Service failure recovery in the sharing economy: A case study of Airbnb

Abstract

Sharing platforms are becoming increasingly common, revolutionizing how peers interact and share resources across an array of online applications. While the sharing economy itself is established, less is known about service failures and corresponding recovery strategies that are relevant to it. This research investigates the myriad effects of service failures (and their associated recovery strategies) on customer experience in the digital sharing economy. Findings suggest that different service failure strategies exert differing effects on customer experience, which subsequently affects the behavior towards the service being provided and the service provider. The suggestions given here respond to important implications for research and practitioners by offering new ways to explore and detect service failures and possible recovery strategies.