Exploring Consumers’ Continuance Intention To The Usage Of C2C Accommodation Sharing Service

With the tide of sharing economy sweeping the world,C2C accommodation sharing service,as one of the important branches of the sharing economy business,has also received worldwide attention as well as active engagement of a large number of consumers.C2C accommodation sharing platforms(e.g.,Airbnb,Xiaozhu)allows any ordinary individual,who is distinct from typical business organizations(e.g.hotels),to offer accommodation services to travelers.C2C accommodation sharing platforms are able to satisfy the more personalized needs by providing non-standardized accommodation experience which is extremely different from traditional hotels.Obviously,retaining repeat customers is particularly important for C2C accommodation sharing platforms since these existing customers can easily switch back to traditional service providers(e.g.,hotels).Delving into the factors that may influence the customers’ continuance usage intention is likely to help C2C accommodation sharing platforms grow in a sustainable,rapid and sound manner.Thus,this study aimed to predict customers’ continuance intention by exploring the antecedents and outcomes of their potential psychological mechanisms in regard to C2C accommodation sharing services.This study introduced the concept of psychological ownership to reflect the consumers’ psychological state in the process of using C2C accommodation sharing services.On the one hand,from the perspective of consumer value,this study determines four context-specific values that lead to psychological ownership,namely perceived authenticity,novelty-seeking,home benefits and social interaction.On the other hand,this study combines psychological ownership and its positive outcome(emotional commitments)to further explore its effect on consumers’ continuance intention.In order to better understand and resolve the research question,this paper proposed a theoretical model and 7 research hypotheses according to method of structural equation model.The research model and hypotheses was verified by a questionnaire survey conducted among 437 existing users of C2C accommodation sharing platforms in China.The results showed that the three consumer values such as novelty-seeking,home benefits and social interaction have significant effects on psychological ownership,and psychological ownership can only influence consumers’continuance intention through the mediating role of affective commitment.In conclusion,this study shed light on the context-specific features of C2C accommodation sharing services,and regard psychological ownership as the potential psychological mechanism of consumers,as well as explain consumers’ continuance intention by examining the antecedents and outcomes of psychology ownership.The findings not only had meaningful theoretical significance,but also helped practitioners make appropriate strategies for maintaining current consumers as well as the sustainable development of C2C accommodation sharing services.