Exploring Service Quality among Online Sharing Economy Platforms from an Online Media Perspective

Eduard Cristobal-Fransi,Natalia Daries,Francisco Hernández-Soriano,Berta Ferrer-Rosell

doi:10.3390/su11133690

Abstract

The sharing economy has become a new socioeconomic activity that allows the co-creation, production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between individuals, driven by Web 2.0 and e-word of mouth. How these online platforms communicate their content is critical. This paper seeks to develop a scale for measuring the perceived quality of websites that offer information about sharing economy services focused on online peer-to-peer accommodation. The resulting model is validated by means of structural equations and is composed of four dimensions (efficiency; reliability, privacy/security; and communication). The influence that perceived quality exerts on satisfaction and loyalty is then explored from an online media perspective. A scale resulting from the combination of these two areas of knowledge (online media and e-service quality) may take advantage of the more beneficial features they have to offer and provide us with as balanced and convergent a model as possible. The results of the study show that all of the initial hypotheses are confirmed except one. Efficiency, reliability and privacy/security positively influence the perceived quality of a collaborative accommodation portal, whereas communication does not.

Highlights

The digital era has witnessed the emergence of new phenomena and trends in the field of tourism, which are linked to changes in the purchasing and consumption behavior of individuals influenced by Internet and Web 2.0 use [1]
E-S-QUAL model to the constructs of satisfaction and loyalty, and we have added the dimension of communication, designed from an interactive point of view
This approach has been used previously for online media and in this case has been adapted to collaborative accommodation portals

Summary

Introduction

The digital era has witnessed the emergence of new phenomena and trends in the field of tourism, which are linked to changes in the purchasing and consumption behavior of individuals influenced by Internet and Web 2.0 use [1]. The Internet and especially Web 2.0 have led to user empowerment when choosing and buying tourist products and services, and when offering them [3], giving rise to the emergence of online collaborative consumer platforms that bring suppliers and contractors of tourism services into contact with one another, especially with regard to accommodation and transportation. These platforms, and the sharing economy in general, have become emerging fields of research par excellence [4]. Given the search for cheap prices, the central role of the Internet, disintermediation, and a diverse supply of vacation options, collaborative consumption has become one of the most important values among travelers in the last fifteen years and is currently booming [5]

Methods

Results

Conclusion