Understanding the Purchase Intention of Consumers towards Airbnb in China From the Perspective of Liability of Foreignness

Sammanfattning: Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to research the factors influencing the purchase intention of Airbnb in China from the perspective of liability of foreignness. Methodology: This thesis adopts a quantitative approach through a questionnairebased survey among Chinese people. Based on a PLS-SEM analysis of the data from 241 online questionnaires, this thesis teststhe effects of perceived risk, perceived higher price, lesser availability of listings, as well as lesser availability of advertising on consumers’ purchase intention towards Airbnb in China. Findings: The results illustrate that both perceived higher price and lesser availability of listings would reduce Chinese purchase intention towards Airbnb in China, whereas perceived risk and lesser availability of advertising do not significantly influence Chinese purchase intention towards Airbnb in China. Research implications: The study contributes to the literature on sharing economy and customer behavior by providing a new framework from the perspective of liability of foreignness in order to understand more completely the deterrents of the Chinese consumer’s purchase of Airbnb-related products and services in China. Specifically, this thesis invokes a relatively under-explored theoretical view (i.e., the liability of foreignness) in the research on the internationalisation of sharing economy, which enables us to enrich the research on sharing economy and international customer behaviors. This study also enhances the understanding of the barriers of international marketing of sharing economy and advances the research on the internationalisation of sharing economy by evaluating the four relevant factors (i.e., perceived risk, perceived higher price, lesser availability of listings, and lesser availability of advertising) in the host country. Practical implications: Our findings entail several practical implications for managers of Airbnb in conquering the Chinese market. For example, given that perceived higher price and lesser availability of listings appears to be the critical barriers of consumer intentions, we recommend that Airbnb China employ strategies to increase the availability of listings, and devise relatively lower pricing strategies to attract Chinese consumers.