Peer-to-peer interactions: Perspectives of Airbnb guests and hosts

In peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation settings such as Airbnb, social interactions between peers are distinctively different from those between guests and employees in conventional lodging establishments. This study focuses on a reciprocal aspect of social interactions in P2P accommodations and aims to: 1) explore how guests and hosts perceive online and face-to-face interactions between them and 2) investigate the association between P2P interactions and some outcome variables (encounter satisfaction, word-of-mouth intention, and continuous intention to use) based on the roles of guest and host. A total of 503 responses from an online research panel were analyzed. The results show that guests perceive overall interaction experiences more positively than do hosts. Moreover, guests and hosts place weight on different interaction factors that contribute to their satisfaction and behavioral intentions. This study sheds light on the reciprocal interactions between guests and hosts, providing important theoretical and practical implications for the P2P lodging experience.     

The formation and functioning of the Airbnb neo-tribe. Exploring peer-to-peer accommodation host groups

Some Airbnb host communities display the characteristics of neotribes. The neo-tribe literature offers rich insights into the life of a neo-tribe, but their formation and ongoing functioning remain under-researched. This paper investigates these issues using a netnographic approach that explored the formation and practices of a Tasmanian Airbnb Host Forum. The results reveal the reason for its formation and the functions of the neo-tribe, particularly as a support mechanism for hosts and defiance against perceived marginalisation by the tourism industry that has refused to embrace hosts; residents who viewed hosts as traitors; the government who regulates their entrepreneurial activities; and the media who vilified them. This study contributes to theory by developing knowledge on the stages of neotribal formation, and the influence that these stages have upon the ongoing function of the tribe.     

Peer-to-peer accommodation experience and guest actual recommendations: A novel mixed-method approach

Obtaining recommendations from guests is critical for Airbnb hosts to thrive in the peer-to-peer accommodation business. By extracting the dominant aspects of the Airbnb experience and the guests' sentiment ratings in online comments, this study examines the impact of the aspects and sentiment on guest actual recommendations. A novel mixed-method was adopted to analyse the online reviews of Airbnb guests in Los Angeles, USA. The text-mining results reveal that hosts, location, and amenities are the dominant aspects of the guests' Airbnb experience. Results show that the guests' sentiment ratings for hosts and amenities have significant impacts on the guests' recommendations, while location only influences the private-room guests' recommendations. This study contributes to the extant literature by offering an innovative methodological approach to building the link between experience aspects and guest actual recommendations.     

When Western hosts meet Eastern guests: Airbnb hosts' experience with Chinese outbound tourists

As the number of Chinese tourists using Airbnb for their holiday accommodation is steadily increasing, this study investigates western Airbnb hosts' experiences with Chinese outbound tourists. In an analysis of hosts' self-reported posts on the Airbnb community forum, the main issues that emerged relate to Chinese guests' daily habits and lifestyles, cultural differences, and language barriers. This research highlights the role that cultural differences and tradition play in guest–host encounters, and offers a theoretical framework on inter-cultural host–guest relationship that provides an initial understanding of this phenomenon. This study extends the knowledge on the host–guest paradigm in the peer-to-peer accommodation literature from an inter-cultural perspective. This article also launches the Annals of Tourism Research Curated Collection on Peer-to-peer accommodation networks, a special selection of research in this field.     

Hosts’ online affinities and their impacts on the number of online reviews on peer-to-peer platforms

Different from traditional hotels, hosts' affinity is an essential feature of homestays. This study uncovers how Airbnb hosts demonstrate their affinity online through the data from 114,310 listings, and examines the relationship between hosts' affinity and the number of reviews, as well as the moderating role of hosts' affinity in the associations among sub-ratings, host listings count, and the number of reviews. The findings indicate a positive link between hosts' affinity and the number of reviews. Guests tend to assign higher overall scores to homestays with poor performance but high affinity, and may alter their homestay attribute requirements in future reservation decisions. Hosts' affinity from guest reviews has greater direct and moderating effects on the number of reviews than hosts' self-statements. Interestingly, hosts' affinity from guest reviews can reduce the guests' requirements for homestay attributes of multiple listings. Meanwhile, hosts’ affinity displayed by host self-statements exhibits the opposite moderating effects.     

Be a “Superhost”: The importance of badge systems for peer-to-peer rental accommodations

Many sharing-economy websites like Airbnb that offer vacation-rental options for travelers are very popular. However, few studies targeting the vacation-rental industry have investigated online reviews. To narrow this gap, this study focuses mainly on the gamification design developed by Airbnb that awards a “Superhost” badge to hosts who receive good reviews and observes how this can impact an accommodation's review volume and ratings. All available information regarding Airbnb accommodation offered in Hong Kong was retrieved from Airbnb's website. We then constructed a negative binomial model and a Tobit model with different independent variables and controlled a set of variables relating to accommodation characteristics. The results show that an accommodation with the “Superhost” badge is more likely to receive reviews and higher ratings. In addition, guests are willing to spend more on “Superhost” accommodations. Based on our findings, we present implications for research and host practice.     

Stranger-danger? Understanding the moderating effects of children in the household on non-hosting residents' emotional solidarity with Airbnb visitors,feeling safe,and support for Airbnb

Airbnb has been portrayed as making neighborhoods significantly less safe where hosts are operating. However, the evidence has been mainly anecdotal. The present study developed a model of non-hosting residents' emotional solidarity with Airbnb visitors, their sense of feeling safe, and support for Airbnb hosts. Results indicated that non-hosting residents who had higher emotional solidarity with Airbnb visitors were more supportive of Airbnb hosts. Also, economic benefits and place attachment were significant antecedents to emotional solidarity. Considering the protection motivation theory, results of group modeling indicated the sense of feeling safe was an important factor for non-hosting residents with children living in their household, attributed to parental fear of visitors around children (i.e., “stranger danger”). The sense of feeling safe was a significant mediating factor influencing support for Airbnb hosts in the non-hosting residents group with children living in their households.     

共享民宿空间集聚特征及其影响机制研究——以北京市Airbnb为例

在构建“双循环”新发展格局的时代背景下,共享民宿的科学布局对有效释放旅游市场需求潜力,促进国内大循环的畅通和发展,具有积极的意义。本文以北京市Airbnb为例,综合运用空间分析和地理探测器等方法探究了共享民宿的空间集聚特征及其影响机制。结果表明：（1） Airbnb在空间上呈显著的集聚分布,整体上表现出“大集聚、小分散”的空间形态,形成4个明显的高密度核心区;（2） 置信度高于99 %的热点区所占比重最大,主要集聚在市中心周围至东四环附近地区,且Airbnb与其他相关地理要素存在不同程度的空间集聚;（3） 休闲娱乐设施数量、距市中心距离和公共服务设施数量等因素的解释力较强,双因子交互作用的解释力均强于单因子,休闲娱乐设施数量对因子交互作用的影响最大;（4） 在影响机制中,房东作为供给者,其选址行为和主观意愿为基础因素;房客作为需求方,其多样化的需求成为主导因素;政府作为监管者,其宏观调控举措是调节因素;平台作为管理者,其战略决策和市场推广是引导因素。不同利益主体之间的耦合交互与权衡制约,各类要素在不同发展阶段的综合作用,最终形成了影响共享民宿空间集聚特征的合力。     

Exploring Airbnb service quality attributes and their asymmetric effects on customer satisfaction

With the rise of the sharing economy, Airbnb has become the predominant example of the online peer-to-peer accommodation market in the hospitality industry. This study adopts a mixed method approach to systematically and comprehensively capture various service aspects of Airbnb. Two main studies are conducted to identify key service quality (SQ) attributes of Airbnb, verify the dimensionality of the SQ attributes, and examine the effects of these attributes on customer satisfaction (CS). The first qualitative study generated a list of SQ attributes by collecting and analyzing 16,430 online reviews. In the second study, online survey (N = 322) is conducted to identify multiple dimensions of SQ attributes and examine their asymmetric effects on CS using impact-range performance analysis and impact asymmetry analysis. Findings suggest that Airbnb has multiple SQ attributes associated with website, host, and facility that produce distinctive effects on CS.     

The application of Aristotle’s rhetorical theory to the sharing economy: an empirical study of Airbnb

ABSTRACT

Sharing economy businesses require extensive trust-based communication between users and service providers to facilitate users’ positive persuasion processes. Based on Aristotle’s rhetorical theory, this study identifies three key persuasive cues (credibility, emotional bonding, and accommodation characteristics) and validates their roles in establishing users’ trust in an Airbnb setting. The moderating role of interactivity is further analyzed. Research findings from a survey sample of 171 Airbnb users indicate that persuasive cues are positively associated with trust in Airbnb hosts, which significantly leads to Airbnb brand trust. Interestingly, the moderating role of interactivity is only found in the relationship between emotional bonding and trust in Airbnb hosts. This study contributes to a better understanding of the factors that affect users’ trust building in the sharing economy context, and it offers guidance for platform providers to better operate their businesses by highlighting the important roles of persuasive cues and interactivity in users’ trust-building processes.     

Core and supplemental elements of hospitality in the sharing economy: Insights from semantic and tonal cues in Airbnb property listings

Advances in peer-to-peer sharing, made popular by platforms like Airbnb, have altered previous conceptualizations of the lodging hospitality product. This study performs semantic and tonal analyses on a large-scale dataset collected from Airbnb. Our results support a concept of lodging hospitality that comprises core products and services, supplemental customer care, and a third factor we term ‘host sharing.’ Furthermore, the study offers insight into the topics and rhetorical tactics currently defining lodging hospitality marketing on the Airbnb platform. These findings can be used to provide guidance for Airbnb hosts to provide suitable information in their listings.     

When work and life boundaries are blurred—P2P accommodation hosts’ work-life integration and consequences

Being a peer-to-peer accommodation host (P2P host) has become a popular career choice in China due to its believed advantages in balancing work and life. This option, however, has blurred the boundary between work and life and has been known to elicit a series of negative consequences in both domains. Building on boundary theory and conservation of resources theory, this study proposed and examined how work-life integration can influence P2P hosts’ perceived work-family conflict, role overload, emotional depletion, and social exchanges with customers. Using data collected from 304 P2P hosts in China, the findings of the study found that work-life integration can lead to higher levels of role overload, work-family conflict, and emotional depletion of hosts, which in turn affect their social exchange with customers.     

Airbnb 2.0: Is it a sharing economy platform or a lodging corporation?

Research on Airbnb has provided significant evidence that it has an adverse impact on hotel performance. However, the impact of a more recent Airbnb-related phenomenon that remains under-explored is the increasing professionalization of Airbnb and the prevalence of multi-unit hosts who offer more than one listing on the platform and are typically more dynamic in terms of issues like managing inventory and providing more standardized experiences. This professionalization begs the question of whether Airbnb should be considered a sharing economy platform or a lodging corporation (Airbnb 2.0). To answer this question, the present study identifies which types of Airbnb properties (entire homes, private rooms, or shared rooms) and host structures (single- or multi-unit hosts) are the biggest threats to traditional lodging companies in the U.S., and which states are most affected by the presence of Airbnb. The findings have significant implications for researchers and many practitioners associated with the phenomenon.     

Examining the direct and interaction effects of picture color cues and textual cues related to color on accommodation-sharing platform rental purchase

Given the increasing popularity of peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation-sharing platforms (i.e., Airbnb), this paper aims to explore the effects of both picture color cues and textual cues related to color (TCC) on rental decisions made on these platforms in China. Based on cue utilization theory, this paper distinguishes picture color cues signaled from photos listed by hosts and TCC signaled from online guest reviews. The paper conducts an empirical study using data crawled from Xiaozhu.com. The research model is tested with poisson regression using 2520 valid listings collected in Guangzhou and is verified with additional data collected in Shanghai. Results show that both picture color cues and TCC affect rental transactions. Properties displayed with warm-colored pictures are more likely to be rented than those with cold-colored pictures. In addition, the consistency of picture color cues and TCC is found to have a significant impact on rental decisions. Interestingly, we also found an invert-U effect of brightness on rental purchase.     

Sources of distrust: Airbnb guests' perspectives

The present study explores sources of distrust in the Airbnb context. The study focuses on Airbnb customers' negative reviews posted in English on Trustpilot's website. The search for posts was employed with the keyword ‘trust’ to find online narratives from customers who had negative experiences of trust with Airbnb. Of the 2733 online reviews screened, the study concentrated on 216 negative reviews. The data analysis followed the grounded theory approach, which resulted in two themes that reflect the sources of distrust: Airbnb's poor customer service and the hosts' unpleasant behaviour. The managerial implications are that Airbnb should invest additional resources into minimising customers' negative experiences by focusing on trust-based relationships and maintaining quality in its core service elements. When customers report their complaints, their concerns should be addressed with prompt apologies, positive actions, and a willingness to compensate these customers to neutralise their distrust in the company.     

Do Airbnb’s “Superhosts” deserve the badge? An empirical study from China

The “Superhost” badge is that Airbnb entitles the host provides good services. This study verifies Airbnb’s “Superhost” mechanism by applying text mining technologies, combined with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and K-Means, to the entire dataset of tourists’ online reviews of Hangzhou city, China. Six kinds of hosts’ good services are identified, including “Three Meals or Night Snacks,” “Fruits, Drinks or Snacks,” “Travel Guides,” “Free Shuttle or Helping with Luggage,” “Chats,” and “Replies or Communications.” The study reveals the minority of “Superhosts” are mentioned of providing the majority of six kinds of good services, which means “Superhosts” do deserve the badge.     

Pricing in the sharing economy: a hedonic pricing model applied to Airbnb listings

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the impact of a variety of variables on the rates published for Airbnb listings in five large metropolitan areas in Canada. The researchers applied a hedonic pricing model to 15,716 Airbnb listings. As expected, the results show that physical characteristics, location, and host characteristics significantly impact price. Interestingly, more reviews are associated with a drop in price. This information is useful to hosts who are forming a pricing strategy for their listings as well as for Airbnb, who needs to support them. The paper raises important questions about pricing in the sharing economy and suggests avenues for future research in this area.     

网络点评对民宿顾客住宿意愿的影响——信任的中介作用探讨

网络点评是影响民宿顾客住宿意愿的重要因素。本研究以信任理论为基础,从顾客需求视角探讨民宿顾客对网络平台的信任和对民宿主人的信任在网络点评和民宿顾客住宿意愿之间的作用。研究发现:(1)网络点评对民宿顾客住宿意愿的直接影响效应显著;(2)顾客信任的二维度(对网络平台的信任和对民宿主人的信任)在网络点评和民宿顾客住宿意愿之间起串联中介作用,但是顾客信任的两个维度不能单独在网络点评和民宿顾客住宿意愿之间起中介作用。本研究揭示了网络点评对民宿顾客住宿意愿的作用路径,为民宿营销提供了新视角。     

Does Airbnb impact non-hosting Residents' quality of life? Comparing media discourse with empirical evidence

In addition to disrupting the hotel industry, Airbnb has been portrayed in the media as significantly diminishing the quality of life of residents in neighborhoods where it is available. There is little empirical research to support such rhetoric, particularly as provided by the residents themselves. To address this gap, the present study uses the social exchange theory framework to develop and test two alternative models of residents' attitudes towards Airbnb. Findings indicate that residents are generally positive towards Airbnb, perceiving higher positive than negative impacts. Moreover, those residents who possess more knowledge of Airbnb, engage more with their communities, and perceive potential benefits from Airbnb also perceive higher positive impacts, while the need for regulation serves as the key determinant of residents' perceptions of Airbnb's negative impacts. The positive impacts, in turn, have a stronger direct effect on residents' support for Airbnb, and tourism more generally, than the dampening effect of Airbnb's negative impacts. Quality of life was not found to have a significant mediating effect on these relationships, a finding that contradicts previous discourse and opens up avenues for future research on the role of this important construct.     

Employing structural topic modelling to explore perceived service quality attributes in Airbnb accommodation

This study employs the structural topic model to extract service quality attributes from 242,020 Airbnb reviews in Malaysia. 22 service related topics were extracted from the corpus and four topics have not appeared in previous Airbnb studies. A widely used modified SERVQUAL questionnaire (MSQ) is cross-validated in this study by comparing its service quality attributes with the results of the topic modelling, which indicates that this MSQ can cover general Airbnb service quality attributes. This study also examines the different preferences of Malaysian and international Airbnb users and the changing patterns of the top six service quality attributes during a five-year period. The findings reveal that Malaysian Airbnb users care more about the appearance and location of the property, and international Airbnb users pay more attention to whether the property can accommodate a group of people. In addition, communication with the host is found to play an increasingly important role in Airbnb users’ lodging experiences.