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Abstract
Airbnb has been criticized about its negative impacts on residents’ quality of life. Yet, extant research on the topic is limited, both in volume and theoretical and empirical efficacy. In light of the need to advance theory-driven research on resident attitudes in tourism, the present study develops and tests an innovative theoretical framework that combines the tenets of Weber’s Theory of Rationality and Foucauldian concepts of power, knowledge, and governmentality, to examine non-hosting residents’ attitudes towards Airbnb. Findings show that, contrary to popular discourse, non-hosting residents who do not directly participate in Airbnb perceive higher positive than negative impacts. A higher level of psychological, social, and political empowerment—a manifestation of Weber’s substantive rationality and the Foucauldian concept of power—both directly and indirectly impacted non-hosting residents’ support for Airbnb, while their knowledge of Airbnb and the potential for personal benefits—a manifestation of Weber’s formal rationality— had significant direct effects on their levels of Airbnb support. Interestingly, trust in political decision-making—a facet of Foucault’s concept of governmentality—did not impact residents’ support for Airbnb either directly or indirectly, indicating that the prospect of better governance is not a pre-requisite for residents to support the homesharing phenomenon. Moderation testing along three demographic and three situational moderators reveals differences among sub-groups of residents, and contributes to a theoretically- and empirically-rigorous nomological framework of residents’ attitudes towards Airbnb, which can be used by researchers to examine the dynamics of other types of tourism development. For practitioners, including sharing economy platforms, hosts, and policy makers, our findings emphasize the need for strategies that enhance non-hosting residents’ sense of agency vis-à-vis the sharing economy as critical to garnering their support.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Makarand Mody
Dr. Makarand Mody is an Assistant Professor of Hospitality Marketing at Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration. His research focuses on the sharing economy, branding, and the role of hospitality in healthcare.
Kyle Maurice Woosnam
Kyle M. Woosnam, PhD, is an Associate professor of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management within the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, USA and Senior Research Fellow within the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research interests concern sociocultural and economic impacts of tourism, resident-tourist inter-actions within tourist destinations, and sustainable tourism development and planning. Throughout the last 15 years, Kyle has conducted research in approximately 30 countries.
Courtney Suess
Dr. Courtney Suess is an Assistant Professor at Texas A & M University in the department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Sciences. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a masters and Ph. D. from UNLV's William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration.
Tarik Dogru
Dr. Tarik Dogru is an assistant professor of hospitality management in the Dedman School of Hospitality at Florida State University. Prior to joining Florida State University, Dr. Dogru worked at Boston University as an assistant professor for two years. His research interests include sharing economy, corporate finance, franchising, hotel investments, tourism economics, climate change, and blockchain technology.