In Airbnb We Trust

“Trust me.”

It’s a phrase that often evokes the opposite response.

Trust is something earned and the moment you assert your honesty, it’s instinctive for humans to start immediately looking for evidence.

For Airbnb, trust is its fundamental currency, and trust is demonstrated daily by putting strangers into the homes of others. This abstract mental attitude of trust is so valuable for Airbnb that it has an entire page on its website dedicated to it.

Airbnb and Me

I can recall my very first experience with Airbnb. It was 2015, a group of friends and I decided to drive down to New York City from Toronto and needed last-minute accommodation on New Year’s Eve. Hotel availability was severely limited, and the prices were incredibly inflated for what was leftover. We had no choice but to turn to Airbnb, a platform we had heard would present us with greater options at a more affordable price. I remember feeling so desperate to lock in our spontaneous New Year’s Eve plans that “trust” didn’t really cross my mind at the time, not in the way that “price” did. After successfully booking an apartment for our stay, all of these thoughts came running through my mind: Are they who they say they are? Are the photos staged? Will they deliver the service that they have promised? Luckily, we had a seamless stay and since then, I have personally booked accommodation on Airbnb 19 times in 6 different countries.

Dependent on Trust

When brands build trust, consumers reward them. I do, you do, we all do. This is part of the reason why Airbnb has been largely successful. Airbnb’s entire business model relies on getting hosts and guests to trust each other. This is established by reducing uncertainty and risk between both parties. A recent survey of previous guests who have used Airbnb revealed that 83% of respondents trust the platform. Let’s have a look at why that is.

Review System

Airbnb has a review system built into the platform for both hosts and guests. What’s unique about Airbnb is that the platform ensures reviews are only publicly revealed after both parties have submitted them. This allows users to submit honest and reliable reviews, without fear of being penalized for leaving a negative review. The review system embedded within the platform is influential in the decision of prospective guests and is also used to filter out lowly rated hosts. As a result, this helps us trust that we will get what we are expecting while rarely having to worry about poor experiences. For myself, authentic and recent reviews are always the main component of my decision-making process on the platform.

Risk Mitigation and Background Checks

With the use of predictive analytics and machine learning technology, Airbnb ensures customers that every reservation is calculated for risk before it is confirmed. These tools help evaluate signals and investigate suspicious activity almost immediately. Additionally, Airbnb has a screening system that reviews watchlists and conducts background checks on all hosts.

Carefully Curated Content

With so much choice at our fingertips, consumers don’t really have the patience for questionable content. If I found a slew of substandard apartments on Airbnb in one sitting, I would start to question its legitimacy while looking elsewhere, fast. To prevent this from happening, Airbnb has mastered its manual and algorithmic curation. Although shady apartments may get listed, they are incredibly difficult to find as generally, the best listings are surfaced first.

Airbnb in Ukraine

As a response to the recent events of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Airbnb has created a compassionate online community of guests and hosts. To support the crisis, Airbnb has announced that it will generously offer free, short-term housing for 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine. Furthermore, the platform has temporarily waived guest and host fees on any new bookings in the country. Users around the globe wishing to monetarily support Ukrainians have responded to the waived fees by booking accommodation and leaving messages of encouragement, with no intention of showing up. Within Ukraine, Airbnb has turned into an appealing charitable cause and donation platform that is generating social benefits, like trust.