Understanding Key Antecedents of Consumer Loyalty toward Sharing-Economy Platforms: The Case of Airbnb

Amidst collaborative consumption and developments in information and communication technology, the sharing economy has attracted worldwide attention, being considered sustainable consumption as it shares time, resources, and materials with others. However, because sharing-economy platforms offer nearly homogeneous assets to traditional business firms, enhancing consumer loyalty presents a huge challenge. This study provides a theoretical view for understanding the mechanisms behind user loyalty in the sharing economy. It identifies consumer satisfaction and trust in Airbnb as the key antecedents of consumer loyalty. Moreover, this study investigates the different effects of economic, hedonic, and symbolic benefits on consumers' decision-making processes. A structural equation modeling method was used to check the research hypotheses based on a sample of 317 Airbnb consumers in South Korea. The analysis results reveal that in the case of Airbnb, consumer loyalty is jointly shaped by consumer satisfaction and trust, with entertainment and recognition significantly influencing both consumer satisfaction and trust. Moreover, money savings and exploration are not significantly related to consumers' decision-making processes. Although social benefits significantly influence trust in Airbnb, these have no significant effect on consumer satisfaction. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications and future research direction.