Ge Zhu

Date of Award

Spring 2021

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management

First Advisor

David Cardenas

Second Advisor

Kevin Kam Fung So

Abstract

The P2P accommodation sharing market has emerged as a disruptive innovation as it has exponentially expanded globally, even though this market is still emerging and has not been used by most people. This study investigates why tourists accept the sharing platforms and how to promote this service. A literature review on innovation adoption models was conducted to select a proper theoretical framework to investigate travelers’ motivation for using Airbnb. According to model-evaluation principles and literature analysis, this self-efficacy-based value adoption model (SVM) was selected, which is derived from social cognitive theory’s reciprocal determination. Based on the SVM, an extended SVM (ESVM, also called human-product-adoption model, HPAM) was developed to include constructs of general personal innovativeness (GPI), self-efficacy (SE), perceived value (PV), platform trust (PT), and intention (IN). A representative consumer sample was drawn through Ipsos in three typical Chinese cities. The measurement model was first examined to guarantee the constructs’ reliability and validity. The structural model test results supported all the hypotheses. Personal factors such as GPI and SE influence the service’s factors such as PV and PT, and all of them impact the users’ intention to use Airbnb. The explanatory power of the ESVM on IN (67%), PT (66%), PV (48%), and SE (54%) indicated the model’s good predictive power. To demonstrate that SVM is a more superior theoretical model, a comparative study between SVM and the classic technology acceptance model (TAM) was conducted. All fit indices appeared to favor SVM over TAM. The significance of this research in theory building and practical implications are discussed at the end of this report.

Rights

© 2021, Ge Zhu

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