Different voices between Airbnb and hotel customers: An integrated analysis of online reviews using structural topic model

Understanding customer preferences is important for Airbnb accommodation hosts and hotel managers because they compete with and complement each other. As such, this study investigates the topics that appear in Airbnb reviews more than in hotel reviews, the associated sentiment orientation, and how each topic changes with the price and rating of properties. Analysis of 33,487 Airbnb and TripAdvisor reviews using the structural topic model show that out of the 23 topics documented in Airbnb literature, only 12 topics appear more in Airbnb reviews than in hotel reviews. We find that topics of Recommend, Host, Location and Feeling at home associate with positive sentiment, while topics on Smell, Cleanliness, Amenities and In-room facilities tend to be negative. Moreover, friendly host-customer interaction and homey atmosphere determine the highly-rated Airbnb listings, while pleasurable communication with hosts, convenient location, and reliable amenities are the features of high-priced Airbnb listings. These findings enhance our understanding of the preferences and service perceptions of Airbnb customers.