When Sharing isn’t Sharing Anymore aka A critical view on the sharing economy

This paper starts with an explanation about what the sharing economy is defined as. The sharing economy has been there for a while but recently become more spread because of the internet. We trust people more than companies, however the intermediaries such as Airbnb, who actually facilitate transparency, infrastructureand regulation are capitalizing the share economy. Then the paper discusses more critical issues regarding the sharing economy - which was from an original utopian point of view meant as social commerce, rather than monetary incentives. Making it question whether the sharing economy is really as romantically as it is mentioned sometimes. All services are being commercialized while some should maybe not be shared or should remain non-commercialized. The sharing economy may even lead to exploitation on some ends. The paper is concluded with critical and philosophical questions for future thinking. 

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Whole Foods Market - An Example of a Food Retailer Using Social Media PART 2

This part investigates how Whole Foods Market uses social media activities in its marketing strategy to respond to the changing consumer behavior regarding food consumption. Whole Foods Market’s overall objective is to influence the potential consumers on social media in their purchase decision making, even before they decide to go to a physical grocery store.

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Social Media as Digital Cookbooks – Leveraging Web 2.0 in the Food Retail Industry PART 1

Due to today’s globalized world it is possible to experience different and new food cultures in everyday life. Exotic and unusual ingredients are available at foreign food shops but the most convenient and obvious solution for a shopper is to purchase the ingredients at the same supermarket where he does his weekly shopping. 

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