Abstract
The ubiquitous connections of mobile device, social networks, and market platforms have enabled the rise of sharing economy. Sharing economy is a term that describes market based activities mediated through systems or networks, in which participants conduct peer to peer sharing activities in the form of renting, lending, trading, bartering, and swapping of goods, services, transportation solutions, space or money with no transfer of ownership (Bardhi and Eckhardt 2012; Belk 2014; Botsman and Rogers 2010; Möhlmann 2015; Sundararajan 2013).Sharing economy platforms have disrupted many industries globally. For example, plentiful availability of accommodations through AirBnB and Roomorama has disrupted the hospitality industry, and ride-sharing services, such as Uber and Lyft, have disrupted the taxicab service industry in a profound manner.In this study, we focus on the effect of one important policy change that was aimed at detrimental discriminatory behavior, and examine the post-policy behavior of participants. We draw policy implications and platform implications based on our empirical investigation. Using Airbnb as an example, we investigate how policy changes that had an anti-discrimination intent impacted the behavior of both the service providers and consumers. Airbnb launched “instant booking” starting 2015 in many cities. This policy was aimed at reducing discrimination against renters/guests and at the same time, eases the booking process and increase the occupancy rate. Using this event as a treatment in a natural experiment, and two instrumental variables in two stage models, we aim to understand the impact of this policy on the rating and sentiment of reviews.
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Changing Dimensions of Contemporary Tourism
KEYWORDS
Sharing Economy, Platform Strategy, Online Review, Text Mining
