CONSUMER MOTIVATION TO CHOOSE AIRBNB PLUS HOMES

Airbnb Plus is an upscale lodging service offered by the Airbnb platform. The Airbnb Plus business has become a noteworthy marketing phenomenon and the customer behavior of Airbnb Plus necessitates academic attention. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior, a conceptual model is established and tested to provide insights into the consumer's motivation and intention to adopt an upscale marketing offering of the accommodation sharing economy system. A total of 342 valid responses were collected through an online survey. The results show that economic benefits, home benefits, authenticity, hedonism, and quality each positively influence the consumer's intention to adopt Airbnb Plus. In addition, hedonism emerges as the strongest predictor of the intention to choose Airbnb Plus homes. Neither social interaction nor social status has a significant effect on the intention to use Airbnb Plus. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of this study are discussed.