No matter what the name, we’re all the same? Examining ethnic online discrimination in ridesharing marketplaces

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

Sharing marketplaces emerged as the new Holy Grail of value creation by enabling exchanges between strangers. Identity reveal, encouraged by platforms, cuts both ways: While inducing pre-transaction confidence, it is suspected of backfiring on the information senders with its discriminative potential. This study employs a discrete choice experiment to explore the role of names as signifiers of discriminative peculiarities and the importance of accompanying cues in peer choices of a ridesharing offer. We quantify users’ preferences for quality signals in monetary terms and evidence comparative disadvantage of Middle Eastern descent male names for drivers and co-travelers. It translates into a lower willingness to accept and pay for an offer. Market simulations confirm the robustness of the findings. Further, we discover that females are choosier and include more signifiers of involuntary personal attributes in their decision-making. Price discounts and positive information only partly compensate for the initial disadvantage, and identity concealment is perceived negatively.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftElectronic Markets
Jahrgang32
Ausgabenummer3
Seiten (von - bis)1419-1446
Anzahl der Seiten28
ISSN1019-6781
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 09.2022
Extern publiziertJa

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© 2022, The Author(s).

DOI