Turning private possessions into assets: A calculative-based approach to platform versus proximity rentals

Dominique Roux and Russell Belk

Journal of Business Research, 2025, vol. 193, issue C

Abstract: While previous research has examined economic motivations for renting personal possessions, the calculative processes owners use remain understudied. We explored how consumers calculate and repurpose their possessions as assets. Through a qualitative analysis of interviews with seven Airbnb hosts and 37 owners renting various possessions, plus 154 Facebook posts from ‘Airbnb propriétaires France,’ we identified four key calculative operations: extraction, qualification, computation, and protection. Our findings reveal a dual pathway—platforms and closed circles—through which mundane possessions become profitable, despite owners’ suboptimal calculations. By including the protection and selective exclusion of possessions, we extend the sociological theory of calculation and improve our understanding of proximity rentals. Overall, calculation generates three benefits: economically, as owners always consider rental revenues significant; ecologically, as even small compensation motivates owners to circulate private goods; and socially, as mutual exchanges between strangers and acquaintances escape gift economy constraints and debt obligations.

Keywords: Assetization; Calculation; Rentiership; Collaborative consumption; Platform rentals; Proximity rentals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296325001766
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:193:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325001766

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115353

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside

More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().