Hosting via Airbnb: Motivations and Financial Assurances in Monetized Network Hospitality / Airi Lampinen & Coye Cheshire

Hosting via AirbnbMotivations and Financial Assurances

in Monetized Network Hospitality

Airi Lampinen Mobile Life Centre

Stockholm University

Coye CheshireSchool of Information

UC Berkeley

Alwaysexplore!Alwayscreate!Alwaysenjoy!

• Monetary exchange can act as a gateway to further social exchange and interpersonal interaction

• The use of money need not be a break from the ideals of ‘sharing’


Goals of the study

• Examining the role of financial assurance structures in the economic and non-monetary interactions that are facilitated in monetized network hospitality

• Corroborating key findings about hosts’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations from a prior study in a different geographical and cultural setting


• 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Airbnb hosts in the SF Bay Area, USA

• Hosting status: Current, prior, and aspiring

• Hosting style: Remote and on-site

• Some dual hosts (Airbnb & Couchsurfing)

Research materials


Key themes

1. Extrinsic and intrinsic motivations

2. Money and host–guest interactions

3. The platform as an assurance structure


Monetary and interpersonal motivations need not be contradictory

• Money as an initial motivation

• Valued social interaction with guests

• Gratification of being a good host

• Ancillary benefits of hosting


“I had to get all this dental surgery -- It was gonna be about $8,000.00 out of pocket. So then, I was like,

‘Well, I have this empty room in my house that I never use. It’s just for my guests to stay

and my friends.’ -- ‘Oh. I should maybe use Airbnb’ ‘cause some of my friends

had told me they were making some good money on it.”

Greg





Monetary and interpersonal motivations need not be contradictory Monetary and interpersonal motivations need not be contradictory


“I have brought in people that I have made connections --

really deep friendships that otherwise it would not

have happened. -- [O]ne of them came into my house, the other day,

who just wanted to see me and see my dog. I’m having dinner

with another one on Thursday. So, yeah, the friendship is just, it’s amazing.”

Shirley







• Money matters to Airbnb hosts




“There’s something very nice about when you show a guest in, and,

not to say that this happens all the time, but their eyes light up

because I’ve worked so hard on making this place spotless. --

And it sounds kind of silly to say that preparing a studio could be this work of pride, but it is.”

Adam



• Monetary exchange can facilitate managing expectations

• Monetary exchange can provide flexibility

• Monetary exchange can act as a gateway to additional exchanges

Monetary exchange can facilitate sociable host–guest interactions



“If you got it really cheap, you might get like students

or something -- If you got it a little higher,

then you figure the people that are okay to pay that are maybe not gonna be

as troublesome or something.”

Greg





“With Airbnb, you have a lot of flexibility. -- And so you have flexibility to decide how much

money do I want to make? How often do I want to clean?

How hard do I want to work at it? But we can always meet our

financial goals as they shift and change by shifting and changing

who we accept.”

Marissa






“And we’ve had people who came because in my profile I

said I love opera. -- ‘Cause we also if people want to use the discounts that come with our

subscriber status at the opera and the symphony, I’ll order tickets for ‘em in advance

if they want me to.”

Marissa






“I think a really good [experience] was the Swedish woman who

stayed here. She’s gonna host me this summer. -- She’s more than a

host. She’s like a friend-host.”

Barbara






Financial assurance structures reduce risks and uncertainties

• Platforms can facilitate the core peer-to-peer transactions (e.g. by handling payments)

• Platform companies are called upon to reduce uncertainties (e.g. to help resolve conflicts between hosts and guests)


“[I]t could be so awkward. It’s really not. Because everything

is, the transaction is handled behind the scenes. When they

show up, they’re fully paid, and you don’t have to worry

about that. -- I think that that helps the social interaction

to not be [as] weird as it could be.”

Maria



Financial assurance structures reduce risksFinancial assurance structures reduce risks and uncertainties


“I told him it was only for him. I came home and there was five

people in my house all super high. -- He had the key. It was weird.

And then he hit on me the next day. That made me really uncomfortable.

-- I just stayed at my boyfriend’s the whole weekend. -- I then emailed Airbnb,

and they took care of it.”

Emily



Financial assurance structures reduce uncertainties Financial assurance structures reduce risks and uncertainties


Future Work

• Different types of hosts, especially those who manage several listings on a professional basis

• Guests’ perspectives

• Ancillary commercial activities, such as concierge and cleaning services

• Asset and labor driven peer-to-peer exchange


Implications for Design

• Attracting more cautious participants by leveraging financial brokering systems

• Platforms as trusted third parties assuring non-monetary peer-to-peer exchanges

• Highlighting and recognising the value of different types of contributions in peer-to-peer exchange


• Financial transactions need not be a break from the ideals of ‘sharing’

• From the perspective of hosts in our study, the concept of ‘sharing’ encompasses social interactions that are facilitated by the initial financial exchange

• Financial assurance structures can encourage decisions to try hosting, enabling valuable subsequent benefits

Conclusions

AcknowledgmentsMobile Life VINN Excellence Centre / VINNOVA NSF: ACI-VOSS 1322270

Presentations & Public Speaking

Hosting via Airbnb: Motivations and Financial Assurances in Monetized Network Hospitality / Airi Lampinen & Coye Cheshire