Peer-to-peer accommodation experience: A Chinese cultural perspective

Abstract

With the growing popularity of peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation worldwide, this conceptual paper reviews and explores Chinese users’ P2P accommodation experiences from a cultural perspective. The paper conceptually explores the influence of Chinese cultural traditions on the P2P accommodation experience. These cultural traditions include renqing (人情), guanxi (关系), mianzi (面子) and yuan (缘). Renqing was revealed to have an enduring impact on Chinese users’ loyalty. A conceptual yuan-based host-guest relationship framework was established including four stages - “to have yuan” (有缘), “match yuan” (投缘), “cherish yuan” (惜缘) and “continue yuan” (续缘). By revealing the influence of deep-seated values underpinning Chinese hospitality, this research contributes to the globalization of hospitality knowledge by painting a new understanding of Chinese user P2P accommodation experiences.