In this section, we describe the variables identified in this research in detail.
Table 2 shows the variable definitions and corresponding descriptive statistics. The variables are categorized into five categories: (1) listing attributes:
(whether the accommodation is an entire home, a private room, or a shared room),
(number of amenities provided, such as hair-dryer, swimming pool, and Wi-Fi),
(the number of accommodation pictures provided by the host on the website),
length of title (the listing’s title length),
(whether the accommodation can be booked instantly without the host’s confirmation),
(whether guests can check in themselves without the host helping),
(the earliest time of a day that guests can check-in), and
(the latest time of a day that guests have to check-out); (2) listing location:
(where the accommodation is located: Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou),
(distance between the accommodation and the nearest railway station),
(distance between the accommodation and the nearest subway station),
(distance between the accommodation and the nearest airport), and
(distance between the accommodation and the nearest tourist attraction); (3) host attributes:
(whether the host is a superhost on Airbnb.com),
(whether the host can speak English), and
(months that the host’s register has existed); (4) rental policies:
(whether the accommodation allows infants to stay),
(whether the accommodation allows children to stay),
(whether the accommodation allows pets to stay),
(whether the accommodation allows guests to smoke indoors), and
(cancellation policy of an accommodation: flexible, moderate, and strict); and (5) listing reputation:
(number of reviews an accommodation has received) and
(overall rating of an accommodation, ranging from 1 to 5 with a 0.5 increment).
The above descriptive analysis results reveal that different variables may have various effects on the price of sharing economy-based accommodation services. Thus, we will identify these price determinants through rigorous research methodologies in the subsequent sections.