Buyer-seller similarity: Does it lead to a successful peer-to-peer transaction of room-sharing services?

Abstract

Purpose

Buyers (renters) and sellers (hosts) on peer-to-peer (P2P) room-sharing websites make purchasing/selling decisions based on each other’s demographic information published in the cyber marketplace. Nevertheless, how this reciprocal selection based on the similarities between renters and hosts may lead to a successful P2P transaction of such services has not yet been discussed. Building on the similarity–attraction paradigm, this study assessed the similarity effects between renters and hosts on the likelihood of a P2P room-sharing transaction.

Design/methodology/approach

A logistical regression model was employed in analysis, using a large-scale, granular online observational data set collected from Xiaozhu.com, a primary home-sharing platform in China.

Findings

Renter–host similarities in age and education significantly affect the likelihood of a P2P room-sharing transaction. As the number of listings managed by a host increases, the effect of age similarity decreases. While a renter’s experience with a room-sharing website negatively moderates the similarity effect of age, it is a factor positively moderating the similarity effect of education.

Research limitations/implications

Other possible host–renter similarities were not analyzed due to the limitation of the data source. The reciprocal selection process for room-sharing services was acknowledged by integrating buyers’ and sellers’ data into one analysis.

Practical implications

Implications are advanced for the stakeholders of room-sharing business, including entrepreneurs running a room-sharing website, operators of short-term residential rentals and hoteliers.

Originality/value

This study represents a first attempt to research the buyer–seller similarity effects on the likelihood of a P2P transaction in sharing economy.

Citation

Kwok, L. and Xie, K.L. (2018), "Buyer-seller similarity: Does it lead to a successful peer-to-peer transaction of room-sharing services?", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 30 No. 9, pp. 2925-2944. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2017-0624