Host dissatisfaction in peer-to-peer accommodation

: a critical incident technique

Abstract

In the context of peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation industry, the current study aims to identify the factors that lead to host dissatisfaction, the manifestation of dissatisfaction, and the long-term implications. Our study uses the critical incident technique (CIT) and collects data from 30 P2P accommodation hosts in Tunisia, content analysis used to further classify the incidents according to themes. The findings revealed that Guests (Code of conduct, attitude, reviews), and Airbnb (Platform’s support, policies) are the main source of host dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction was shown to be reflected by emotional and physiological reactions, with long-term implications including negative and positive post-incident goals, negative word-of-mouth communications, as well as adverse consequences such as platform boycott. The findings of this study provide an enlightening approach for expanding our understanding of host experience in P2P accommodation, which has been neglected in previous studies, and provide a solid foundation for future research along with useful insights for P2P companies to help them improve their offering.

Date of Award	14 Jul 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maher Georges Elmashhara (Supervisor) & Susana Silva (Co-Supervisor)