Cue congruence effects of attribute performance and hosts’ service quality attributes on room sales on peer-to-peer accommodation platforms

Purpose This study aims to explore how attribute performance and hosts’ service quality attributes affect room sales on peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms from the cue congruence perspective. Design/methodology/approach More than 9.53 million reviews concerning 258,473 listings located in 35 major cities worldwide were collected from Airbnb. Data was collected from December 2019 to December 2020 and was analysed using a generalised linear model. Findings Results show that when attribute performance and hosts’ service quality attributes give positive signals, Airbnb room sales are significantly higher than when the two kinds of cues give inconsistent or negative signals; when attribute performance gives positive signals and hosts’ service quality attributes give negative signals, room sales are higher than when the former gives negative signals and the latter give positive signals; surprisingly, when both kinds of cues give negative signals, room sales are higher than when attribute performance gives positive signals and hosts’ service quality attributes give negative signals. Research limitations/implications This paper adds useful insights on understanding of cue congruence (incongruence) effect on room sales of P2P accommodation platforms. This study has practical implications for hosts, online platform managers and guests regarding how to use online strategies and promotions on the Airbnb platform. Originality/value This study is an early attempt to explore how the combination of attribute performance and hosts’ service quality attributes affects Airbnb room sales under the conditions of consistency and inconsistency.