The diffusion of Airbnb: a comparative look at earlier adopters, later adopters, and non-adopters

Over the past decade, Airbnb has attracted millions of new guests to begin using its service. Diffusion theory suggests that over time different types of customers will adopt an innovation, yet no research has examined differences between Airbnb guests based on when they first began using the service. Consequently, this study compared earlier adopters, later adopters, and non-adopters of Airbnb according to a variety of behaviours and characteristics. The study is based on innovation diffusion concepts, and entailed an online survey of 1,189 US travellers. Data analysis revealed numerous differences between the adopter categories. Earlier adoption corresponded with less attraction to Airbnb’s hotel-like features, higher expectations and satisfaction with Airbnb, more positive attitudes towards Airbnb, and a greater likelihood of using other non-hotel forms of travel lodging. More recent adoption corresponded with a greater likelihood of using midrange and upscale hotels. As compared to travellers who had used Airbnb, non-adopters exhibited lower novelty-seeking tendencies and innovativeness towards information technology, in addition to lower socio-economic status. Various theoretical and practical implications are discussed.