Proposed motivations to use Airbnb
The disruptive innovation and diffusion of innovations literature do not provide a precise framework for understanding the motivations that attract guests to Airbnb, but in combination with the existing Airbnb and tourism accommodation choice literature, the two innovation concepts still provide a very useful lens through which to recognize and understand these motivations. Based on this combined literature, potential motivations to use Airbnb were proposed as relating to six different dimensions – price, functional attributes, unique and local authenticity, novelty, bragging rights, and sharing economy ethos.
Price
As was described, low cost is a classic characteristic and appeal of disruptive innovations (Christensen, 1997), and Adner’s (2002) analysis of consumer demand for disruptive innovations stressed the critical importance of price. Likewise, innovation diffusion research recognizes that financial cost is a very common aspect of relative advantage; indeed, economic factors are the 53 very first variety of relative advantage that Rogers (2003) described. As was also previously discussed, in their studies of Airbnb and PSR users, Tussyadiah (2015) and Nowak et al. (2015) both found financial savings were the principal reason guests use Airbnb and PSRs, and Guttentag (2015) and Lamb (2011) also both recognized the importance of this appeal. The attraction of Airbnb’s low cost also has been highlighted in countless media stories on the company (e.g., Ennion, 2013; Harwell, 2014; Pilon, 2014; Rosenberg, 2014; Schoettle, 2015). As was also mentioned, price has additionally been identified as a key factor in hotel choice (Chu & Choi, 2000; Dolnicar & Otter, 2003). Moreover, based on their previous research on Zipcar, Eckhardt and Bardhi (2015) argued that the sharing economy is driven primarily by a desire for cost savings and convenience, and Hamari, Sjöklint, and Ukkonen (2015) similarly found that economic benefits were a significant motivator for intention to use sharing economy services.
Numerous analyses have indicated that Airbnb accommodations tend to be inexpensive in comparison with hotels, even though they may be more expensive than hostels (Busbud.com, 2016; Guttentag, 2015; Haywood et al., 2016; Hockenson, 2013). However, some recent research somewhat surprisingly disputes the common notion that Airbnb generally offers significant cost savings. The CBRE study referenced earlier (Lane & Woodworth, 2016) compared average rates of different types of Airbnb accommodations with average hotel rates in the U.S. and found that Airbnb’s entire homes were more expensive on average than hotels, including when only considering Airbnb listings with just one bedroom. When looking at individual U.S. cities, the researchers determined that hotels were generally more expensive than Airbnb accommodations in major urban destinations like New York City, San Francisco, Boston, and Miami (which are admittedly the sort of markets where Airbnb is focused), whereas hotels were less expensive than Airbnb in leisure destinations with relatively low land costs, such as Austin, Nashville, 54 Jacksonville, and Savannah. Similarly, research by Bank of America Merrill Lynch found that average Airbnb rates were significantly higher than average hotel rates in numerous markets, even when only considering Airbnb listings that were apartments with no more than three bedrooms (Bird, 2015). However, it is worth noting that some of these two studies’ results are inconsistent; for example, the CBRE study found hotel rates to be 22% higher in San Francisco (Lane & Woodworth, 2016), whereas the Bank of America Merrill Lynch study found the hotel rates there to be 9% lower (Bird, 2015).
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Unique and local authenticity
The appeal of a more “homely” atmosphere emphasizes the importance of looking beyond strictly tangible attributes to additionally consider the experiential aspects of an Airbnb stay. Such experiential attributes have not generally been examined in the disruptive innovation literature, though in the case of Airbnb such experiential attributes appear important for assessing its unique value proposition. In contrast, the concepts of relative advantage and compatibility within the diffusion of innovations literature both more broadly encompass such experiential product attributes (Rogers, 2003). With Airbnb, the potential for a more unique and authentic local experience seems central to its unique value proposition, and to understand this appeal one can begin by examining burgeoning discontentment with certain aspects of modern consumer society.
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Ritzer (2011) argued that there is a growing resentment among some groups with what he dubs the “McDonaldization” of society. This idea refers to the increasing degrees of predictability, control, and efficiency in society, which lead to homogenization and a loss of humanizing “magic and mystery” (p. 143). In describing “McDonaldization,” Ritzer highlighted tourist products like cruise ships and package tours. Ritzer and Liska (1997) recognized that many tourists undoubtedly desire predictable “McDonaldized” vacations, but Ritzer (2011) also observed that there is increasing discontentment with this standardization. Ahuvia and IzberkBilgin (2011) built on this idea by suggesting that this discontent is inspiring a consumer embrace of “eBayization.” This countertrend to McDonaldization describes how information technology is transforming consumer society by permitting especially high levels of variety, unpredictability, and market-mediated control (e.g., online reputational systems). These three characteristics perfectly encapsulate Airbnb, and in fact one of Airbnb’s co-founders has even likened the company with eBay (Buhr, 2014).
Other authors have used different terminology to describe this same general trend. Pine and Gilmore (2011) stated that a process of commoditization has expanded from goods to services, meaning many competing service brands are virtually indistinguishable and compete primarily on price. The authors argued that customers seek memorable experiences via the emerging “experience economy,” and are therefore increasingly unwilling to accept such standardization for reduced costs. Somewhat similarly, Lewis and Bridger (2001) described the rapid emergence and increasing importance of what they call “New Consumers” – individuals who have their needs easily satisfied and therefore focus on wants, which they prefer to satisfy with innovative and distinct goods and services instead of mass-produced and mass-marketed 57 ones. Also, most importantly, as part of a larger quest for self-actualization, “At the heart of the soul of the New Consumer lies a desire for authenticity” (Lewis & Bridger, 2001, p. 10).
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These different phenomena – eBayization, the experience economy, and New Consumers – all refer to a growing rejection of standardization and an embrace of unique and authentic experiences. Tourism scholars have extensively explored the varied meanings of authenticity (e.g., Wang, 1999), but for the purposes of this study what is most important is simply the perception of an experience as authentic by the tourist (Cohen, 1988). The lure of authenticity has long been seen as a central tourism driver; for example, in MacCannel’s (1973) classic work on authenticity he argued, “Touristic consciousness is motivated by its desire for authentic experiences” (p. 597), “Sightseers are motivated by a desire to see life as it is really lived” (p. 592), and “[T]ourists try to enter back regions of the places they visit because these regions are associated with intimacy of relations and authenticity of experiences” (p. 589).
This long-standing desire for authenticity within tourism seems to be growing as part of the previously described modern consumer embrace of authentic experiences (Bosshart & Frick, 2006; Novelli & Tisch-Rottensteiner, 2012; Yeoman, Brass, McMahon-Beattie, 2007). The tourist’s quest for authenticity often involves a desire to escape the tourist establishment and have intimate interactions with locals. For example, Kontogeorgopoulos (2003) studied different tourist segments in Thailand and found that nearly all of his research participants viewed meeting locals and having other authentic experiences as an important goal; Brown (2005) found that cultural immersion was a primary motivation for volunteer tourists; Conran (2006) found that tourists visiting Thai hill tribe villages were particularly interested in having intimate, authentic interactions with locals; Bott (2015) described a destination that is popular with tourist rock climbers because the lack of tourism infrastructure is perceived as producing a more authentic 58 adventure; Week (2012) observed how self-described “travellers” reject the predictability of mass tourism and seek authentic experiences by going to less popular destinations and attempting to live as the locals do; and Maitland (2013) noted how many tourists in London desire to “get off the beaten track” in order to experience the “real city.”
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The desire for authentic instead of standardized experiences can also be seen specifically within the tourism accommodation industry. Although different hotel brands certainly offer varying degrees of luxury, the industry exhibits signs of commoditization due to traits like homogeneity, price sensitivity and transparency, and low switching costs (Beldona, Miller, Francis, Kher, 2015; Francis, 2010; Holmes, 2008; Starkov & Price, 2007). In fact, Gilmore and Pine (2002), who introduced the idea of the “experience economy,” have examined the hotel industry specifically, noting, “Over the years, many hotels have been afflicted by commoditization, as they’ve grown increasingly similar in the conventions they practice” (p. 88), and, “[M]ost hoteliers essentially view their room rate as merely the price they assess for the collection of services performed ... rather than the fee guests pay for the portfolio of experiences encountered during their time spent in the hotel” (p. 90). Writing in Newsweek, Maney (2014) suggested that the internet has played an important role in transforming attitudes towards hotel uniformity. He pointed out that Holiday Inn even used to have the motto “The best surprise is no surprise,” and argued that while uniformity and predictability were assets in an era when information was scarce, the information-rich internet can eliminate unwelcome surprises (i.e., via reviews) and thereby encourages demand for more unique experiences while rendering hotel uniformity a liability. This idea of commoditization ties back into disruptive innovation as well, as Christensen (1997) stated that commoditization is rooted in performance oversupplies, thereby signalling susceptibility to disruptive innovations that introduce a unique package of attributes that extend beyond the commoditized product’s attributes.
These two trends – the increasing demand for unique, authentic personal experiences and the commoditization of hotels – create an opportunity for non-hotel forms of accommodation to attract guests with an experiential appeal. For example, a central appeal of CouchSurfing is the opportunity to observe the host’s real life by spending time in his or her home, and having intimate, authentic interactions while there (Bialski, 2011; Chen, 2011; Germann Molz, 2013; Lamb, 2011; Liu, 2012; Steylaerts & O’Dubhghaill, 2011). As one CouchSurfer described her experience in Turkey, “Because we were living with residents of the city, there was no venturing out into a new world, only to withdraw to a sterile and anonymous hotel room that could be anywhere. We came home to a home. We were still in Istanbul” (Leonard, 2011, p. 51). Likewise, homestays and home swaps have the same appeal (Andriotis & Agiomirgianakis, 2014; Jamal et al., 2011; Wang, 2007); as Andriotis and Agiomirgianakis (2014) explained, “In contrast to a hotel accommodation where guests may spend most of their time in the hotel and often do not have the chance even to see a local person, home swappers come daily in contact with the local community and have some degree of participation in its ordinary everyday life” (p. 585). Moreover, B&Bs are also attractive in part due to the experience of staying in a local home and interacting with locals (Gunasekaran & Anandkumar, 2012; Stringer, 1981). In fact, the growing desire for less standardized accommodation experiences has led to the increasing development of boutique hotels that offer a more intimate setting and unique character than a typical hotel (Aggett, 2007; Levere, 2011; Reaney, 2013), and many major hotel corporations, including Marriott, Wyndham, and Starwood, are entering the boutique hotel market (Barnes, 2014; Levere, 2011).
The growing desire for unique and authentic local experiences is very favourable for a service like Airbnb, which overtly presents itself as a provider of such experiences (Yannopoulou et al., 2013). For example, Airbnb’s homepage currently reads, “Welcome home - Rent unique places to stay from local hosts in 190+ countries;” the company’s original motto was “Travel like a human” (Menkedick, 2009); in 2014 the company introduced a new logo that is a symbol for “belonging” (Chesky, 2014); and Airbnb’s ad campaigns have focused on the unique, personal experiences that can be had by staying in people’s homes (Delo, 2014; Mortimer, 2014). Moreover, Airbnb’s CEO claimed the service gives “travellers a new, authentic way to experience [a destination] by staying in different neighborhoods” (Parry, 2014), and another co-founder stated, “We’re not just a provider of accommodation, we’re a provider of experiences. And so we’re thinking about, ‘How do we make those experiences meaningful in terms of being local, authentic?’” (Fung, 2013). The facilitation of authentic local experiences is also sometimes mentioned in guidebook references to Airbnb (e.g., St. Louis, 2012; Williams et al., 2015), and is frequently stated in media stories about the company (e.g., Bradbury, 2014; Cadwalladr, 2013; Capellaro, 2013; Vaccaro, 2014; Weisleder, 2014). As has been described, the importance of authenticity and interpersonal experiences as a motivation for Airbnb stays has also been noted by Lamb (2011), Guttentag (2015), and Tussyadiah (2015).
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