Why tourists choose Airbnb? – Analysing motivation factors among Hungarian travellers

Airbnb has grown very rapidly over the last decade and became a valid and important competitor of traditional accommodation providers. This growing importance calls for better understanding of the motivational factors of tourists’ and identifying why they choose Airbnb instead of other types of accommodations. Therefore, the purpose of the paper was to identify tourists’ motives for using Airbnb based on online survey conducted amongst Hungarian travellers. Using the responses from the online survey, the first exploratory factor analysis based on motivation statements revealed 4 motivation constructs – Interaction, Social responsibility, Functional attributes, Economic benefits – that drive the use of Airbnb among respondents, while a second factor analysis based on motivation factors revealed 5 motivation constructs: Reputation, Price & location, Capacity & availability, Booking conditions, and Amenities. The subsequent cluster analysis identified 5 distinct segments – Home Seekers, Money Savers, Conservative Consumers, Collaborative Consumers, Interactive Novelty Seekers – of Hungarian Airbnb guests. The results also showed that the top motivations of choosing Airbnb among respondents were low cost and location, and Airbnb users were primarily attracted by economic benefits and the possibility to reduce travel cost, while experiential advantages such as novelty, authenticity, or social responsibility proved to be secondary of importance.

Keywords: Airbnb, travel motivation, cluster analysis, tourism

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