Social or Financial Goals?: Comparative Analysis of User Behaviors in Couchsurfing and Airbnb

Abstract

Uber and Airbnb, two well-known sharing economy services, are facing conflicts with traditional taxi and hotel companies because these services have monetary benefits but are free from legacy regulations. However, non-monetary-based sharing services, represented by Couchsurfing, Inc., are free from such conflict and still successful. We investigated the distinctive user participation motivation of non-monetary-based sharing services versus monetary-based ones. Specifically, a comparative analysis of Couchsurfing with Airbnb was conducted via affinity diagramming from host profiles and guest review data. The human relationship, rather than a house, is discovered as the primary shared asset and the primary satisfaction feature for Couchsurfing users. This study gives an insight to prioritize human relationships as the main design concern while developing non-monetary based sharing economy services.