Challenging a $22B Industry: Agapi Boat Club and the Economics of Not Owning
(2025) NEKH02 20251Department of Economics
- Abstract
- This study looks at how Agapi Boat Club, a company that offers boats through a membership service, affects consumer behavior in the boating industry. Instead of owning a boat, members pay to access a fleet of boats across different locations. This research explores whether people are choosing membership instead of owning a boat, and what this change means for the boating market.
To find out, we combined economic theory with interviews. We talked to members, staff, investors, and others connected to the club. We then used theories like substitute goods, transaction costs, risk preferences, and network effects to analyze the answers. We found that many members joined Agapi because it removes the hassle of owning a boat, such as... (More) - This study looks at how Agapi Boat Club, a company that offers boats through a membership service, affects consumer behavior in the boating industry. Instead of owning a boat, members pay to access a fleet of boats across different locations. This research explores whether people are choosing membership instead of owning a boat, and what this change means for the boating market.
To find out, we combined economic theory with interviews. We talked to members, staff, investors, and others connected to the club. We then used theories like substitute goods, transaction costs, risk preferences, and network effects to analyze the answers. We found that many members joined Agapi because it removes the hassle of owning a boat, such as maintenance, storage, and high costs. They also like the variety and ease of booking. At the same time, some still value ownership and feel limited by not having full control over the boats.
The results show that Agapi’s model has a real impact on how people think about boating. It offers a more flexible and lower-risk way to enjoy boats, which can be attractive for both new and experienced users. Our findings suggest that sharing models like this one could be part of a bigger change in the leisure market, where access becomes more important than ownership. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9194579
- author
- Asplund, Sebastian LU and Persson, Adam LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- NEKH02 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Sharing Economy, Ownership, Access, Usership & Frictions
- language
- English
- id
- 9194579
- date added to LUP
- 2025-09-12 09:15:03
- date last changed
- 2025-09-12 09:15:03
@misc{9194579,
abstract = {{This study looks at how Agapi Boat Club, a company that offers boats through a membership service, affects consumer behavior in the boating industry. Instead of owning a boat, members pay to access a fleet of boats across different locations. This research explores whether people are choosing membership instead of owning a boat, and what this change means for the boating market.
To find out, we combined economic theory with interviews. We talked to members, staff, investors, and others connected to the club. We then used theories like substitute goods, transaction costs, risk preferences, and network effects to analyze the answers. We found that many members joined Agapi because it removes the hassle of owning a boat, such as maintenance, storage, and high costs. They also like the variety and ease of booking. At the same time, some still value ownership and feel limited by not having full control over the boats.
The results show that Agapi’s model has a real impact on how people think about boating. It offers a more flexible and lower-risk way to enjoy boats, which can be attractive for both new and experienced users. Our findings suggest that sharing models like this one could be part of a bigger change in the leisure market, where access becomes more important than ownership.}},
author = {{Asplund, Sebastian and Persson, Adam}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Challenging a $22B Industry: Agapi Boat Club and the Economics of Not Owning}},
year = {{2025}},
}