This paper aims to address three research questions (1) Who is the main stakeholder that shapes Airbnb experience, (2) Does Airbnb offers an authentic travel experience? and (3) What should be the future research trends in Airbnb?
This paper uses the systematic literature review (SLR) with a well-defined protocol, research strategy and methods to answer the research questions.
The review revealed that while Airbnb plays a significant role as the platform provider, the stakeholders influencing the experiences are multifaceted. Hosts, guests, local communities and even regulatory bodies all contribute to shaping the overall Airbnb Experience ecosystem. Hosts, in particular, have a crucial role in curating and delivering unique experiences, which significantly impacts the quality and authenticity of the offerings. On the question of whether Airbnb offers an authentic travel experience, the review uncovered mixed findings. For examples, some studies emphasized the potential for Airbnb to provide authentic and local experiences, allowing travelers to engage with the community and cultural aspects of a destination. However, other studies raised concerns about the commodification and standardization of experiences, leading to a potential loss of authenticity.
This paper is different from previous SLR where previous research systematically reviewed; motivations to use and choose Airbnb, institutionalization of Airbnb, stakeholders of Airbnb. This paper addresses authentic experience as a factor that influences activity participation.
1. Introduction
Airbnb was established in 2008 and quickly gained a significant presence in the peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation sector, solidifying its position as the leading platform in the short-term stays sharing economy (SE) (Zervas et al., 2021). According to Airbnb (2022) during the fourth quarter of 2021 their revenues exceeded USD 5.9 billion, marking a substantial 73% increase from 2020. This surge can be attributed to the relaxation of travel restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2021, over 300 million bookings were made, offering travelers a choice of more than 7 million listings from over 4 million hosts worldwide. This has allowed Airbnb to secure a 25.97% share of the accommodation market, making it a formidable competitor for traditional hotels (Kirkpatrick, 2022).
Airbnb benefits both travelers and hosts, establishing trust among users and becoming a popular choice (Leoni, 2020). Travelers are drawn to Airbnb for various reasons, including hedonic factors such as adventure, satisfaction, sharing and seeking local experiences in nontouristy areas (Bucher et al., 2018). Additionally, utilitarian factors like cost savings, resource efficiency and knowledge acquisition also motivate travelers (Gyodi, 2019; Wu et al., 2017). Hosts find value in Airbnb as it enables them to efficiently utilize their properties (Ferreri and Sanyal, 2018).
A significant body of literature has explored the topic of P2P accommodation, with several papers examining this area (e.g. Godovykh et al., 2023; Ding et al., 2021; Lyu, 2019; Marques and Gondim Matos, 2019; Müller and Hall, 2018; Rizal, 2018). Moreover, four SLRs have specifically examined Airbnb (Hati et al., 2021; Medina-Hernandez et al., 2020; Dann et al., 2019; Ozdemir and Turker, 2019). This study distinguishes itself from prior SLRs, which primarily focused on various aspects, including motivations for selecting Airbnb (Dann et al., 2019; Medina-Hernandez et al., 2020), the institutionalization of Airbnb (Ozdemir and Turker, 2019) and Airbnb's stakeholders (Hati et al., 2021).
Our research adopts a literature review methodology that centers on the influence of authentic experiences on activity participation. The study will address three questions: (1) The key stakeholder shaping the Airbnb Experience, (2) Does Airbnb offer an authentic travel experience? and (3) What should be the future research trends in Airbnb?
A vital element shaping the Airbnb experience is the relationship that arises between the guest and host, studies have stated that the host is one of the main stakeholders in Airbnb, the relationship that arises between the guest and the host is the driver for providing an authentic travel experience (Guttentag et al., 2018; Moon et al., 2019; Zhu et al., 2019; Belarmino and Koh, 2020; Yu et al., 2020). This relationship arises in three main phases, before arriving at the accommodation, during the stay and after the stay ends. Even though the relationship should have been studied, limited studies have explicitly studied the “Guest-host relationship”. Accordingly, our objective is to provide a solid bridge for understanding the guest-host relationship through reviewing articles related to “hosts” “guests” and “guest-host relationships”. Understanding this relationship would help us to answer the first question “(1) The key stakeholder shaping the Airbnb Experience”.
We also provide a significant a comprehensive understanding of the concept “Authenticity” as some scholars (Törnberg, 2019) have argued that “Airbnb is hotel in disguise” which argues against the idea of local authenticity and experiencing the local community. Due to this gap Ozdemir and Turker (2019) stated in their SLR that authenticity has not been studied carefully and called for further study. Until the end of 2019 only 13 published papers discussed authenticity. Accordingly the objective of this study is to examine all studies conducted from the establishment of Airbnb until 2023 under the title “Authenticity” to answer our second question “Does Airbnb offer an authentic travel experience?”
After answering the previous questions, we intend to tackle the future trends in Airbnb and provide a future direction for research.
The paper is organized as follows: we first review the main concepts underlying Airbnb, we will examine the motivation and challenges to use Airbnb and understand why tourists would choose Airbnb as an accommodation choice. We then review the concept of authenticity. Then our research methodology will be explained, followed by the analysis of the papers, where we initially retrieved 183 papers and after all filtration we ended up with 51 papers. We provided a detailed guidance of the steps we followed while constructing the SLR under the methodology section. Finally, we concluded the paper with the analysis and future research agendas.
2. Literature review
2.1 Sharing economy and P2P accommodations
Airbnb and SE have had a significant influence in hospitality and tourism sector in terms of experience of the host and guest, destination economy and the market in which they operate (Hall et al., 2022), research in Airbnb have captured researchers' interest as Airbnb is linked to shaping the tourism industry, specially that the tourism sector is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic (Coles, 2021). A more efficient use of underutilized resources (Botsman and Rogers, 2011), including capital assets like rooms, homes and second homes, was initially intended to address some of the shortcomings of the dominant capitalist economic system and issues with sustainability, according to Gössling and Hall's (2019) analysis that the concept of the “SE” is a “inherently normative concept.”
SE is defined as “an economic system founded on sharing unused assets, from rooms to skills to items, for monetary and nonmonetary gains, with an emphasis predominantly on peer-to-peer interactions” (Botsman and Rogers, 2011, pp. 71–5). However, over time, it has evolved into a term that is often used interchangeably with others, including “collaborative economy,” “gig economy,” “participative economy,” “peer-to-peer economy” and “platform economy” (Gössling and Hall, 2019; OECD, 2016; Peeters et al., 2018). As a result, there is no one universally recognized definition for these terms.
The SE’s massive growth has been attributed to several factors, most often socioeconomic in nature. These include: (a) technological advancement and the rise of networking platforms, (b) consumers' shifting attitudes toward product ownership and a need for social engagement, (c) economic factors and need for better value consumption of goods and services, (d) pressures to reduce the environmental impact of consumption, and (e) trust-building techniques provided by digital institutions (Merino-Saum et al., 2023).
It has been proposed that the SE developed as a disruptor on traditional economies in this context (Lutz and Newlands, 2018), proposing a business model based on integrated cooperation and the peer-to-peer commercial exchange of unused assets or free-based sharing (Altinay and Taheri, 2019).
Hospitality and tourism appear to be one sector that has been profoundly influenced by the SE phenomena (Sigala, 2018). In fact, it has been argued that the adoption of peer-to-peer activities in SE is causing a gradual transformation in the industry's future dynamics (Guttentag, 2015; Oskam and Boswijk, 2016). It is obvious that the rise of internationally dominating platform-based intermediaries such as AirBnB, Booking.com and Uber has profoundly altered interactions and relationships between tourism stakeholders (Oskam, 2019). It has surely caused disruption, especially AirBnB being cited as having some of the strongest influences on the accommodation industry and travel experiences. However, it is debatable if AirBnB is truly revolutionary or not depends on different perspectives (Hall and Williams, 2020).
The study of hospitality and tourism in SE has grown rapidly, and for good reason: the industry offers a fertile ground for flourishing by enabling residents to share their homes, vehicles, food and culture with guests (Camilleri and Neuhofer, 2017; Sigala, 2018). The “sharing” concept gained popularity in the business due to a number of factors. Compared to typical tourism services, peer-to-peer transactions provide travelers with a cost-effective and higher value-for-money alternative (Tussyadiah and Pesonen, 2018). P2P accommodations are also thought to offer more authentic tourist experiences (Bucher et al., 2018; Shuqair et al., 2019). As they allow for a host-guest interaction, which exposes tourists to the culture of their destination (Moon et al., 2019; Zhu et al., 2019). The SE has also become a potential micro-entrepreneurship opportunity for service providers (Stabrowski, 2017; Zhang et al., 2019), enabling people to make extra income by using underutilized assets (Lutz and Newlands, 2018). Social incentives were noted as pushing suppliers' engagement in the SE in addition to financial ones (Farmaki and Stergiou, 2019; Lampinen and Cheshire, 2016).
Due to the growth of the SE, traditional service providers have begun using P2P platforms to broaden the reach of their business by utilizing a different channel (Sundararajan, 2014). Such changes have fueled discussion about whether P2P sites like Airbnb can be viewed as a component of the SE, with detractors emphasizing the need to properly define the sharing idea (e.g. Farmaki et al., 2022). SE is the subject of many conflicting views. SE is viewed as a danger to well-established businesses by some academics. On the other hand, other academics have argued that the growth of SE presents society with a wide range of choices.
2.2 AirBnB in sharing economy context
It is commonly believed that the emergence of P2P accommodation platforms, notably Airbnb, has put significant pressure on the traditional accommodation market “Hotels” (Coles, 2022; Dogru et al., 2020; Qiu et al., 2020). According to Benítez-Aurioles and Tussyadiah, 2021, Barcelona's P2P market has a negative impact on hotels' profitability and vacancy. However, the negative influence of Airbnb on hotels' revenue is lessened if they are situated in desirable city areas. The difficulties facing the conventional accommodation industry are noted by Zhang et al. (2020). P2P accommodations have a number of significant characteristics that set them apart from typical accommodation providers, including environment, flexibility, affordability, assurance of quality and the potential to interact with the host. Belarmino and Koh (2020) compared why people select hotels over Airbnbs. The research shows that although hotels are chosen for their room amenities, customers pick peer-to-peer accommodations because of the host-guest interaction. Yu et al. (2020) note variations in facilities including check-in, public places, safety, home benefits, pet-friendliness and others when contrasting hotel and Airbnb listings. They emphasize that these variations result from different legal and safety frameworks, which provide Airbnb more flexibility.
A significant amount of research currently studies how the growth of Airbnb affects neighborhoods, housing, cities and geographical distribution, a problem that was especially important because of overtourism (e.g. Nieuwland and van Melik, 2020; Nilsson, 2020; Ram and Tchetchik, 2022). To better inform national policy and decision-making, these studies are, nonetheless, becoming more critical (Adamiak, 2022; Curto et al., 2022). In their study of the growth of Airbnb, Curto et al. (2022) emphasize the importance of examining several factors, including costs, locations, long-term rental trends and others. Studies look on how Airbnb, offers change between nations. The research typically demonstrates that traditional, established places with a predominately commercial orientation have more developed Airbnb offering (Adamiak et al., 2019; Morales-Pérez et al., 2022b). Cities and coastal places are notably popular places for Airbnb listings. While older metropolitan city offers are constant or declining (Adamiak et al., 2019). The following sections provide a discussion about motivation to use Airbnb and the reasons that travelers choose Airbnb over their traditional rivals.
Motivation to use Airbnb: A small number of research have looked at why tourists use Airbnb, these previous studies have identified several factors that affect the guest choice for using Airbnb. All of the research has recognized price (or economic advantages) as a main reason for selecting Airbnb (Guttentag et al., 2018; Nowak et al., 2015; Tussyadiah, 2015). Home benefits such as amenities and facilities that can be used by the guests were also noted as an important factor while choosing Airbnb (Lamb, 2011). Most notably the social interaction with the host is what distinguishes Airbnb apart from the hotel industry, social interaction can sometimes be referred to as authentic experience, the authenticity was cited from different authors as a driver for selecting Airbnb (Nowak et al., 2015; Guttentag, 2015; Tussyadiah and Pesonen, 2016). Finally, the location of the listing itself was another factor that affect Airbnb choice (Nowak, 2015). These studies offer some insightful information on the factors that influence travelers' decisions to stay at Airbnb, but it also has several drawbacks. The range of potential motives that the research has tended to investigate has been quite constrained. Additionally, a number of the research looked at peer-to-peer short-term rentals (STRs) in general rather than a specific business-like Airbnb, which might have obscured results due to differences between other peer-to-peer short-term rental businesses. Finally, all the research treated Airbnb users as a single group rather than as members of possible market groups with different motivations. This study will focus solely on Airbnb, motivations to participant in host's community and focus on the authentic experience.
Tourism Accommodation Choice: The first stage before traveling to a destination, the travelers have to book accommodation, the choice is either renting a hotel room, or staying at someone's apartment. Even though hotels services surpass Airbnb when it comes to quality and security, Airbnb offers the unique experiences that leisure travelers are seeking, cost-savings and house-hold amenities (Guttentag, 2015). These factors motivated scholars to research travelers' choices in accommodation. In a study conducted by Sthapit and Jiménez-Barreto (2018), a qualitative study revealed that the main two reasons that travelers choose Airbnb is price and location of the listing. On the other hand, So et al. (2018) found that authenticity, social interaction and SE do not play a role in choosing Airbnb compared to their traditional rivals. This contradicts the findings of Guttentag (2018) as authenticity and social interaction were found important factors for Airbnb users based on 800 surveys that were distributed among Airbnb globally (mainly in United States of America (USA) and Canada). Paulauskaite et al. (2017) also supports that authenticity plays an important role in accommodation choice. Therefore, Airbnb users are not homogenous, some travelers are seeking social interaction with the local hosts, and other only choose Airbnb for economic benefits (Andreu et al., 2020; Guttentag et al., 2018).
2.3 Customer experience and authenticity
Defining customer experience has been discussed by many scholars in various fields, starting from marketing, business and tourism. While Pine and Gilmore (1998) have defined customer experience as “events that engage individuals in a personal way.” But other scholars find that customer experiences can be shaped through social interactions, culture and personal variables that contribute to the overall experience (Sheth et al., 1999). Accordingly, scholars agreed that there are many variables that contributes to the definition of customer experience, this definition will change according to the context and variables under study (Rageh et al., 2013; Gentile et al., 2007). In the context of tourism, most of the studies focused on the hotel industry until the rise of Airbnb, the scholars started to define customer experience in the context of Airbnb.
Following a thorough analysis of the existing research on the Airbnb experience, four dimensions were chosen for the current study. Home benefits, personalized service, social interactions and authenticity (Li et al., 2019).
Home benefits: travelers choose Airbnb for the physical benefits of the homestays; they look for amnesties, location, utilities (Lyu et al., 2019; Wang and Jeong, 2018; So et al., 2018).
Personalized service: customers are willing to pay extra for a personalized service according to Deloitte (2015), this trend means that service provider has to gather information from the customer and customize their services according to customers' preferences (Nyheim et al., 2015), in Airbnb context, travelers tend to rent homes from Airbnb for this benefit, as they expect to receive a unique stay provided by the host, this benefit enables Airbnb to outperform regular hotel industry (Lyu et al., 2019; Mody et al., 2017).
Social Interaction: which refers to interactions between guests and hosts as well as between guests, is another aspect of the Airbnb customer experience that has been noted in the literature (Lyu et al., 2019). The conversation and bond between the traveler and host play a crucial role in determining the customer experience (Guttentag, 2015; Ren et al., 2016). Users of Airbnb like communicating with their hosts via social media before visiting, and frequently anticipate seeing the hosts when they arrive (Camilleri and Neuhofer, 2017; Lyu et al., 2019). Additionally, an Airbnb shared home offers visitors the chance to speak with other visitors travelers (Tussyadiah, 2015). It has been demonstrated that these interactions and connections among the travelers make for an enjoyable experience (Lyu et al., 2019; Huang and Hsu, 2010). Additionally, the positive interactions between traveler and hosts, such as giving a tour around the house and neighborhood, contribute to building of co-creation values (Camilleri and Neuhofer, 2017).
Authenticity: Tourism scholars have debated the relationship between customer experience and authenticity for decades (Sharpley, 1994; Wang, 1999). Authenticity in the context of tourism and hospitality refers to a feeling of distinctiveness that comes from the local culture (Sharpley, 1994). Additionally, prior studies have demonstrated how vital authenticity is to understanding travelers' motivations, behavior and consumer loyalty (Chhabra et al., 2003; Hargrove, 2002; Grayson and Martinec, 2004; Kolar and Zabkar, 2010). For instance, authenticity has been viewed as a crucial component of a fulfilling customer experience in cultural and heritage tourism (Hargrove, 2002).
3. Research methodology
A SLR identifies, reviews and evaluates all the research that has been done that is related to a certain research issue, field of study or phenomena of interest (Kitchenham, 2004). A SLR is different than a traditional review, as the traditional approach is not performed with protocol, research strategy and no well-defined methods (Hati et al., 2021). The benefit of the SLR that is provides a summary of the existing research, identifies the conceptual content and enables researchers to develop a theory (Zhu and Sarkis, 2016). This paper uses a SLR with a well-defined protocol, research strategy and methods to achieve the research objectives.
3.1 Initial research
Scopus was used as a database for social sciences journals, it provides a comprehensive coverage of all articles. Scopus is chosen as it outperforms other databases like Web of science, because of its ability to cover all articles, filters them and retrieves documents (Aksnes and Sivertsen, 2019). The time to cover articles in this study was from January 1, 2009 until January 31, 2023. (since the company was established in August 2008).
The following keywords were used in the “Airbnb,” “Authenticity,” “Authentic,” “Social Interactions,” “guest-host relationship,” “Activity participation,” “Local Community,” “Destination,” “Travel Decision.” Several combinations of these words were used with Airbnb such as: (1) Airbnb AND Authenticity, (2) Airbnb AND Authentic, (3) Airbnb AND Social Interactions, (4) Airbnb AND guest-host relationship, (5) Airbnb AND Activity participation, (6) Airbnb AND Local Community. Initial research resulted included articles, conference paper, book chapter, review, books and more, but initially all these types were excluded, and the initial research focused on articles in journals that resulted in 183 articles retrieved (classified in Table 1).
3.2 Filtering articles research
Articles were only included as they are genuinely more credible for their peer-review process, which means that they were evaluated by experts before publication (The Open University, 2020). After eliminating duplications, we were left with 445 articles and then narrowed our research further by including articles that had the word “Airbnb” and/or “Sharing Economy” and/or “Share” in their title to focus on the topic of SE (Hati et al., 2021), the final list had 106 articles as classified in Table 2 with the year of publication and keywords.
A more filtration criterion was done to ensure that all articles including the topic Airbnb, are written in English, and are related to the core research questions. The final list of articles is presented in Table 3 and classified by the year of publication and keywords.
4. Analysis and findings
We analyzed, in detail, the final list of articles that emerged from the last step of filtration (51 articles). Table A1 shows a summary of these articles. Based on this analysis, results can be grouped into 4 subthemes that emerged from the literature: Authenticity, local communities and host-guest interactions.
4.1 Authenticity
The literature review highlighted the importance of authenticity as a key driver for guest satisfaction and future repurchase intention (Liang et al., 2018; Guttentag et al., 2018; Liang et al., 2018, ; Li et al., 2019; Chatterjee et al., 2019; Li et al., 2019, ; Kim and Kim, 2020; Jiang et al., 2021; So et al., 2021; Tumer Kabadayi et al., 2022) also it affected the motivation and recommendation for network (Chiappa et al., 2020; Akarsu et al., 2020; Guttentag et al., 2018) Which shows that authenticity can be considered as a key attribute that defines perceived enjoyment and future repurchase intention, motivation and recommendations. Finally, Jiang and Lyu (2021) identified authenticity as a key factor influencing the adoption of Airbnb Plus, suggesting that marketers should prioritize emotional appeals and highlight the hedonic value of the listings, and focus on quality and home benefits in marketing communications while incorporating local culture and authenticity.
Authenticity can be formulated through different elements, one of those elements is the existence of the host while accommodating guests, Guests feel homeliness in entire place, private and shared rooms as long as the host stays in the place and interactions between host and guests occur which paves the road for culture exchange (Lee et al., 2022; Akarsu et al., 2020; Kim and Kim, 2020; Zhang et al., 2019), guests use Airbnb primarily for the price benefits (Guttentag et al., 2018; Chatterjee et al., 2019), but studies have shown that they are also motivated to use Airbnb for the cultural exchange that happens during their stay; Airbnb guests want to get to know and connect with the local community (Li et al., 2019; Akarsu et al., 2020; Kim and Kim, 2020; Tumer Kabadayi et al., 2022), which they receive recommendations from their hosts on ways they can authentically experience the local community. Previous studies found that Airbnb users prefer hosts from a different background (different nationalities) than the guests, so that they can experience the local community; specially if it was a group of travelers (Wang et al., 2019). Thus, it will lead to a higher satisfaction level among Airbnb users (Tumer Kabadayi et al., 2022; So et al., 2021; Akarsu et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2019; Lalicic et al., 2018; Guttentag et al., 2018; Boswijk et al., 2017) Thus, Airbnb understood the power of the host as a main player in shaping the guests' overall experience, Qiu et al. (2020) suggested that Airbnb should readjust its strategies, provide a host training program and work with multiple stakeholders to promote destination experiences and supplement accommodation services specially during peak seasons. Therefore, the elements of brand authenticity, existential authenticity and intrapersonal authenticity were found to significantly impact brand love, but the sources of authenticity differed for hotels and Airbnb. Hotels relied on brand authenticity, while Airbnb drew on existential and intrapersonal authenticity to create brand-loving and brand-loyal customers (Mody and Hanks, 2020). These findings highlight the need for a better understanding of how tourists perceive and experience authenticity and caution against oversimplifying the complex issue, particularly in the context of the social impact of tourism on host communities (Paulauskaite et al., 2017).
Value is being co-created by Airbnb and its community at every step, the experience value proposition “live like a local” was a solution that appealed to young urban citizens and so-called cultural creatives (Boswijk, 2017). Airbnb has become a major player in this arena by offering opportunities to stay in a local's home and experience a destination like a local (Guttentag, 2019), it has been successful because it offers transformative experiences that foster self-actualization. This gave has the power to influence destination images and should address territorial complexity and enrich user experience while minimizing impact on residents. Other stakeholders, such as Airbnb hosts, public administrations and social movements, also have a role in avoiding stereotypes and denouncing the commodification of communities' identity (Garay-Tamajón and Morales-Pérez, 2023).
A couple of problem were identified by many scholars: the problem of authenticity where some users of Airbnb shifted the focus from using Airbnb as cultural exchange and accommodation platform, to primarily a platform that is being used as a substitute for hotels that offers accommodation for cheaper prices (Guttentag et al., 2018; Latif et al., 2019). Price is the most important criterion across hospitality choices including Airbnb-except high-end hotels (Chatterjee et al., 2019). Even though consumer expectations facilities, home-like feeling, trust and friendly service were important for Airbnb usage, but consumer expectations from Airbnb were similar to homestays, mid-range and budget hotels and different from resorts and high-range hotels (Chatterjee et al., 2019). Thus, there is a clash between expectations for culture exchange and reality, for example in Barcelona Airbnb offers a business opportunity rather than a cultural exchange app, and a low-cost alternative for guests, Barcelona's residents feel pressures of local displacement, neighborhoods are losing their identity and prices increase for locals and local identity is getting lost (Richards et al., 2020). The growth of rent prices, the increase in noise issues, the change in the local culture and the threat of losing authenticity and traditions are among the key issues faced by the local community because of the rise of Airbnb (Petruzzi et al., 2020). Therefore, if Airbnb would like to focus on the authentic experiences, rather than being branded as a hotel substitute Airbnb should provide a marketing strategy that delivers a message that they do not compete with hotels and focus on training Airbnb hosts to improve their services and engage with guests, including providing breakfast and entertainment, registering legally and understanding guest needs, while maintaining high standards and providing unique experiences is key to staying competitive in the booming Airbnb industry. This should contribute to the growth of Airbnb's business as travelers seek more local, unique and authentic experiences (Latif, 2019). As Airbnb users are more loyal even after facing a bad experience during their stay compared to hotel customers (Shuqair et al., 2019). The other problem is the safety: Ladegaard (2021) found that hosts are concerned about safety and run background checks before accepting requests.
In conclusion, Airbnb should place more emphasis on value packages and authentic/unique travel experience to retain and attract more travelers. More safety/security programs should be put in place and clearly communicated to reduce the perceived risks. In addition, Airbnb may publicize positive word of mouth and introduce and expand familiarity programs to incentivize Airbnb travelers. As unique experience expectation, familiarity and electronic word of mouth exert direct and indirect influences on repurchase intention (Mao and Lyu, 2017). Based on the literature review on the influence of Airbnb on authenticity, Table 4 shows the proposed future research agendas.
4.2 Local community
Studies conducted on this topic have focused on various aspects of the SE, ranging from its economic outcomes to its social implications. Research by Ferjanić Hodak and Krajinović (2020) found that studies on the SE in tourism tend to focus on four different areas: information communication technology, consumer behavior, stakeholders in the destination and legal aspects of SE in tourism. There is still scarcity in research of the influence of Airbnb on the local community.
Airbnb activities are usually concentrated near attractions, whether a historical attraction or having the accommodation located near a body of sea/ocean. Zhang et al. (2017) found that experienced hosts are located near attractions, which enables them to charge higher prices. Later on, Ioannides et al. (2019) confirmed that Airbnb activity is not evenly distributed throughout neighborhoods but rather occurs in the area closest to the city center, where most toursitification is also taking place. Adamiak et al. (2019) argued that Airbnb doesn't attract tourists to a new destination, rather they attract tourists in a well-establish touristic hot spot especially the Spanish cities.
One study by Cocola-Gant and Gago (2021) suggests that the claims made by Airbnb about its hosts being ordinary people and guests living like locals are not accurate. Instead, most hosts are professional investors, developers and landlords, while the proliferation of STRs has led to the displacement of residents, resulting in social injustice. While hosts lower prices when they want to attract customers and increase prices as they gain more experience (Zhang et al., 2017). Morales-Pérez et al. (2022a, b) found that Airbnb puts pressure on Spanish neighborhoods which displaces residents, Teruel-Gutierrez and Maté-Sánchez-Val (2021) also confirmed that “instagramable areas” tend to increase prices of Airbnb in the surrounding areas.
Finally, Airbnb supply has negatively impacted hotel revenue per available room and economy and luxury hotels are the most impacted. It was also found that Airbnb supply negatively impacts hotel average daily rate and occupancy rates (Dogru et al., 2019). On the other hand, Garcia-Ayllon (2018) found that Airbnb follows a different implantation pattern to hotels, territorially concentrating its impact in the center of cities and traditional residential neighborhoods. While Airbnb may only represent a small percentage of the rental market, its concentration in certain areas may cause upward market price changes and generate a phenomenon of “tourist gentrification.” Thus, Heo et al. (2019) found that Airbnb's growth and seasonality patterns differ from those of hotels, suggesting that they are not in direct competition. This was also confirmed by Moreno-Izquierdo (2019) that there are two types of destinations: those with a more identifiable urban component and those that are more holiday-dependent. There are differences in the supply of Airbnb, but it can represent a solution to the low profitability and high seasonality of the sun and beach destinations. The transparency that Airbnb provides to the traditional tourist destinations can be studied by analyzing its effect on the hotel supply. No significant fall in hotel occupancy can be observed despite the increase in the properties listed on Airbnb, indicating that we have better knowledge of the composition of the tourist accommodation supply in the more traditional destinations. Based on the literature review, there are several future research agendas that can be suggested regarding the influence of Airbnb on the local community, as shown in Table 5.
4.3 Guest-host relationship
Part of the Airbnb experience is the relationship that arises between the guest and host, this relationship arises in three main phases, before arriving at the accommodation, during the stay and after the stay ends.
4.3.1 Guest-host relationship before the stay
Studies show that trust is a vital factor facilitating users' willingness to engage in interactions, and it can be developed in SE through social and technical enablers (such as social referrals, quality of information and transaction safety) that are relevant to consumer development of trust (Kong et al., 2020; Yang et al., 2019; Farmaki and Stergiou, 2019). Hosts can be considered as a vital part of the Airbnb experience (Lee et al., 2023; Del Chiappa et al., 2021; Petruzzi et al., 2020; Kiatkawsin, 2020) Social interactions help in developing trust (Li et al., 2019; Latif et al., 2019; Jiang et al., 2019) which can easily be developed before arriving at the destination if the host had the same nationality as the guest (Kas et al., 2022) or the guests got in touch with the host through messaging the host, and after booking is confirmed they can use social media to get to know each other (Moon et al., 2019), they would feel more satisfied when they are able to check the host's profile, ensure that the account is verified and communication is done smoothly, this will increase the satisfaction level (Sthapit et al., 2019; Zhu et al., 2019). Guests would cancel their booking if they didn't feel comfortable with any safety or communication factors (Del Chiappa et al., 2021). Guests have direct contact with hosts for first-hand travel and accommodation information (Lin et al., 2019). At the same time, Host's safety is major concern while hosting guests, the hosts run background checks before accepting the request and some of the guests turn out to be friends for real after their stay (Ladegaard, 2021; Jun, 2020). Accordingly, trust is crucial in the SE, and it can be developed through social and technical enablers. Hosts are a vital part of the Airbnb experience, and social interactions help in developing trust, leading to increased guest satisfaction. However, guests' comfort and hosts' safety remain important considerations.
4.3.2 Guest-host relationship during the stay
After guests arrive at their accommodation, interaction between guests and hosts increases and peaks during that phase. A study by Yang et al. (2019) on users' trust in hosts found that reputation has the most significant impact, followed by repeated interactions. The study suggests that users first build their trust intentions based on rational information processing, and then confirm whether to trust or distrust through emotional connections with hosts when they arrive at the accommodation. Guests feel homeliness in the entire place, private and shared rooms as long as the host stays in the place. In Private and shared rooms, guests care about host friendliness (Lee, 2022). In a study by Stors and Baltes (2018), it was found that hosts encourage their guests to visit places in their neighborhood, leading to the promotion of local tourism. Accordingly, customers value their interaction with hosts; thus, to improve customer satisfaction, Airbnb hosts should interact with guests and respond to guests’ inquiries quickly (Zhang, 2019a, b).
Airbnb guests want to get to know and connect with the local community; thus, help from hosts on ways they can authentically experience the local community would be beneficial (Zhang, 2019a, b), they interact with local people in the community to discover the authentic life of locals. Additionally, guests share their experiences with other peer guests in the same property. The study concludes that Airbnb guests have additional personal and intensive interactions in destinations, generating positive attitudes toward destinations and locals (Lin et al., 2019).
The main economic benefit of social interaction is that guests can visit more places in the city they are visiting, resulting in an extra economic activity which can generate extra income for the host and city (Avdimiotis and Poulaki, 2019; Lee et al., 2020), which shows that Airbnb has provided an opportunity for locals to earn additional income and benefit from the tourism industry, particularly in developing countries. Disruptive entrepreneurship such as Airbnb has created opportunities for locals to become providers of tourism services (Henama, 2018).
In conclusion, Airbnb guests value interaction with hosts, particularly in terms of building trust and gaining local knowledge. Hosts who prioritize guest interactions and provide authentic local experiences can lead to increased customer satisfaction and economic benefits for both the host and the local community.
4.3.3 Guest-host relationship after the stay
The rise of peer-to-peer accommodation platforms like Airbnb has led to a shift in the way guests evaluate their experiences. Cheng and Jin's (2019) study found that guests evaluate their experiences based on similar attributes as hotel guests, including location, amenities and the host. However, the role of the host in the Airbnb context varies, and good communication is crucial for building trust, while guests value privacy and safety, which are more commonly guaranteed in hotels.
Lee et al. (2023) identified four themes - “amenities,” “host,” “location,” and “information” - and confirmed their importance in accommodation-sharing. While locational benefits were found to be important, customers who express intentions to re-visit or recommend the experiences to others may not mention such benefits in their reviews. Homeliness is strongly associated with attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, and hosts can retain customers by making them feel at home during the stay. The study also discovered a new theme: “information,” which is an important aspect affecting stay experiences, as information discrepancies result in customer dissatisfaction. Information provided by hosts can alleviate guests' anxiety and build trust.
The study conducted by Fan et al. (2021) focused on the social function integrated into peer-to-peer accommodation platforms such as Airbnb. The study found that the Stories feature is effective in influencing guests' booking behavior and hosts' performance. Specifically, it found that accommodations recommended by stories are more likely to attract bookings, and attractive stories bring more benefits to the corresponding listings. Furthermore, the study also found that the spillover effect of stories increases the bookings of other listings under the same host. Lee et al. (2020) found that guests value the helpfulness and flexibility of the hosts, communication, cleanliness and homeliness. Safety is less frequently mentioned in the reviews compared to other attributes. The study also notes that guests appreciate advice on sightseeing, particularly related to museums and theatres, and that events generate tourism activities and increase accommodation prices. Finally, Chen and Chang's (2018) study found that review content has a positive and significant impact on perceived value, while ratings have an insignificant impact on purchase intention but a significant impact on perceived value. Information quality has a positive and significant impact on satisfaction, while media richness has a positive and significant impact on satisfaction by enhancing the sense of security.
In conclusion, these studies highlight the importance of various factors in the evaluation of peer-to-peer accommodation experiences. The host plays a crucial role in building trust and providing helpful information. Storytelling can be an effective tool for hosts to attract bookings and increase the overall performance of their listings. Based on the literature review, some possible future research agendas are shown in Table 6.
5. Conclusions
In conclusion, the SLR conducted on Airbnb Authenticity aimed to address three key questions: (1) the main stakeholder shaping Airbnb experiences, (2) the authenticity of travel experiences offered by Airbnb and (3) future research trends in the context of Airbnb.
Regarding the main stakeholder shaping Airbnb experiences, the review revealed that while Airbnb plays a significant role as the platform provider, the stakeholders influencing the experiences are multifaceted. Hosts, guests, local communities and even regulatory bodies all contribute to shaping the overall Airbnb experience ecosystem. Hosts, in particular, have a crucial role in curating and delivering unique experiences, which significantly impacts the quality and authenticity of the offerings. Experimental research can be used as it is the best way to infer causality between variables (Bazaraa et al., 2022).
On the question of whether Airbnb offers an authentic travel experience, the review uncovered mixed findings. Some studies emphasized the potential for Airbnb to provide authentic and local experiences, allowing travelers to engage with the community and cultural aspects of a destination. However, other studies raised concerns about the commodification and standardization of experiences, leading to a potential loss of authenticity. It became apparent that factors such as host engagement, the selection and vetting process of experiences, and the level of interaction with the local community greatly influenced the authenticity of Airbnb experiences.
Lastly, the review shed light on future research trends in the context of Airbnb. Several avenues for further investigation emerged, including the examination of the sociocultural impacts of Airbnb Experiences on local communities, the evaluation of the economic implications for hosts and destination economies, and the exploration of regulatory challenges and policy frameworks surrounding this emerging sector. Additionally, studies focusing on user preferences, motivations and satisfaction with Airbnb Experiences would contribute to a better understanding of consumer behavior in this domain.
To sum up, this SLR provided valuable insights into the main stakeholder shaping Airbnb experiences, the authenticity of the travel experiences offered, and identified key areas for future research. The findings highlight the complex nature of Airbnb experiences, emphasizing the importance of host-community interactions, the preservation of authenticity and the need for continued exploration of this evolving phenomenon. This review serves as a foundation for further scholarly investigations and can inform industry stakeholders and policymakers in making informed decisions regarding the development and regulation of Airbnb experiences.
