How do companies organize nascent markets? The BlaBlaCar case in the inter-city shared mobility market

Abstract

This study explores how an online market platform, BlaBlaCar, has been able to organize the nascent market of inter-city shared mobility. Data were gathered via three in-depth interviews with BlaBlaCar's managers, more than two hundred newspaper articles and other archival information. Using an inductive qualitative approach, the case analysis reveals that in claiming, demarcating and controlling the market, BlaBlaCar has adopted a unique course of action while also leveraging on specific social media functional building blocks for creating, extending and locking-in the community of its users. The study concludes with implications for both management theory and practice.