This paper explores the interdependency between the intention to host and one’s expected profit level in the peer-to-peer accommodation sector, and examines whether factors affecting these decisions differ for those residing in cities and regional areas. Using survey data on 488 respondents, the intention to host was found to be disjoint from profit level and trust issues hindering hosting differed in cities and regional areas. While embracing sharing philosophy was a significant motive for would-be hosts, economic/opportunity cost and potential regulation in the form of threshold rental-free days have no impact on intention to host or expected profit level. These findings not only have implications for both traditional and online accommodation platforms in their quest to affect the supply of hosts but also informs regulators about who might host and why or what regulations might not deter would-be hosts.

Introduction

The sharing or peer-to-peer economy is a socioeconomic system that allows for shared creation, production, distribution, and consumption of goods and resources among individuals through online platforms (Botsman and Rogers, 2011). The buzz around the sharing economy is said to have begun in 2008 when the global financial crisis led people to consider new ways of earning supplemental income (Temperton, 2014). Today, that catalyst has resulted in the proliferation of services offered in the sharing economy and within the realm of the tourism and hospitality sector, peer-to-peer accommodation (P2PA) leads the way. According to the website of Airbnb, an online platform at the leading edge of the P2PA economy, as of March 2018, there are over 4.5 million rental listings in 191 countries. A systematic review of P2PA research by Prayag and Ozanne (2018) reveal host behaviour as an expanding field of research interest. For instance, Chen and Xie (2017) and Xie and Kwok (2018) examined pricing issues of P2PA providers. Gunter (2018) and Liang et al. (2017) focus on what makes an Airbnb superhost while Karlsson and Dolnicar (2016) observe some aims of Airbnb hosts. To date, previous studies have only considered those who are already P2PA hosts with the exception of Mittendorf (2016) who exmained people’s intention of becoming hosts. The intention to host is the focus of this study as it is an important issue to understand the potential of an expanding supply of the P2PA market as major concerns have been raised in many countries with regards to the adverse impact this may have on the traditional accommodation sector and potential effects that go far beyond the accommodation sector. Mittendorf (2016) however focuses on only three aspects – familiarity with Airbnb, trust in the online platform and trust in renters on the intention to host. This paper goes beyond this by incorportaing a regional and city dimension as well as examining a range of issues not considered before.