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FROM TRUST TO TRUSTWORTHINESS : Formalising consumer behaviour with discourse on Airbnb platform

Pumputis, Aurimas LU and Mieli, Micol LU (2024) p.83-102
Abstract

One of the most important consumers’ needs in their decision-making process is reduction of risks. On online platforms, trust is the most powerful tool for mitigating risks in making consumption decisions, especially in relation to tourism services that customers are unable to experience before the trip. In the digital age, trust is often mediated by information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as rating and reviewing systems, devices that collect and process data, communication tools. Although trust is built by consumers and providers that use the platform, it needs to be formalised by the intermediary - the platform - through legal policies, terms and conditions of use. In fact, while these legal documents contribute to... (More)

One of the most important consumers’ needs in their decision-making process is reduction of risks. On online platforms, trust is the most powerful tool for mitigating risks in making consumption decisions, especially in relation to tourism services that customers are unable to experience before the trip. In the digital age, trust is often mediated by information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as rating and reviewing systems, devices that collect and process data, communication tools. Although trust is built by consumers and providers that use the platform, it needs to be formalised by the intermediary - the platform - through legal policies, terms and conditions of use. In fact, while these legal documents contribute to creating trust in the platform’s services, they also formalise consumption practices that emerge from consumers’ and providers’ interactions on the platform. However, research shows that consumers rarely read policy documents, making it necessary to make them visible on the platform during the customer’s journey. The present chapter investigates the discursive strategies that are used to formalise consumption practices in policies of the Airbnb platform. The analysis shows how the platform creates an ideal ‘trustworthy’ consumer through its discursive work in official documents by providing formal indicators of what consumer behaviours make a user worthy of trust. The analysis also shows how the platform carefully balances justifications of its role as rule maker and enforcer with its role of neutral intermediator, which has an ethos of sharing and hospitality.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Consumer Behaviour in Hospitality and Tourism : Contemporary Perspectives and Challenges - Contemporary Perspectives and Challenges
pages
20 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85210669273
ISBN
9781032637754
9781040153628
DOI
10.4324/9781032637778-5
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d19de4db-5a5e-4f36-a7aa-be7e4a1bf80e
date added to LUP
2025-01-21 14:30:07
date last changed
2025-07-23 05:08:22
@inbook{d19de4db-5a5e-4f36-a7aa-be7e4a1bf80e,
  abstract     = {{<p>One of the most important consumers’ needs in their decision-making process is reduction of risks. On online platforms, trust is the most powerful tool for mitigating risks in making consumption decisions, especially in relation to tourism services that customers are unable to experience before the trip. In the digital age, trust is often mediated by information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as rating and reviewing systems, devices that collect and process data, communication tools. Although trust is built by consumers and providers that use the platform, it needs to be formalised by the intermediary - the platform - through legal policies, terms and conditions of use. In fact, while these legal documents contribute to creating trust in the platform’s services, they also formalise consumption practices that emerge from consumers’ and providers’ interactions on the platform. However, research shows that consumers rarely read policy documents, making it necessary to make them visible on the platform during the customer’s journey. The present chapter investigates the discursive strategies that are used to formalise consumption practices in policies of the Airbnb platform. The analysis shows how the platform creates an ideal ‘trustworthy’ consumer through its discursive work in official documents by providing formal indicators of what consumer behaviours make a user worthy of trust. The analysis also shows how the platform carefully balances justifications of its role as rule maker and enforcer with its role of neutral intermediator, which has an ethos of sharing and hospitality.</p>}},
  author       = {{Pumputis, Aurimas and Mieli, Micol}},
  booktitle    = {{Consumer Behaviour in Hospitality and Tourism : Contemporary Perspectives and Challenges}},
  isbn         = {{9781032637754}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{83--102}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  title        = {{FROM TRUST TO TRUSTWORTHINESS : Formalising consumer behaviour with discourse on Airbnb platform}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781032637778-5}},
  doi          = {{10.4324/9781032637778-5}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}