KOREASCHOLAR

The sharing economy claims for research on its particularities and implications for management. This paper explores the way hosts of Peer-to-Peer Accommodation (P2P) develop relationship marketing with their guests and how it influences the business. The researchers conducted 30 semi-structured interviews to hosts of Airbnb, in order to obtain their perspective on the importance and application of relationship marketing in this context. Hosts with a B2C and a C2C business perspective were interviewed, and cultural differences in the relationship approach were also considered. The results show that the hosts are aware of the importance of interactions and personal contact with guests. Different results were identified depending on the type of business, accommodation, the culture and nationality of guests. Findings show that relationship marketing is highly explored in P2P sharing accommodation, exploring the interactivity of digital platforms to deepen those relationships.

• Beatriz Casais(University of Minho, School of Economics and Management and CICS.NOVA.UMinho, Portugal)
• Mariana Sarmento(Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Portugal)
• Juliana Fernandes(Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Portugal)