Interactive value formation: Drivers and outcomes from Airbnb guests’ perspectives

This study explores interactive value formation, particularly the Received 5 May 2020 underlying drivers of three value outcomes in the Airbnb context: Accepted 22 September co-creation, co-destruction and co-recovery. The study focuses on 2020 reviews posted online by Airbnb guests in English. These posts KEYWORDS contained customers’ positive and negative experiences with Interactive value formation; Airbnb on Trustpilot. The data analysis uncovered two main value co-creation; value co-themes that reflected the drivers of value co-creation, co-destruction; value co-destruction and co-recovery (company’s customer service and recovery; service failure hosts’ actions). First, after a service failure, many guests experienced value co-destruction because they felt that Airbnb’s customer service agents could not solve their problems in a timely and proper manner, while the use of successful recovery efforts by the service agents served as an antidote to value co-destruction, thereby contributing to value co-recovery. Second, host’s friendly behaviour, including prompt communication between the host and the guest, led to value co-creation. On the contrary, inadequate communication and unethical actions by the host generated value co-destruction among the guests and resulted in a decline in their well-being. The findings suggest that particular value dimensions can individually act as a source of either value co-creation or co-recovery, while their inadequate integration in the interactive value formation processes leads to value co-destruction