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Behind the Aegis

(53,833 posts)
Wed Apr 27, 2016, 01:55 AM Apr 2016

#AirbnbWhileBlack: How Hidden Bias Shapes The Sharing Economy

Quirtina Crittenden was struggling to get a room on Airbnb. She would send a request to a host. Wait. And then get declined.

"The hosts would always come up with excuses like, 'oh, someone actually just booked it' or 'oh, some of my regulars are coming in town, and they're going to stay there,'" Crittenden said. "But I got suspicious when I would check back like days later and see that those dates were still available."

In many ways Crittenden, 23, is the target audience for AirBnb. She's young, likes to travel, and has a good paying job as a business consultant in Chicago. So she started to wonder if it had something to do with her race. Crittenden is African American, and on AirBnb, both hosts and guests are required to have their names and photos prominently displayed on their profiles.

--snip--

All the requests were exactly the same except for the names they gave their make-believe travelers. Some had African American-sounding names like Jamal or Tanisha and others had stereotypically white-sounding names like Meredith or Todd.

Luca and his colleagues found requests with African American sounding names were roughly 16 percent less likely to be accepted than their white-sounding counterparts. They found discrimination across the board: among cheap listings and expensive listings, in diverse neighborhoods and homogenous neighborhoods, and with novice hosts as well as experienced hosts. They also found that black hosts were also less likely to accept requests from guests with African American-sounding names than with white-sounding ones.

Luca and his colleagues found hosts pay a price for their bias—when hosts rejected a black guest, they only found a replacement about a third of the time. In a separate study, Luca and his colleagues have found that guests discriminate, too, and black hosts earn less money on their properties on Airbnb.

more...

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Can't say this is too terribly surprising. Much bias I personally see isn't blatant or in your face, it is much more subtle, always bubbling just beneath the surface.

9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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#AirbnbWhileBlack: How Hidden Bias Shapes The Sharing Economy (Original Post) Behind the Aegis Apr 2016 OP
We had thought about using it, but expected issues and give our $$ to hotels where Person 2713 Apr 2016 #1
I got booted out of the place i was renting because hte owner wanted to airBnB it Scootaloo Apr 2016 #2
Exactly. It's just as sleazy as Uber X IMO. Not only is there the issue of the lack of regulation, Chakab Apr 2016 #7
Yep. SusanCalvin Apr 2016 #9
don't know details about air bnb are there references of any kind required? nt msongs Apr 2016 #3
I wouldnt Airbnb ANYbody in my house. ErikJ Apr 2016 #4
He'll no! My mind would run wild NWCorona Apr 2016 #8
VRBO dangin Apr 2016 #5
#doinganythingwhileblack Chakab Apr 2016 #6

Person 2713

(3,263 posts)
1. We had thought about using it, but expected issues and give our $$ to hotels where
Wed Apr 27, 2016, 02:13 AM
Apr 2016

we can expect to be treated as simply generic faceless hotel guests.
Names bring all kinds of stereotypes but hotels accept all kinds of credit cards and live off reputations
Plus once you arrived at an Airbnb there could be issues / bad attitude too and then you are stuck and brings down your travel experience .
With hotels you can get a resolve that incorporates more than one individual if there is a problem and if there is a room available online , little chance the hotel will stop the reservation process after you enter your name!

 

Scootaloo

(25,699 posts)
2. I got booted out of the place i was renting because hte owner wanted to airBnB it
Wed Apr 27, 2016, 02:30 AM
Apr 2016

What I've been reading is that the whole operation is a fairly sleazy way to skirt around rules and regulations that would be in place for actual hosteling businesses or leasing agreements, so the idea that black people get the shaft from it is no surprise at all.

 

Chakab

(1,727 posts)
7. Exactly. It's just as sleazy as Uber X IMO. Not only is there the issue of the lack of regulation,
Wed Apr 27, 2016, 04:23 AM
Apr 2016

but they are also undercutting established businesses.

 

ErikJ

(6,335 posts)
4. I wouldnt Airbnb ANYbody in my house.
Wed Apr 27, 2016, 02:40 AM
Apr 2016

I might in my 14 ft trailer outside, but it doesnt have a bathroom so prob wouldnt qualify. No way am I letting strangers into my house to use my kitchen or bathroom.

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