NEW YORK: Consumers who have tried peer-to-peer (P2P) lodging services like Airbnb often change their attitudes towards traditional hotels as a result, a study has revealed.
Goldman Sachs, the banking group, polled 2,000 people in the US to gain an insight into the impact that digitally-powered platforms in the "sharing economy" are exerting on the wider accommodation industry.
And its data indicated that when consumers use such services – which include HomeAway and FlipKey, as well as Airbnb – their opinions frequently undergo a meaningful shift.
"If people have stayed in peer-to-peer lodging in the last five years, the likelihood that they prefer traditional hotels is halved (79% vs. 40%)," Goldman Sachs said, as reported by the San Francisco Business Times.
"We find it interesting that people 'do a 180' in their preferences once they use P2P lodging. They move directly from preferring traditional hotels to preferring P2P accommodations."
Elsewhere, the research stated that 16% of respondents had used one of these services by the final quarter of 2015, an increase from the 11% reported earlier in the year.
Drilling down into the numbers, the analysis showed that 67% of 18–24-year-olds had used P2P lodgings in the last year. Totals here reached 75% for 25–34-year-olds and 64% for 35–44-year-olds, but fell below 30% when discussing older cohorts.
Overall familiarity with these P2P platforms had seen double-digital growth, too, improving from 24% to 35%, Goldman Sachs said.
The highest levels of familiarity were recorded by consumers earning over $120,000 a year, at 57%. Of the audience which possessed this knowledge, exactly 50% had stayed at a P2P property.
Uptake rates for people aware of the category peaked among individuals earning between $70,000–$89,999 and $90,000–$119,999, standing at approximately 70%.
Consumers earning less than $30,000 a year registered the lowest levels of familiarity on 22%, and only 38% of those individuals had actually stayed in a P2P property.
Goldman Sachs, the banking group, polled 2,000 people in the US to gain an insight into the impact that digitally-powered platforms in the "sharing economy" are exerting on the wider accommodation industry.
And its data indicated that when consumers use such services – which include HomeAway and FlipKey, as well as Airbnb – their opinions frequently undergo a meaningful shift.
"If people have stayed in peer-to-peer lodging in the last five years, the likelihood that they prefer traditional hotels is halved (79% vs. 40%)," Goldman Sachs said, as reported by the San Francisco Business Times.
"We find it interesting that people 'do a 180' in their preferences once they use P2P lodging. They move directly from preferring traditional hotels to preferring P2P accommodations."
Elsewhere, the research stated that 16% of respondents had used one of these services by the final quarter of 2015, an increase from the 11% reported earlier in the year.
Drilling down into the numbers, the analysis showed that 67% of 18–24-year-olds had used P2P lodgings in the last year. Totals here reached 75% for 25–34-year-olds and 64% for 35–44-year-olds, but fell below 30% when discussing older cohorts.
Overall familiarity with these P2P platforms had seen double-digital growth, too, improving from 24% to 35%, Goldman Sachs said.
The highest levels of familiarity were recorded by consumers earning over $120,000 a year, at 57%. Of the audience which possessed this knowledge, exactly 50% had stayed at a P2P property.
Uptake rates for people aware of the category peaked among individuals earning between $70,000–$89,999 and $90,000–$119,999, standing at approximately 70%.
Consumers earning less than $30,000 a year registered the lowest levels of familiarity on 22%, and only 38% of those individuals had actually stayed in a P2P property.
Data sourced from San Francisco Business Times/Bloomberg; additional content by Warc staff
