Examining the Role of Privacy Policy on Host Information Disclosure on Accommodation Sharing Platforms

In recent years, more and more people embrace accommodation sharing services via online community marketplaces such as Airbnb, Couchsurfing, Homestay, and Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO). In the meanwhile, consumers’ concerns on the privacy and safety that arise from online transactions and social interactions on participating in accommodation sharing are increasingly growing. The goal of this research is to investigate the impact of privacy policy on hosts’ privacy concern, security concern, perceived benefits, and information disclosure on the accommodation sharing platforms (ASPs).Our study complements the existing privacy literature by demonstrating that hosts’ participation in ASPs depend on extrinsic benefits, perceived risks, and platform features. Therefore, we provide supporting empirical evidence to earlier theoretical developments that emphasize the role of privacy calculus on individual’s self-disclosure behavior. Additionally, this study takes the first step to bridge the gap in the existing literature that has so far ignored the different dimensions of privacy concern. Our research advances this body of knowledge by showing that on ASPs, hosts can have both privacy concern and security concern. The existing privacy policy can effectively reduce hosts’ concern about platform’s privacy invasion but fail to alleviate hosts’ concern that derives from other platform visitors' opportunistic behavior.