Expressing the Experience: An Analysis of Airbnb Customer Sentiments

Abstract

There is a growing interest in research related to Airbnb, and one theme that has stood out is the analysis of the consumer experience. This study aimed to analyse the feelings expressed in the online evaluation of users on the Airbnb platform in Fortaleza, capital of Ceará, Brazil. The methodology was developed through quali-quantitative research, a documentary research procedure, and data collection regarding the accommodation offers available on the platform. A total of 2353 reviews in 2019 and 2020 related to 506 accommodation offers were analysed through manual coding with the aid of NVivo software. The results evidenced the positivity of the evaluations, and that positive comments presented fewer characters while negative evaluations presented more details. It was identified that there were differences in the percentages of positive and negative evaluations when differentiated by other factors such as gender of the user (women evaluated more positively and intensely), type of host (superhost evaluations were more positive), type of offer (for entire places, the positive polarity was lower than the private room and shared room types), and location (the positive polarity was higher in residential neighbourhoods than in tourist neighbourhoods). Methodologically, this study contributes by illustrating how a set of evaluations can be analysed and interpreted in studies on the accommodation service.

Keywords

• sentiment analysis
• user experience
• online reviews
• Airbnb