ABSTRACT Objective: diffusion theory suggests that customers adopt innovation. However, no research has examined the differences between peers and the balance required of a peer-to-peer platform in the diffusion process. This article investigates whether there was a peer-to-peer balance in the diffusion process of a technological platform, represented here by the Uber case. Methods: a total of 843 Uber users, comprising 397 drivers and 446 customers, took part in a probabilistic sample survey in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The study tests the hypothesis of P2P platform diffusion balance along Rogers’ curve with Levene’s and t-test. Results: the findings are counterintuitive and unexpected. Although the authors expected passengers and drivers to show a similar predisposition for Uber’s adoption, empirical data did not confirm this. In contrast to the literature, which predicts that adoption occurs mainly in the initial phases, drivers’ predisposition showed a constant diffusion curve. Conclusions: considering the peer-to-peer platform context, this article shows that the balance between peers can still be present considering the multiple actors involved, which shows a proposition for this research. Besides, this article develops the ‘technological readiness indicator,’ thus enabling a better understanding of different empirical contexts.

Resumo O mundo passa por transformações tecnológicas que abalam sistemas produtivos, bem como bases sociais e institucionais, produzindo um ambiente organizacional e econômico de difícil compreensão. Diferentes aparatos teóricos se prestam a avaliar certas dimensões do complexo processo, seja no nível micro, meso ou macro. Nenhum deles, no entanto, parece capaz de abarcar, ao mesmo tempo, múltiplas dimensões do fenômeno. Para atingir esse objetivo, recorremos à abordagem metodológica da teoria adaptativa, que utiliza, por um lado, construtos teóricos sobre inovação disruptiva, destruição criativa e ciclos econômicos e, por outro, dados e informações sobre a emergência de plataformas tecnológicas de consumo compartilhado. A partir disso, elaboramos uma concepção teórica unificada, capaz de permitir uma análise mais compreensiva e integrada de mais de uma dimensão do processo de transformação atualmente em curso.

Abstract The world has been going through many technological transformations, which affect not only the productive systems, but also the prevailing social and institutional spheres, creating a fragmented and hard to understand scenario. Different theories aim at evaluating some specific dimensions of the complex process in course at the micro- meso- and macrolevels; however, none seems to encompass the multiple dimensions of the phenomenon concomitantly. To address such research gap, we resort to adaptive theory, which, on the one hand, turns to theoretical constructs on disruptive innovation, creative destruction and economic cycles; on the other, resorts to data and information on the emergence and proliferation of platforms for collaborative consumption. Our paper brings a unified theoretical conception, allowing a more comprehensive and integrated analysis of more than one dimension of the transformation process currently in course.