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This paper develops a theoretical model that analyzes the decision problem the landowner has to face between the construction of second homes and hotels. The starting point implies verifying that for a given tourist destination, the land available for the construction of accommodation is limited. For this reason, when choosing between building second homes or building hotels, many factors influence the decision model. The theoretical mechanism generalizes the model introduced in Brida and Boffa (2010) and is based on a four-stage sequential game with four players. From the results of the model, the authors conclude that it is optimal from the social point of view both to build a hotel and to build a second home because both generate added value during the year. For this reason, the construction of second homes should be taken into account in the planning policy of the tourist destination. This arises from considering that second homes, as they remain occupied all year like hotels, in certain tourist destinations, do not generate seasonality.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the research carried out in Québec as part of a master’s degree for the IÉSEG School of Management on behalf of Kéroul, an organization whose mission is to make tourism and culture accessible to people with disabilities. Established over 30 years ago and active largely in Québec, Kéroul has observed a lingering reluctance on the part of tourism industry operators to meeting the needs of disabled visitors. In the research, we set out to answer the following question: how can Kéroul encourage tourism establishments to develop accessibility? In light of the hotel industry’s key role in tourism, exploratory research was conducted with 30 Québec hotel managers through extensive individual interviews.

The exploratory research took the form of in-depth interviews with hotel managers. The sample was selected after conferring with Kéroul and a Québec hotel association. As a first step, a jointly written letter was sent to managers who were association members, inviting them to be interviewed.

Some respondents showed an interest in accessibility, seen as a means of attracting group bookings; others confirmed that accessible rooms rented well to guests from all categories. Nonetheless, most were skeptical about the economic value of the disabled market. They were also poorly informed about this type of clientele, the concept of accessibility and the facilities “barrier-free” tourism requires.

Until now, the literature on accessible tourism has generally accentuated the needs of disabled consumers and analyzed their behavior with regard to tourism. Arguments to demonstrate the market potential of tourists with disabilities have ensued. The need to meet this demand was expressed while highlighting the low degree of consideration given to the disabled market by tourism professionals at present. However, few publications treat accessibility as a viable business opportunity. The study reveals the concerns and views of tourism industry professionals vis-à-vis accessibility and is all the more relevant, given the current context in Québec.

With the increase of state capital, corporate total factor productivity (TFP) has a tendency to jump up at first and then slowly decrease. Generally, no significant “productivity paradox” can be observed in China’s manufacturing industry. With the increase of export density, corporate TFP also shows a trend of initial jump growth and subsequent slow decline. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

Using the 1996–2013 China Industrial Enterprise Database, this paper studies the monopolistic behavior of Chinese manufacturing enterprises through the measurement of TFP and corporate monopoly power.

Results show that China’s manufacturing monopoly enterprises are generally innovation-oriented rather than rent-seeking. However, there are certain differences between diversified types of monopoly enterprises: the ones with state capital are more inclined to innovate than those without, whereas the ones with export delivery value are more inclined to seek rent than those without.

Therefore, the government should implement differentiated policies for diversified types of monopoly enterprises, and do so in a targeted manner fully reflecting the containment of rent-seeking and the encouragement of innovation.

In this two-part case, Richard Davis and Stephen Hodgetts, co-owners of D&H Management LLC, are trying to come to terms with changes in the real estate market‐changes that have made their rental homes worth less than their mortgages and at best yielding at most a break-even cash flow. In Part A Davis and Hodgetts are weighing the following options: (1) sell all of the properties, assume a loss (walk away with nothing), and avoid the negative cash flow; (2) walk away from all of the properties, assume a loss (walk away with nothing), and avoid the negative cash flow; (3) delay paying the mortgage on some of the homes, allow these properties, if necessary, to go into foreclosure, and in the interim use the positive cash flow to shore up some of the more positive cash flow homes; (4) contact all of the lenders and try to renegotiate the mortgages so as to have lower monthly rates.

In Part B Davis proposes that he and Hodgetts go their separate ways. Davis walks away with the two properties that have mortgages in his name, while Hodgetts obtains the four properties that have mortgages in his. From Hodgettsʼ perspective this is a losing proposition since (1) he would have to take over the management of four “loser” properties rather than Davisʼs two, an ʼunfairʼ split of the liabilities; (2) he had no interest in managing properties; and (3) he and Davis would be splitting up a long-standing team.

This study aims to explain why online reviews in Airbnb are skewed toward positive ratings. The authors examine customer perceptions of the service quality of an Airbnb stay as a relevant antecedent of whether customers leave an online review of that Airbnb stay. To this end, the authors test the hypothesis that the relationship between service quality and leaving an online review is linear and positive.

To test the hypothesis, the authors rely on primary survey data from 177 Airbnb customers combined with secondary data coming from their personal online Airbnb accounts. The authors conducted a binary logistic regression analysis to test the hypothesis.

The results show that customers’ service quality perceptions are positively and linearly related to leaving an online review of an Airbnb stay. In other words, satisfied customers are more likely to leave a review after an Airbnb stay than those who are dissatisfied.

The study is original in two respects. First, it reconsiders the role of customer experiences in explaining online customer reviews. In doing so, it empirically shows that the conventional wisdom of a U-shaped relationship between customer experiences and online reviewing does not hold in the context of the sharing economy. Second, by relying on primary survey data, the authors reveal the risk of dissatisfied customers creating an underreporting bias in online reviews, which ultimately make online reviews of Airbnb skewed toward positive ratings.

Companies are adopting a more active role in managing their online reputations by using electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and often responding directly to customer reviews. Therefore, companies need to understand the effects of management responses to customer reviews. This study aims to explore whether it is worth responding to reviews and whether expressing gratitude enhances the effects of review responses.

This study uses customer reviews and management response data from a sample of 766 Spanish rural lodging establishments listed on Toprural (www.toprural.com). Analyses are undertaken with NVivo and SmartPLS.

Responding to negative reviews improves lodging establishments’ average ratings, but responding to positive reviews has no significant direct effect. Expressing gratitude in responses positively moderates the effects of review responses; this moderating effect is more significant for responses to negative than to positive reviews.

Previous research provides contradictory evidence about the positive outcomes of a company’s responses; it also does not address expressions of gratitude. This research provides evidence of the direct effects of management response quantity on ratings. It also expands current research on the content characteristics of these responses. The contextual setting for this research, rural tourism, is a key driver of sustainable rural development and a sector in which eWOM is especially relevant; thus, correctly managing the eWOM phenomenon becomes crucial.

Al objeto de mejorar su reputación online, las empresas progresivamente están adoptando un papel más activo ante las reseñas online de los clientes, ofreciendo respuestas online a dichas reseñas. Por tanto, es necesario que las empresas conozcan mejor los efectos de responder online. Este estudio examina si resulta beneficioso responder a las reseñas y si expresar agradecimiento potencia el efecto de responder.

A partir de datos sobre reseñas online de clientes y respuestas de la empresa, correspondientes a una muestra de 766 alojamientos de turismo rural de Toprural (www.toprural.com), se realizan análisis con NVivo y SmartPLS.

Responder a reseñas negativas mejora las puntuaciones medias del establecimiento en Toprural. Sin embargo, responder a reseñas positivas no tiene un efecto directo significativo. Además, expresar agradecimiento en las respuestas modera positivamente el efecto de responder. No obstante, esta moderación es más intensa en el caso de respuestas a reseñas negativas frente a las reseñas positivas.

La investigación previa aporta evidencia contradictoria sobre los efectos de la intensidad de respuesta empresarial a las reseñas online; además, no se ocupa de la expresión de gratitud en particular. Este estudio aporta luz respecto al efecto directo de la intensidad de respuesta sobre las puntuaciones online y amplía la investigación actual sobre las características de contenido de las respuestas. El marco de estudio, el turismo rural, se considera clave para un desarrollo rural sostenible y constituye un escenario donde el boca-oído electrónico es especialmente importante; en consecuencia, gestionar correctamente el fenómeno es crucial.

Palabras clave Boca-oído electrónico, Respuesta empresarial, Reputación online, Turismo rural

Tipo de artículo Trabajo de investigación

This paper aims to address three research questions (1) Who is the main stakeholder that shapes Airbnb experience, (2) Does Airbnb offers an authentic travel experience? and (3) What should be the future research trends in Airbnb?

This paper uses the systematic literature review (SLR) with a well-defined protocol, research strategy and methods to answer the research questions.

The review revealed that while Airbnb plays a significant role as the platform provider, the stakeholders influencing the experiences are multifaceted. Hosts, guests, local communities and even regulatory bodies all contribute to shaping the overall Airbnb Experience ecosystem. Hosts, in particular, have a crucial role in curating and delivering unique experiences, which significantly impacts the quality and authenticity of the offerings. On the question of whether Airbnb offers an authentic travel experience, the review uncovered mixed findings. For examples, some studies emphasized the potential for Airbnb to provide authentic and local experiences, allowing travelers to engage with the community and cultural aspects of a destination. However, other studies raised concerns about the commodification and standardization of experiences, leading to a potential loss of authenticity.

This paper is different from previous SLR where previous research systematically reviewed; motivations to use and choose Airbnb, institutionalization of Airbnb, stakeholders of Airbnb. This paper addresses authentic experience as a factor that influences activity participation.

After the COVID-19 outbreak began, travel demand dropped sharply and the potential impact of COVID-19 on sharing accommodations appears to be significant. Thus, it would be meaningful to investigate how travelers have changed their perceptions of staying at sharing accommodations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The purpose of this research was to compare consumers' perceived risks of using sharing accommodations, such as Airbnb, before and during the coronavirus pandemic.

Paired sample t-tests were applied, using two surveys collected in 2017 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (peri-pandemic). The effects of stress levels from COVID-19 and previous experience with sharing lodging services on risk perception changes were also examined.

Consumers showed higher social, physical, performance and convenience risk perceptions during the pandemic. Not surprisingly, those respondents who were more conscious of the pandemic in terms of concern and anxiety had higher changes in their risk perceptions. In addition, changes in risk perception differed by consumers' usage experience.

The results of this study add to the body of knowledge about consumers' risk perceptions of the sharing economy, particularly in connection with a huge disruption such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper aims to explore the components of a negative memorable Airbnb experience.

Two studies of North American and British nationals were conducted online using an open-ended survey questionnaire with photo-elicitation via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The grounded theory was used to analyse the collected data.

The findings of the current study are destination-specific and generalisation is limited. In addition, this study gathered data using an open-ended survey questionnaire with visual images (photo-elicitation technique) in MTurk. Moreover, the study participants were mainly Westerners.

Airbnb could provide hosts with a service quality checklist to warrant quality assurance across listings. Hosts must be informed, guided and monitored so that service quality standards are fulfilled. In addition, hosts should be incentivised to write an honest and accurate description of their listing.

Airbnb can provide hosts with a service quality checklist to ensure standardisation and quality assurance across listings. Hosts must be informed, guided and monitored so that service quality standards are fulfilled. In addition, hosts might benefit from training or workshops on the role of hosting and service quality management.

This is one of the first studies to explore the components of a negative memorable experience in the context of Airbnb.

负面的难忘体验：北美及英国Airbnb住客视角分析

在本文中, 我们探讨负面难忘的Airbnb体验的组成部分。

两项研究针对北美和英国居民的展开, 并使用亚马逊土耳其机器人（Amazon Mechanical Turk）来通过匿名调查问卷的方式在线进行照片提取。 采用扎根理论对收集到的数据进行了分析。

这项研究确定了负面令人难忘的Airbnb体验的三个最常见的组成部分：肮脏和恶劣的房间条件；恶劣的, 欺骗性的和粗鲁的主人行为；以及糟糕的客户服务。调查结果支持研究表明Airbnb的服务质量是不可预测的。

目前研究的结果是基于特定目的地的, 并且其概括性是有限的。 此外, 这项研究收集数据使用匿名调查问卷的MTurk视觉图像（照片提取技术）。 此外, 研究参与者主要是西方人。

爱彼迎可以为业主提供服务质量清单, 以保证整个列表款项的质量。 房主必须得到通知、指导和监测, 以便满足服务质量标准。 此外, 应该鼓励房主写一个诚实和准确的房源描述。

此研究在探索在Airbnb的背景下负面难忘体验的组成部分中处于领先地位。

爱彼迎, 记忆, 负面的难忘体验, 服务质量, 共享经济

研究论文

Experiencias negativas memorables: Perspectivas de los huéspedes de Airbnb de Norteamérica y Gran Bretaña

En este documento, exploramos los componentes de una experiencia negativa y memorable de las aerobombas.

Se realizaron dos estudios de ciudadanos norteamericanos y británicos en línea utilizando un cuestionario de encuesta abierto con foto-elicitación a través de Amazon Mechanical Turk. Se utilizó la teoría fundamentada para analizar los datos recogidos.

Este estudio identificó los tres componentes más comunes de las experiencias memorables negativas de las Airbnb: condiciones sucias y pobres de la habitación; comportamiento malo, engañoso y grosero del anfitrión; y un pobre servicio al cliente. Los resultados apoyan los estudios que indican que la calidad del servicio de Airbnb es impredecible.

Los hallazgos del estudio actual son específicos para cada destino y la generalización es limitada. Además, este estudio recopiló datos mediante un cuestionario de encuesta abierto con imágenes visuales (técnica de fotoelicitación) en MTurk. Además, los participantes del estudio eran principalmente occidentales.

Airbnb podría proporcionar a los anfitriones una lista de control de calidad del servicio para garantizar la calidad de los listados. Los anfitriones deben ser informados, guiados y monitoreados para que se cumplan los estándares de calidad del servicio. Además, se debería incentivar a los anfitriones para que escriban una descripción honesta y precisa de su listado.

Este es uno de los primeros estudios que explora los componentes de una experiencia negativa y memorable en el contexto de Airbnb.

Calidad de servicio, Memoria, Airbnb, Economía de compartir, Experiencia negativa memorable

Trabajo de investigación