How to grow the sharing economy? Create Prosumers!

•Users are critical to leveraging the power of two-sided platform businesses such as Airbnb in the sharing economy.•This study provides a novel perspective on users by examining “one-sided users”, those who are providers (e.g., Airbnb hosts) or consumers (e.g, Airbnb guests), and their intention to becoming “prosumers” by being providers and consumers. Despite their importance, prosumers are under researched.•This study examines the roles of trust and gratitude in users’ intentions to become prosumers. Results show that one-sided users with high levels of gratitude and trust have the highest intentions to become prosumers.•Importantly, providers and consumers have different journeys towards becoming prosumers. For consumers, trust was more important in influencing their decision to become prosumers whereas for providers, it was gratitude.•This study reaffirms the importance of trust and it is the first to provide evidence that gratitude is also of key importance in the sharing economy. It clearly shows that platform operators need to treat providers and consumers differently if they wish to unleash the power of two-sided platform businesses in the sharing economy.