Which appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) are the most important for Airbnb users to booking?

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to explain a guest’s purchase decision in Airbnb from the perspective of Aristotle’s appeals. In host-created information, the authors investigate which information appeals are significantly considered by guests.Design/methodology/approachIt is hypothesized that a guest’s purchase would be affected by the host-created information’s ethos, pathos and logos.FindingsFor the ethos, the super host badge and host review have positive impacts on the purchase; for the pathos, the positive impact of the use of social words is significant. For the logos, the authors have determined that although the price, place picture and star-rating have positive impacts on the likelihood of a purchase, the occupancy has a negative impact on it.Research limitations/implicationsThe dependent variable, the number of place reviews, cannot represent the exact number of purchases. Other possible influential factors, such as direct communications between hosts and guests, are not examined.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest guidelines for Airbnb and its host users. Specifically, the management of normal host users is revealed as a necessary process for Airbnb’s development. For host users, several guidelines on how to attract more guests effectively are provided.Originality/valueIn contrast to other studies on Airbnb, various pieces of information are considered from holistic perspectives, and each piece’s impact on the sharing behavior is understood by means of a unique theoretical model that is based on Aristotle’s appeals.