A Cross-cultural Analysis of Tourists’ Perceptions of Airbnb Attributes

ABSTRACT This study investigates the attributes that influence tourists from different cultures by analyzing a big data set of online reviews. The findings highlight the differences between Chinese-speaking tourists and English-speaking tourists regarding the four attributes the tourists focus on when choosing an Airbnb: the host, accommodation, location, and price. The results suggest that Chinese-speaking tourists are generally more positive and objective than English-speaking tourists when writing online reviews. The former have a more positive perception of the host but are more selective than the latter regarding the other three attributes. Text mining and sentiment analysis are used to provide guidance to Airbnb hosts to improve their marketing strategies to tourists from different cultures.