How platform businesses mobilize their users and allies: Corporate grassroots lobbying and the Airbnb ‘movement’ for deregulation

Abstract

This article analyzes and theorizes the political strategies of businesses in the new digital ‘platform’ economy. Airbnb, Uber and meal delivery companies have transformed travel, urban space and repertoires of everyday exchange; they are also transforming norms around governance. Central to platforms corporate political strategies is the use of corporate grassroots lobbying (CGL), the selection, mobilization, resourcing and coordination of ordinary users and grassroots allies to influence the public and policy-making process. The article argues that platforms build on, and make five innovations to, the most common existing repertoires of CGL. Four main approaches of CGL among these businesses are also identified: temporary mobilization; curated storytelling; front groups; and grassroots alliances. The article demonstrates how these approaches to CGL are deployed and combined, using Airbnb as the main case study. Finally, I reflect on the implications of the findings for the platform economy, corporate political activity and socioeconomic change.

Sharing Homes and Beds: Baptist-Bootlegger Coalitions and the Politics of Authenticity in the Regulation of Los Angeles's Short-Term Rental Markets

“…Similarly, while the home-sharing clubs were effective in mobilizing hosts and sensitizing them to the political process, policymakers did not consider them as seriously because of their connections with big business (Yates 2021). Because Airbnb explicitly organized hosts for political advocacy, policymakers, and public audiences could not easily discern how their interests may be separate and autonomous from those of the corporation; hosts' narratives were thus received with a "grain of salt," 42 even when many of them, like their opponents, struggle with the city's high cost of living.…”

“…On the one hand, market competitors, labor movements, and civic activists frame platform economy markets as a threat to their rights (Aguilera, Artioli, and Colomb 2021;Thelen 2018). On the other, the platforms, as "regulatory entrepreneurs," also use crowdsourcing technology to mobilize their user base for political advocacy (Pollman and Barry 2016;van Doorn 2020;Yates 2021).…”

“…Platform economy markets (e.g., Airbnb, HomeAway/VRBO, Uber, Lyft, Instacart, Doordash, Rent the Runway, Poshmark, TaskRabbit) crowdsource their products and labor from a community of users, rent those products out to customers, and mediate these exchanges through the internet-or app-based platforms. Platform companies commonly argue that, in addition to facilitating such exchanges, they help to provide extra income in an uncertain economy, repurpose unused goods, reduce waste, and encourage egalitarian communities characterized by diversity, hospitality, and trust (Frenken and Schor 2017;Schor et al 2015;Yates 2021).…”

“…While many hosts and users are drawn to the platform because of its social benefits, the technology increasingly invites the participation of those with more narrow economic motivations, including largescale short-term rental operators who use the platform to identify new customers (Adamiak 2019;Dolnicar 2021;Ikkala and Lampinen 2015). Thus, short-term rental platforms, and Airbnb in particular, now group together small-scale hosts, who operate intimate exchanges that more closely resemble "sharing," and professional hosts, who use the technology to expand profits (Adamiak 2019;Oszkay 2022;Yates 2021).…”

“…In response to these regulatory threats, Airbnb in 2015 launched a "100 Club" initiative to create home-sharing clubs that would organize hosts (van Doorn 2020; Yates 2021). While the company emphasized the social aspects of these clubs, they became a major vehicle through which Airbnb advocated for deregulation, deploying "community organizers" who helped hosts curate narratives to influence regulatory policy (Yates 2021).…”