P2P Accommodation Consumer Usage Behavior:Antecedents And Mechanisms

As an emerging research field,P2P accommodation has received extensive attention.Compared with traditional hotels,P2P accommodation not only provides various types of rooms,but also the opportunities to interact with locals and experience the local culture.Focusing on this new research field,researchers have investigated P2P accommodation participation intention from different perspectives.This thesis highlights several issues that require further investigation.(1)a recent research report showed that the growth rate of P2P accommodation slowed down,how to continue to attract consumers from hotels switching to P2P accommodation?(2)previous research pointed out that perceived uncertainty reduces consumers'booking intention,how to reduce the perceived uncertainty?and(3)a recent research report showed out that brand image and website functions have resulted in a reduced booking intention,how to shape brand image and design platform functions?To address the aforementioned issues,this thesis conducted the following three studies.The first study draws on push-pull-mooring model and explores the factors which influence switching intention from hotels to P2P accommodation.Push-pull-mooring model suggests that push factors,pull factors,and mooring factors foster switching intention.Following optimal stimulation level theory,this study operationalizes push factors as consumers' negative emotional response(i.e.satiation)towards hotels,mooring factors as consumers' optimal stimulation level.Buiding upon P2P accommodation literature,this study operationalizes pull factors as P2P accommodation comsuption value.This study proposes that satiation towards hotels,P2P accommodation comsuption value,and optimal stimulation level positively influence switching intention.In addition,optimal stimulation level moderates the relationships between push/pull factors and switching intention.Our research model is empirically validated by a quantitative survey.The research model is well-supported and explains 68.9%variance in switching intention.According to push-pull-mooring model,this study is one of the earliest studies to investigate the switching intention from hotels to P2P accommodation,which enriches the P2P accommodation literature.This study also contributes push-pull-mooring model by highlighting the distinct characteristics of two contexts:hotels and P2P accommodation with theoretical insights derived from optimal stimulation level theory and P2P accommodation literature.Although the first study focuses on the impacts of offline factors(e.g.P2P accommodation comsuption value)on switching intention from hotels to P2P accommodation,how do online factors(e.g.P2P accommodation platform functions)affect consumer behavior?The second study builds upon uncertainty reduction theory and explains the role of P2P accommodation platform functions in mitigating room uncertainty and host uncertainty,which futher influence booking intention.Uncertainty reduction theory suggests that consumers' perceived uncertainty can be reduced by three different information seeking strategies:the passive information seeking strategies,the active information seeking strategies,and the interactive information seeking strategies.In the P2P accommodation context,this study operationalizes the passive information seeking strategies as perceived effectiveness of room description and perceived effectiveness of host description;active information seeking strategies as perceived effectiveness of feedback systems;and interactive information seeking strategies as perceived effectiveness of instant messages.Using a sequential mixed-methods approach,a quantitative study was used to validate the theoretical model,a follow-up qualitative study was conducted not only to cross-validate the findings.Key findings show that(1)room uncertainty and host uncertainty negatively affect booking intention;(2)perceived effectiveness of room description,perceived effectiveness of feedback systems and perceived effectiveness of instant messages negatively affect room uncertainty and host uncertainty.From a theoretical perspective,this study investigates the role of perceived effectiveness of room description,host description,feedback systems,and instant messages in mitigating room uncertainty and host uncertainty,which extends the uncertainty reduction theory to P2P accommodation context.In addition,from a methodological perspective,by using a mixed-methods approach,a key empirical contribution is that this study will achieve greater robustness in model validationAlthough the second study examines the effects of P2P accommodation platform functions on consumers' booking intention,it has ignored the role of the P2P accommodation brand image on consumers' booking intention.Thus,the third study draws from dual-congruity theory and offers a systematic theoretical framework in examining the complex nature of booking intention.Dual-congruity theory suggests that consumers' booking intention can be attributed to two different processes:the self-congruity process and the functional-congruity process.Self-congruity process explores the influence of actual self-congruity and ideal self-congruity on emotional brand attachment,which further facilitates consumers' booking intention.Functional-congruity process investigates the effect of perceived effectiveness of room description,feedback systems,and instant messages on perceived diagnosticity,which ultimately promotes consumers' booking intention.A survey was employed to empirically validate the proposed model and hypotheses.The research findings show that self-congruity process and functional-congruity process have positive effects on booking intention.This study investigates the effects of self-congruity process and functional-congruity process on consumers' booking intention,which extends the dual-congruity theory to P2P accommodation context.In addition,this study also contributes to functional-congruity perspective by investigating the antecedents of functional-congruity process.