Rethinking the Customer Experience an Empirical Comparison of Airbnb and Hotels.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Experience is at the heart of the tourism and hospitality industry. One of the fundamental objectives of this sector is to create memorable customer experiences. For years, the sharing economy has been merged as an essential phenomenon in the industry. As distinct from the traditional sector, Airbnb, emerging as a disruptive innovation and one of the dominant online sharing economy platforms, has a significant impact on the traditional industry. Despite an increasing interest in customer experience in tourism and hospitality in general, limited research exists to provide insight into what constitutes the customer experience with Airbnb, how it can be conceptualized, and how it should be measured. In addition, Airbnb is a major competitor to hotels and is increasingly taking market share from the hotel industry. The current literature lacks empirical research to develop an in-depth understanding of how such customer experience influences consumer behaviors, especially in a comparable context of Airbnb and hotels. Thus, this study aims to understand the nature and multi-dimensional structure of the customer experience with Airbnb. Further, the study examines the role of customer experience with Airbnb in building brand loyalty (i.e., Airbnb), and destination loyalty for these customers, and the moderating effects of involvement and customer generations on the model relationships. Guided by the research paradigm, the study uses a quantitative research methodology, including two phases: scale development and testing of a research model. Specifically, Phase 1 aims to develop and validate the measurement scale of customer experience with Airbnb. To achieve this objective, the author adopted Netemeyer et al.’s (2003) four-step scale development procedure, which includes 1) defining the construct and content domain, 2) generating and judging measurement items, 3) conducting studies to develop and refine the scale, and 4) finalizing the scale. Subsequently, the scale was utilized in Phase 2 to assess the conceptual research model and test the hypothesized relationships. Two separate studies were conducted concurrently in Phase 2. Study 1 assessed the research model with an Airbnb sample, while Study 2 examined the model with a hotel sample. A comparison between Study 1 and Study 2 was also conducted.The results of scale development provided empirical support for the proposed multi-dimensional factor structure of the customer experience with Airbnb, scale reliability, and validity. Psychometric properties were further established by assessing the scale across multiple samples (i.e., confirmatory sample and validation sample). Followed by the scale development, the hypothesized relationships between customer experience with Airbnb, arousal, hedonic emotions, utilitarian emotions, destination attachment, brand attachment, destination loyalty, and brand loyalty were assessed through structural equation modeling. The results of the Airbnb sample provided evidence of the significant role that customer experience and emotions (i.e., arousal and utilitarian emotions) have in forming customer attachment and loyalty to the brand Airbnb and to the destination. Similar results were also found in the hotel sample. Furthermore, the results of the model comparison demonstrated that both the relationships between customer experience and utilitarian emotions, and utilitarian emotions and destination attachment were significantly stronger for the Airbnb group. In contrast, the relationships between utilitarian emotions and brand attachment, and destination attachment and destination loyalty were significantly stronger for the hotel group.This study makes several contributions to the literature. From a theoretical perspective, this research conceptualizes customer experience with Airbnb, and provides a reliable and valid scale. The scale offers a foundation for the empirical development of a conceptual model of brand loyalty and destination loyalty formation in the lodging context. The results not only provide a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical chain between customers’ lodging experience and emotional responses, but also indicate how these constructs subsequently drive brand loyalty and destination loyalty. From a practical perspective, the findings from the testing of the proposed conceptual model not only provide marketing strategies to Airbnb providers but also shed light on hotel managers’ understanding of customer experience management in the current competitive landscape. Lastly, destination marketing organizations also gain knowledge from this study to manage destination loyalty.