Customers’ purchasing behaviour between Airbnb and hostels when travelling to Helsinki
Dao, Ngoc Lien; Vu, Anh (2016)
Dao, Ngoc Lien
Vu, Anh
Haaga-Helia ammattikorkeakoulu
2016
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2016120519083
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2016120519083
Tiivistelmä
Short-term accommodation for visitors is becoming increasingly expensive in many popular cities in the world and Helsinki is one such city. Helsinki is famous for its living standard and has become a favourite destination for tourists since the past few years. The emergence of reputable online portals such as Airbnb has made it possible for homeowners to list their space online and make some money from providing a place to stay for someone who is seeking it during travelling time. Apparently, this type of accommodation has significant impacts on other traditional accommodation in general. The purpose of the study is to exam the customer’s purchasing behaviour towards Airbnb accommodation and hostel accommodation, and to find out important factors affect their decision-making.
The theory covered for this thesis consisted of customer buying behaviour, the accommodation industry; particularly hostel accommodation and Airbnb accommodation. The factors influencing consumers the most in making decisions for booking accommodation to stay during travelling time was also studied in this research. To make the study more reliable, the authors conducted both quantitative and qualitative research by sending questionnaires to Airbnb and hostel customers via different platforms as well as interviewing Hostel case manager and Airbnb host.
The study’s results revealed the background of customers coming to Helsinki with a lot of findings related to their way of making a decision. Through data collected and analysed from both quantitative and qualitative research methods, one of the most outstanding discoveries is that financial reasons and accessibility are two main determinants affecting customer’s decision-making process. Additionally, the customer segmentations of both units have a slight difference beside numerous similarities due to changes in demands and needs of customers.
Although the study is limited to Helsinki area, the results can bring an interesting and insightful read for hospitality students, researchers, hosteliers, and hoteliers. From perspective of accommodation industry, professionals should not underestimate the appearance of newly peer-to-peer Airbnb accommodation, instead of that they can learn from it and find a proper way to cope with threats originating from Airbnb. On contrary, from of peer-to-peer economy point of view, they should take advantage and fulfil the needs and demands of customers that traditional accommodation in general cannot offer to its customers. Finally, the study regards hostels and budget hotels as the same group when comparing with Airbnb.
The theory covered for this thesis consisted of customer buying behaviour, the accommodation industry; particularly hostel accommodation and Airbnb accommodation. The factors influencing consumers the most in making decisions for booking accommodation to stay during travelling time was also studied in this research. To make the study more reliable, the authors conducted both quantitative and qualitative research by sending questionnaires to Airbnb and hostel customers via different platforms as well as interviewing Hostel case manager and Airbnb host.
The study’s results revealed the background of customers coming to Helsinki with a lot of findings related to their way of making a decision. Through data collected and analysed from both quantitative and qualitative research methods, one of the most outstanding discoveries is that financial reasons and accessibility are two main determinants affecting customer’s decision-making process. Additionally, the customer segmentations of both units have a slight difference beside numerous similarities due to changes in demands and needs of customers.
Although the study is limited to Helsinki area, the results can bring an interesting and insightful read for hospitality students, researchers, hosteliers, and hoteliers. From perspective of accommodation industry, professionals should not underestimate the appearance of newly peer-to-peer Airbnb accommodation, instead of that they can learn from it and find a proper way to cope with threats originating from Airbnb. On contrary, from of peer-to-peer economy point of view, they should take advantage and fulfil the needs and demands of customers that traditional accommodation in general cannot offer to its customers. Finally, the study regards hostels and budget hotels as the same group when comparing with Airbnb.