Modeling social sustainability: analysis of hospitality e-distributors

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to propose a definition and model of social sustainability within the ambit of systems theory and to test it on hospitality e-distributors. The study suggests that social sustainability arises through the congruence among the interrelated components of social innovation, societal demand and social stakeholders in a transformation model and it can be assessed to whether and how this congruence addresses to the equity principles. Design/methodology/approach The study provides a case analysis on two selected hospitality e-distributors – Booking.com and Airbnb. The data obtained from a video-based content on managerial interviews were triangulated with the data of corporate disclosures and expert views derived from a focus group study. Findings The study reveals that both companies affect the intra-generational, procedural and geographical equity principles across physical and virtual communities so long as they take the advantage of their strategic positions. While Booking.com transforms its own industry, Airbnb disrupts the entire system by blurring the boundaries between market and non-market as well as touristic and non-touristic areas. Practical implications The study contributes to the practitioners by showing how to configure and assess the social sustainability of their organizations at the different contexts. Social implications The study provides a holistic perspective on social sustainability by linking the concept with social innovation, societal demand and social stakeholders and highlighting its contribution to equity principles. Originality/value Despite the proliferation of studies, the authors have very little understanding on the social pillar of sustainability. The current study fills the gap by addressing these conceptualization and measurement challenges in the literature.

TO SHARE OR TO EXCHANGE: An analysis of the sharing economy characteristics of Airbnb and Fairbnb.coop

“…Airbnb enables guests to have a local experience at residents' private places and experience a real sharing experience (Boswijk, 2017;Roelofsen & Minca, 2018). On other occasions the characteristic is missing when guests are faced with standardized services, do not experience contact with residents, or do not feel they are part of the host family (Roelofsen & Minca, 2018;Turker & Ozdemir, 2019). This may be a consequence of hosts being replaced by property management services (Roelofsen & Minca, 2018).…”

“…For example, traditional tourism accommodations and professional hosts may mean that the accommodation is not unique nor different (Midgett et al, 2018;Wirtz et al, 2019). Rules and standards that dictate the behaviour of hosts may also result in the standardization of the resource shared with guests (Roelofsen & Minca, 2018;Turker & Ozdemir, 2019;Wirtz et al, 2019). Thus, the singularity characteristic is represented as both a sharing and an exchange practice.…”

Impacts of the Sharing Economy on Urban Sustainability: The Perceptions of Municipal Governments and Sharing Organisations

“…As a result, the inclusiveness of tourism is also debated [102]. Accommodation sharing is also shown to increase the pressure on everyday community resources such as waste management and transport, sometimes in areas where there is a lack or under-capacity of such infrastructures [103].…”

Action and progress on sustainability challenges: case examples from Marriott, Booking and Soneva

“…This increase is affecting environmental issues such as climate change. However, they do not refer to this global change in their social responsibility report (Turker and Ozdemir, 2019). On the other hand, in 2019, Booking and other companies collaborated with The Duke of Sussex's environmental initiative, Travalyst, which aims to develop more sustainable tourism.…”