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Effects of customers’ perceived risks of sharing economy on self-protective behavior toward COVID-19

Hyejo Hailey Shin (School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR)
Miyoung Jeong (Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA)
Natalia Zapata-Cuervo (Jefe de Departamento de Servicio, Hospitalidad y Calidad, Universidad de La Sabana, Chia, Colombia)
Maricela Isabel Montes Guerra (Departamento de Servicio, Hospitalidad y Calidad, Universidad de La Sabana, Chia, Colombia)
Mi-Hea Cho (Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea)
Yensoon Kim (William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA)

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN: 0959-6119

Article publication date: 16 September 2022

Issue publication date: 31 March 2023

713

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how customers’ perceived risks of sharing economy (SE) affect their self-protective behaviors when using SE, leading to their future behavioral intention. Additionally, this study looks into whether there are any differences between accommodation-sharing and ride-sharing customers in the aforementioned relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey targeting two groups of SE customers (i.e. accommodation sharing and ride sharing) was used. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, the mechanism of how SE customers’ perceived risks of SE affect their self-protective behaviors, which in turn influence their future behavior intention. A multigroup analysis was performed to assess the difference between the two groups of SE customers. Finally, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to see the potential differences between the five classifications of self-protective behaviors in their perceived risks.

Findings

SE customers’ psychological risks positively affected their hygiene protective behaviors and social protective behaviors, influencing their behavior intention and relative intention (compared with traditional services). Social risk had a negative impact on SE customers’ hygiene protective behaviors. There was a significant difference between accommodation sharing and ride sharing customers in their psychological mechanism of how perceived risks influence their self-protective behaviors.

Practical implications

The findings of this study help SE platforms and service providers better understand their customers’ perceived risks of their services and suggest them to promote their customers’ self-protective behaviors so that perceived risks can be mitigated, thereby generating strong behavior intentions. As the results indicated that there is a significant difference between the two major forms of SE (i.e. accommodation sharing and ride sharing) in their customers’ perceived risks and self-protective behavior, SE platforms can further refine their operational and marketing efforts based on the findings.

Originality/value

This study offers a comprehensive understanding of SE customers’ self-protective behaviors by examining the effects of SE customers’ different perceived risks on their self-protective behaviors during the unprecedented pandemic. Furthermore, the comparison of the two most popular forms of SE (i.e. accommodation sharing and ride sharing) provides new perspectives to understand customers’ behavior in the SE context.

Keywords

Citation

Hailey Shin, H., Jeong, M., Zapata-Cuervo, N., Montes Guerra, M.I., Cho, M.-H. and Kim, Y. (2023), "Effects of customers’ perceived risks of sharing economy on self-protective behavior toward COVID-19", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 1304-1331. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2021-1547

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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