Sharing economy in the new hospitality: consumer perspective

Abstract

Purpose The aim of the paper is to assist hospitality business, operating in a sharing economy model and responding to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) crisis. It is argued that the creation of a strategy to face COVID-19 crisis should be focussed on what the guests valued most. The paper focusses on the Airbnb service, which is the leading platform in accommodation inside the sharing economy, to explore the consumer profile and analyse its motivations to use hospitality service, based on socio-demographic characteristics and user experience. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a questionnaire survey targeting tourists who have experience using the Airbnb service. A total of 380 valid responses were analysed with statistical package programme for the social sciences (SPSS), performing a multivariate variance analyses (MANOVA) and univariate analysis (UNIANOVA), which corresponds to five of the main motivations regarding Airbnb booking. Findings The results show a motivation increase towards the sharing economy and benefits of the sharing economy for customers between 41 and 60 years of age. It was also observed that consumers with a monthly income below the average salary level are less keen to prefer the sharing economy philosophy. Controversially, the results also show that more than 80% of the guests do not want to share the room with people they are not related to. Originality/value The paper contributes to the understanding of consumers' behaviour by discussing the potential of the accommodation sharing model for the post-COVID recovery of the hospitality sector.

Willingness to receive and provide resources in Europe's non‐remunerated and remunerated collaborative consumption

“…However, it seems reasonable to assume that the overall effects of TPB constructs are influenced by two elements. First, our data were collected during the COVID‐19 pandemic (in July 2020) implying that attitude towards CC, social pressure to engage, perceived difficulty that P2P sharing among strangers requires as well as willingness to participate in such sharing were all mostly negatively influenced by health and safety concerns—for example, difficulties in maintaining physical distancing and hygiene standards (Alharthi et al, 2021; Hossain, 2020; Julião et al, 2022). The second element possibly influencing the effect of TPB constructs is of methodological nature.…”

Airbnb phenomenon: a review of literature and future research directions

“…The customers preferred well-established restaurant chains because of their high hygiene and safety standards. Julião et al (2022) examined the impact of socio-demographic factors on consumers' intention to use Airbnb services. The study also found that almost 80% of visitors are reluctant to stay in a room with strangers post-COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Guest editorial: Tourism and hospitality economics at times of crisis

“…The main highlights of the contributions of this special issue are summarized as follows. In the first article, titled “Sharing economy in the new hospitality: consumer perspective”, Julião et al . (2023) attempt to highlight how the hospitality businesses operate in a shared economy model when responding to the COVID-19 crisis.…”