Abstract
In the context of the sharing economy, Airbnb has become a formidable mode of accommodation in the tourism industry worldwide, with a presence in over 34,000 cities in 191 countries. However, the risks associated with online bookings are significant dimensions of this e-market domain. This study assesses Airbnb hosts’ perceived risks and investigates the effects of service, financial, safety and security, psychological and political risks on the host’s satisfaction and intention to continue and recommend this business to potential hosts. A survey was administered to 221 Airbnb hosts located in Northern Cyprus. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the proposed conceptual model. The results revealed that host satisfaction is negatively influenced by financial and safety and security risks; continuance intention is negatively affected by financial, safety and security, and political risks; intention to recommend this business is negatively affected by political risk; and psychological risk increases satisfaction and intention to continue and recommend. By highlighting the theoretical and managerial implications, this study informs Airbnb management of the potential risks associated with this peer-to-peer (P2P) business in order to minimize the associated risks, enhance host satisfaction and the quality of their services, and encourage hosts to recommend Airbnb to their peers.
Highlights
The sharing economy, or collaborative consumption, is a peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace for gaining, giving and sharing goods/services through the internet and it has grown at an extraordinary rate [1]
Existing literature on perceived risk has mostly investigated risk and perceived risk from the consumer’s or guest’s viewpoint; to enrich the academic literature, this study examines the influence of the types of perceived risk within the Airbnb platform, those related to the host
Service risk was gauged using three items from Kim and Damhorst [137], financial risk was measured using three items adapted from Simpson and Siguaw [138], political risk was assessed using four items extracted from [119] and psychological risk was measured using three items adapted from Finley [120]
Summary
The sharing economy, or collaborative consumption, is a peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace for gaining, giving and sharing goods/services through the internet and it has grown at an extraordinary rate [1]. This so-called emerging economy has implications for empowering ordinary people, improving efficiency and even lowering carbon footprints [2]. Airbnb is a prominent platform for tourists to locate and book various types of accommodation in various countries around the world This new mode of seeking accommodation has become a phenomenon that captures a significant space in the global tourism industry [9,10]. Möhlmann [5] asserted that “overall, trust, cost saving, utility and familiarity are found to be important factors of satisfaction in P2P accommodation” [14], p. 6
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