{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T13:37:27Z","timestamp":1781703447866,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,6]],"date-time":"2018-11-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1541462400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JSIT"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to explore Airbnb\u2019s inherent network structure emerging from transactions between hosts and guests and provide comprehensive background information on the underlying data basis.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The analysis is based on actual Airbnb data from 16 major US cities (Asheville, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Seattle and Washington DC), available at InsideAirbnb.com, comprising a total of 135 thousand listings and 2.7 million transactions. The data are transformed into a graph and analyzed from a network perspective.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The web of host\u2013guest connections on Airbnb represents a omniferous graph, that is, connecting virtually all users via relatively short distances. Hosts and guests differ markedly with regard to degree distribution. Overall, 98 per cent of all transactions represent first-time encounters.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Research limitations\/implications<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This paper provides first insights into the very fabric of host\u2013guest interactions on Airbnb from a macroscopic perspective. The platform\u2019s network topology may be leveraged as a resource for trust-building between users. Moreover, platform operators may use network analyses to gain deeper insights into their user base. These may in turn be used to identify determinants of side-switching, deter users from platform circumvention or for churn prevention.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Platform ecosystems continue to expand and gain increasing economic, social and societal importance. For C2C platforms with two compartmentalized and decentral market sides (i.e. many individual providers and many individual consumers), the emerging transactional network structure has, thus, far experience almost no research attention. This analysis of Airbnb\u2019s web of host\u2013guest connections reveals a topology some archetypical social network properties (e.g. short distances). This structure and the knowledge about users\u2019 positions therein yields viable cues for trust-building as well as a valuable resource for (platform) business analytics.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/jsit-11-2017-0104","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,6]],"date-time":"2018-11-06T06:56:16Z","timestamp":1541487376000},"page":"262-277","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["The web of host\u2013guest connections on Airbnb: a network perspective"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Timm","family":"Teubner","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"140","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,6]]},"reference":[{"issue":"37","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref001","first-page":"1","article-title":"Reputation offsets trust judgments based on social biases among Airbnb users","volume":"114","year":"2017","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref002","first-page":"1","article-title":"How much will you pay? Understanding the value of information cues in the sharing economy","volume-title":"ECIS 2017 Proceedings","year":"2017"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref003","first-page":"1","article-title":"Understanding the sharing economy: the role of response to negative reviews in the peer-to-peer accommodation sharing network","volume-title":"ECIS 2015 Proceedings","year":"2015"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref004","unstructured":"Airbnb (2011), \u201cWhat is the social connections feature?\u201d, available at: www.airbnb.com\/help\/article\/198\/what-is-the-social-connections-feature (accessed 5 July 2017)."},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref005","unstructured":"Airbnb (2018), \u201cAirbnb fast facts\u201d, available at: https:\/\/press.atairbnb.com\/fast-facts\/ (accessed 16 May 2018)."},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.13169\/workorgalaboglob.11.2.0039","article-title":"Sharing time: new forms of reciprocity in the digital economy","volume":"11","year":"2017","journal-title":"Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref007","first-page":"4370","article-title":"Why users disintermediate peer-to-peer marketplaces","volume-title":"CHI 2017 Proceedings","year":"2017"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"265","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1120.1609","article-title":"Engineering trust: reciprocity in the production of reputation information","volume":"59","year":"2013","journal-title":"Management Science"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref009","first-page":"1","article-title":"If nearly all Airbnb reviews are positive, does that make them meaningless?","year":"2016","journal-title":"Current Issues in Tourism"},{"issue":"5939","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"414","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1171022","article-title":"Revisiting the foundations of network analysis","volume":"325","year":"2009","journal-title":"Science (New York, NY)"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref011","first-page":"49","article-title":"Social network analysis for trust prediction","volume-title":"Trust Management","year":"2017"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhm.2016.06.003","article-title":"Sharing economy: a review and agenda for future research","volume":"57","year":"2016","journal-title":"International Journal of Hospitality Management"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref013","first-page":"2510","article-title":"An evolutionary trust game for the sharing economy","volume":"1","year":"2017","journal-title":"CEC 2017 Proceedings"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref014","article-title":"A networked n-player trust game and its evolutionary dynamics","year":"2018","journal-title":"IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation"},{"issue":"12","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3177","DOI":"10.1108\/IJCHM-08-2016-0475","article-title":"Online friendships in a hospitality exchange network: a sharing economy perspective","volume":"29","year":"2017","journal-title":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref016","unstructured":"Cox, M. (2017), \u201cInside Airbnb: adding data to the debate\u201d, available at: http:\/\/insideairbnb.com\/ (accessed 5 July 2017)."},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref017","article-title":"Poster child and guinea pig \u2013 insights from a structured literature review on Airbnb","volume":"31","year":"2019","journal-title":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref018","unstructured":"Earnest (2017), \u201cHow much are people making from the sharing economy?\u201d, available at: www.earnest.com\/blog\/sharing-economy-income-data\/ (accessed 3 August 2017)."},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref019","first-page":"290","article-title":"On random graphs","volume":"6","year":"1959","journal-title":"Publicationes Mathematicae"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref020","first-page":"62","article-title":"Trust and reputation in the sharing economy: the role of personal photos in Airbnb","volume":"55","year":"2016","journal-title":"Tourism Management"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2017.02.029","article-title":"That personal profile image might jeopardize your rental opportunity! On the relative impact of the seller\u2019s facial expressions upon buying behavior on AirbnbTM","volume":"72","year":"2017","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref022","unstructured":"Forbes (2016), \u201cThese are the cities where you can make the most money renting properties on Airbnb\u201d, available at: www.forbes.com\/sites\/omribarzilay\/2016\/11\/22\/these-are-the-cities-where-you-can-make-the-most-money-renting-properties-on-airbnb\/ (accessed 8 August 2017)."},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref023","unstructured":"Forbes (2017), \u201cMarriott and hilton stay ahead of the sharing economy, proving that Airbnb is not the Uber of hotels\u201d, available at: www.forbes.com\/sites\/howardhyu\/2017\/02\/16\/marriott-and-hilton-stay-ahead-of-the-sharing-economy-proving-that-airbnb-is-not-the-uber-of-hotels\/ (accessed 11 July 2017)."},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref024","volume-title":"The Development of Social Network Analysis: A Study in the Sociology of Science","year":"2004"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref025","volume-title":"How Airbnb Designs for Trust","year":"2016"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref026","first-page":"26","article-title":"Trust in the sharing economy","volume":"70","year":"2016","journal-title":"Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice"},{"issue":"3551","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref027","first-page":"1","article-title":"Excess reciprocity distorts reputation in online social networks","volume":"7","year":"2017","journal-title":"Scientific Reports"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref028","first-page":"1","article-title":"Self-disclosure and perceived trustworthiness of Airbnb host profiles","volume-title":"CSCW 2017 Proceedings","year":"2017"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"473","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1998.926622","article-title":"Initial trust formation in new organizational relationships","volume":"23","year":"1998","journal-title":"The Academy of Management Review"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.1002\/cb.1512","article-title":"Collaborative consumption: Determinants of satisfaction and the likelihood of using a sharing economy option again","volume":"14","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Consumer Behaviour"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref031","first-page":"1","article-title":"The igraph software package for complex network research","volume":"1695","year":"2006","journal-title":"Complex Systems"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref032","unstructured":"Perez, S. (2018), \u201cMozilla\u2019s new Firefox, Facebook extension keeps your facebook data isolated to the social network itself\u201d, available at: https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/03\/27\/mozillas-new-extension-keeps-your-facebook-data-isolated-to-the-social-network-itself\/ (accessed 3 April 2018)."},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1007\/s12599-018-0520-x","article-title":"Platform launch strategies","volume":"60","year":"2018","journal-title":"Business and Information Systems Engineering"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref034","first-page":"1","article-title":"Understanding resource sharing in C2C platforms: the role of picture humanization","volume-title":"ACIS 2014 Proceedings","year":"2014"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref035","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1007\/s12599-015-0396-y","article-title":"The economics of multi-hop ride sharing: creating new mobility networks through IS","volume":"57","year":"2015","journal-title":"Business and Information Systems Engineering"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref036","article-title":"Privacy in the sharing economy","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of the Association for Information Systems"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref037","first-page":"1","article-title":"Up or out \u2013 the dynamics of star rating scores on Airbnb","volume-title":"ECIS 2018 Proceedings","year":"2018"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref038","first-page":"129","article-title":"The economics of peer-to-peer online sharing","volume-title":"The Sharing Economy: Possibilities, Challenges, and the Way Forward","year":"2018"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref039","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.22381\/JSME5420173","article-title":"Price determinants on Airbnb: how reputation pays off in the sharing economy","volume":"5","year":"2017","journal-title":"Journal of Self-Governance and Management Economics"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref040","first-page":"695","article-title":"Strategic self-presentation in the sharing economy: implications for host branding","volume-title":"Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism","year":"2016"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref041","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"120","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhm.2016.12.007","article-title":"Price determinants of sharing economy based accommodation rental: a study of listings from 33 cities on Airbnb.com","volume":"62","year":"2017","journal-title":"International Journal of Hospitality Management"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref042","first-page":"3202","article-title":"Sharing behind the scenes: understanding user bypassing behavior in sharing economy","volume-title":"ECIS 2017 Proceedings","year":"2017"},{"issue":"6684","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref043","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"440","DOI":"10.1038\/30918","article-title":"Collective dynamics of \u2018small-world\u2019 networks","volume":"393","year":"1998","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"1\/2","key":"key2021041507544969800_ref044","first-page":"1","article-title":"Expanding the horizons of digital social networks: Mixing big trace datasets with qualitative approaches","volume":"26","year":"2016","journal-title":"Information and Organization"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref045","unstructured":"Wired (2017), \u201cA lone data whiz is fighting Airbnb \u2013 and winning\u201d, available at: www.wired.com\/2017\/02\/a-lone-data-whiz-is-fighting-airbnb-and-winning\/"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref046","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zervas, G., Proserpio, D. and and Byers, J. (2015), \u201cA first look at online reputation on Airbnb, where every stay is above average\u201d, Working Paper.","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.2554500"},{"key":"key2021041507544969800_ref047","first-page":"236","article-title":"A new recommendation framework for accommodations sharing based on user preference","volume-title":"Proceedings of the International Symposium on Knowledge and Systems Sciences","year":"2016"}],"container-title":["Journal of Systems and Information Technology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/JSIT-11-2017-0104\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/JSIT-11-2017-0104\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T22:24:06Z","timestamp":1753395846000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/jsit\/article\/20\/3\/262-277\/246179"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,6]]},"references-count":47,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,6]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,14]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/JSIT-11-2017-0104"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/jsit-11-2017-0104","relation":{},"ISSN":["1328-7265"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1328-7265","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,6]]}}}