Brand personality of Airbnb: application of user involvement and gender differences

ABSTRACT

In this study we utilized the concept of brand personality to determine how travelers perceived Airbnb as a lodging brand and investigated the effect of involvement level (low versus high) on view of brand personality. As a viable segmentation variable, this study also utilized the interaction effect to examine how gender affects consumers’ involvement level. Significant differences were observed between travelers with high and low involvement in terms of the dimensions of sincerity, excitement, competence, and ruggedness. In addition, we found the interaction effect to be significant, indicating that level of involvement is higher in female travelers than in male travelers. This research will provide meaningful marketing insights for target marketing and positioning based on consumer involvement and gender within the context of Airbnb.

KEYWORDS:

• Airbnb
• brand personality
• involvement
• sharing economy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.