A computational approach to perceived trustworthiness of Airbnb host profiles

Abstract

We developed a novel computational framework to predict the perceived trustworthiness of host profile texts in the context of online lodging marketplaces. To achieve this goal, we developed a dataset of 4,180 Airbnb host profiles annotated with perceived trustworthiness. To the best of our knowledge, the dataset along with our models allow for the first computational evaluation of perceived trustworthiness of textual profiles, which are ubiquitous in online peer-to-peer marketplaces. We provide insights into the linguistic factors that contribute to higher and lower perceived trustworthiness for profiles of different lengths.