1,289
Views
7
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Does Airbnb offer hedonic or utilitarian products? An experimental analysis of motivations to use Airbnb

& ORCID Icon
Pages 3591-3606 | Received 28 Jun 2021, Accepted 08 Feb 2022, Published online: 01 Mar 2022
 

ABSTRACT

There has been an ongoing debate regarding motivations to book Airbnb accommodations. One position highlights the role of experiences and an alternative position emphasizes the equal relevance of costs and practical amenities. This experimental research indirectly examines these motivations by analysing the impact of affective and cognitive advertising on attitude and behavioural intentions to book with Airbnb. It also compares it with the advertising effectiveness in a strongly hedonic accommodation product such as boutique hotels. A randomized online experiment assigned 525 participants to one out of four text ads and analysed their responses using 2-way ANOVA. Study findings show no significant differences in effectiveness between emotional and rational ads in the case of Airbnb. This contrasts with the control group of boutique hotels where results confirm emotional appeals to be more effective. These findings indicate that Airbnb is chosen for a hybrid mix of utilitarian and hedonic consumption motivations disconfirming purely experiential interpretations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval

No formal ethics approval required for this type of research in the study country. Consent has been obtained from survey respondents.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.