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New Quarterly IA Research Shows Consumer Preferences For Carsharing For The First Time

“Our newest survey question shows the potential of peer-to-peer to carsharing services. Consumers have only a weak preference for traditional car rentals, indicating a big opportunity for growth.”

Christopher Hooton, IA Chief Economist

Washington, DC — Internet Association today released the Q1 2020 (Q3 2019 data) IA Industry Indicators Report (3I Report), which provides quarterly indicators for the internet sector. This quarter’s report features a deep-dive on consumer preferences for peer-to-peer carsharing services compared to traditional rentals. The survey found that nearly 10 percent of Americans are using peer-to-peer carsharing services.

“IA’s Internet User Sentiment survey continues to yield fascinating results about how Americans integrate online platforms and services into their lives,” IA Chief Economist Christopher Hooton. “Our newest survey question shows the potential of peer-to-peer to carsharing services. Consumers have only a weak preference for traditional car rentals, indicating a big opportunity for growth.”

Key findings from the report include:

  • Nearly 10 percent of Americans say they now use peer-to-peer carsharing services, according to IA’s newest Internet Sentiment Survey question. A combined 8.6 percent of Americans use peer-to-peer carsharing as much, or more, than traditional car rentals.
  • Consumers have a weak, but consistent preference for car rentals over peer-to-peer car sharing services. This preference level remained relatively flat over the past three quarters and is similar in overall levels to other internet preference questions in our survey.
  • Historical data from other survey questions indicates that there’s room for growth for peer-to-peer carsharing. Many of the other sentiment indexes have shown steady growth since IA began collecting data in Q1 2018 through today

To read the full report, click here.

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