۱- Introduction

۲- Literature review

۳- Methods

۳-۱- Quantitative survey

۴- Method

۴-۱- Qualitative content analysis

۵- Method

۶- Results

۷- Discussion and conclusion

References

Abstract

The sharing economy is a global phenomenon with rapid growth potential. While research has begun to explore segmentation between users and non-users, only limited research has looked at consumer segmentation within sharing economy services. In this paper, we build on this research gap by investigating consumer segmentation within a single sharing economy platform: Airbnb. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, with both a quantitative survey and a qualitative content analysis of Airbnb listings, we compare two different types of accommodation offered on Airbnb: shared room and entire home. Our findings indicate that within a single platform, the variety between offerings can create distinct consumer segments based on both demographics and behavioral criteria. We also find that Airbnb hosts use marketing logic to target their listings towards specific consumer segments. However, there is not, in all cases, strong alignment between consumer segmentation and host targeting, leading to potentially reduced matching efficiency.

Introduction

The emergence in recent years of numerous peer-based business models has empowered individuals across the globe to become microentrepreneurs, earning money from their idle property and spare time. This phenomenon, entitled ‘the sharing economy’, has seen unprecedented growth in terms of user numbers, enabling new avenues of economic and social interaction (Sundararajan, 2016). The benefits of sharing platforms are lauded, such as their ability to democratize economic activity, increase inter-personal interaction, and provide more sustainable and environmentally friendly options in the market (Botsman & Rogers, 2010; Hamari, Sjöklint, & Ukkonen, 2016; Hellwig, Morhart, Girardin, & Hauser, 2015). However, these platforms also have an inherent capacity for disruption. One key industry currently being disrupted is the hospitality industry, where Airbnb, the leading home-sharing service, has become a viable alternative to staying in a hotel, hostel, or bed and breakfast (Guttentag, 2015; Oskam & Boswijk, 2016). Since its inception in 2008, Airbnb has expanded into over 34,000 cities across 191 countries. Uncommonly for a sharing economy company, Airbnb transitioned into profitability in 2016, demonstrating proof-of-concept for the validity of home-sharing within the global market (Stone & Zaleski, 2017). In the US, where Airbnb is headquartered and has its largest single market, a 2016 Pew survey showed that 11% of Americans had used online home-sharing services like Airbnb (Smith, 2016). However, there remains a distinct demographic divide between users and non-users of the service. Online home-sharing users, including Airbnb users, tend to be wealthier, more highly educated, and older than the average American (Smith, 2016).