Hapless victims or empowered citizens? Understanding residents’ attitudes towards Airbnb using Weber’s Theory of Rationality and Foucauldian concepts

Abstract

Airbnb has been criticized about its negative impacts on residents’ quality of life. Yet, extant research on the topic is limited, both in volume and theoretical and empirical efficacy. In light of the need to advance theory-driven research on resident attitudes in tourism, the present study develops and tests an innovative theoretical framework that combines the tenets of Weber’s Theory of Rationality and Foucauldian concepts of power, knowledge, and governmentality, to examine non-hosting residents’ attitudes towards Airbnb. Findings show that, contrary to popular discourse, non-hosting residents who do not directly participate in Airbnb perceive higher positive than negative impacts. A higher level of psychological, social, and political empowerment—a manifestation of Weber’s substantive rationality and the Foucauldian concept of power—both directly and indirectly impacted non-hosting residents’ support for Airbnb, while their knowledge of Airbnb and the potential for personal benefits—a manifestation of Weber’s formal rationality— had significant direct effects on their levels of Airbnb support. Interestingly, trust in political decision-making—a facet of Foucault’s concept of governmentality—did not impact residents’ support for Airbnb either directly or indirectly, indicating that the prospect of better governance is not a pre-requisite for residents to support the homesharing phenomenon. Moderation testing along three demographic and three situational moderators reveals differences among sub-groups of residents, and contributes to a theoretically- and empirically-rigorous nomological framework of residents’ attitudes towards Airbnb, which can be used by researchers to examine the dynamics of other types of tourism development. For practitioners, including sharing economy platforms, hosts, and policy makers, our findings emphasize the need for strategies that enhance non-hosting residents’ sense of agency vis-à-vis the sharing economy as critical to garnering their support.