes this evolution one step further, enabling new forms of ownership, governance, and value creation that could redefine what ethical marketing means in the digital age.

For business leaders, the question isn't whether these changes will happen, but how quickly their organizations can adapt to a world where stakeholders expect not just good products and services, but genuine participation in the value they help create.

Original Article: Tan, Teck Ming, and Jari Salo. "Ethical marketing in the blockchain-based sharing economy: Theoretical integration and guiding insights." Journal of Business Ethics 183, no. 4 (2023): 1113-1140. (Article Link)