Browsing by Author "Al-hadeethi, Oday"

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    Master Thesis
    The Influence of Electronic Word-Of on Purchasing Decisions of Online Consumers: The Case of Airbnb Users in Turkey
    (Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2020) Al-hadeethi, Oday; Baş, Özen; Baş, Özen
    Airbnb is one of the most prominent online peer-to-peer companies in the short-term rentals business. The company works as a mediator between the host and the guest. The face-to-face interaction found in Airbnb entails more risks than other e-commerce platforms. Therefore, the heaviest burden on the company is to build trust among its users. The main goals of the study reported here are to examine the importance of online reviews found in the Airbnb, and the factors that increase the trust of the consumers in the company as well as those that impact the purchasing decision-making processes. This study gathered all the membership requirements that may motivate consumers to trust and purchase the services from Airbnb, where these requirements were never being tested altogether. The study targeted Airbnb's consumers in Turkey, who never been tested. An online survey was conducted (N=405) on Airbnb users who reside in Turkey. The results produced a significant relationship between the frequency of Airbnb use and the need to read reviews before making a purchasing decision, especially among new subscribers of Airbnb. The governmental ID was found to be the most important membership requirement which positively influenced the trust of users. Results suggested that both the review system of Airbnb and the way the platform is designed increase consumers trust and purchasing decisions. Overall, the study found that online reviews and the information found in it are important no matter where they are located, and they have a greater influence than commercial advertisements on online users' purchasing decisions in Turkey. This study contributes to enriching the academic literature on the role of eWOM as a free marketing tool. The findings also help sharing economy companies to take into consideration the crucial role of a well-designed online review system in increasing sales.