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Which appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) are the most important for Airbnb users to booking?

Heejeong Han (Tourism Industry Research Division, Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea)
Seunghun Shin (The Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA)
Namho Chung (College of Hotel and Tourism Management, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea)
Chulmo Koo (College of Hotel and Tourism Management, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea)

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN: 0959-6119

Article publication date: 12 February 2019

Issue publication date: 30 April 2019

3191

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explain a guest’s purchase decision in Airbnb from the perspective of Aristotle’s appeals. In host-created information, the authors investigate which information appeals are significantly considered by guests.

Design/methodology/approach

It is hypothesized that a guest’s purchase would be affected by the host-created information’s ethos, pathos and logos.

Findings

For the ethos, the super host badge and host review have positive impacts on the purchase; for the pathos, the positive impact of the use of social words is significant. For the logos, the authors have determined that although the price, place picture and star-rating have positive impacts on the likelihood of a purchase, the occupancy has a negative impact on it.

Research limitations/implications

The dependent variable, the number of place reviews, cannot represent the exact number of purchases. Other possible influential factors, such as direct communications between hosts and guests, are not examined.

Practical implications

The findings suggest guidelines for Airbnb and its host users. Specifically, the management of normal host users is revealed as a necessary process for Airbnb’s development. For host users, several guidelines on how to attract more guests effectively are provided.

Originality/value

In contrast to other studies on Airbnb, various pieces of information are considered from holistic perspectives, and each piece’s impact on the sharing behavior is understood by means of a unique theoretical model that is based on Aristotle’s appeals.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2016S1A3A2925146).

Citation

Han, H., Shin, S., Chung, N. and Koo, C. (2019), "Which appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) are the most important for Airbnb users to booking?", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 1205-1223. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2017-0784

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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