Many homeowners in tourist cities offer accommodation through websites such as Airbnb, but competition is fierce in attracting bookings and generating positive reviews, according to the research findings of a PolyU study.
Prof. Rob Law
Dr Markus Schuckert
The emergence of the “sharing economy” in recent years has opened up new options for travellers, particularly in the form of peer-topeer rental accommodation through websites such as Airbnb. These accommodation options offer many advantages, including lower prices and the opportunity for alternative lodging experiences.
To help homeowners understand what factors attract guests to book accommodation and leave reviews, Prof. Rob Law and Dr Markus Schuckert from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management and their co-researchers analysed data related to accommodation offers in Hong Kong in August 2015 from Airbnb. They found that the number of reviews varied widely: out of the 3,830 listings, 2,039 had no reviews whereas the most popular listing had 154 reviews.
They have examined the factors that lead to such unevenness. One factor is related to the “Superhost” policy. On Airbnb, less than 3% of the hosts are Superhosts – owners who have made considerable effort to improve the quality of their accommodation and maintain customer satisfaction. As expected, these hosts attracted more bookings and reviews.
The study also found that guests are happy to spend more for the accommodation provided by Superhost. If there are two offers with almost identical characteristics and one has the Superhost badge, guests are more likely to pay a premium for the one with the badge. Being a Superhost is not only an indicator of high quality, but it also reduces the users’ perceived risk.
Other factors that can make an accommodation more attractive and increase the volume of reviews include listings with more detailed information, a longer description, house rules and more photos. Ratings also tend to be higher for accommodation with fewer bedrooms, and for listings that offer a weekly price, flexible cancellation policy and detailed descriptions of house rules.
Given that lodging reviews have a huge influence on accommodation bookings, the findings of this study offer homeowners useful information on ways they can take to attract more reviews and higher ratings from their guests, and in turn increase their future bookings.♦
