Scientific journal paper Q1
From host's descriptions to guests' reviews: Semantic similarities
Mariana Santos (Cavique, M.); Ricardo Ribeiro (Ribeiro, R.); Fernando Batista (Batista, F.); Antónia Correia (Correia, A.);
Journal Title
Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights
Year (definitive publication)
2025
Language
English
Country
United States of America
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Abstract
This study investigates the semantic alignment between Airbnb property descriptions and guest reviews. Word2Vec embeddings and affinity propagation clustering are used to identify granular semantic concepts, enabling a detailed comparison of the two text types. A new metric, concept coverage ratio, is introduced to measure the extent to which the guest review content is reflected in property descriptions. Results show that a higher concept coverage ratio is generally associated with more positive sentiment in reviews, suggesting that better alignment between host and guest perspectives contributes to guest satisfaction. However, longer and detailed descriptions may limit the potential for pleasantly surprising guests, as it reduces the chance for positive disconfirmation. These findings offer practical insights for improving communication in peer-to-peer accommodation.
Acknowledgements
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Keywords
Airbnb,Semantic similarity,Clustering,Word embeddings,Sentiment analysis
  • Economics and Business - Social Sciences
  • Sociology - Social Sciences
  • Social and Economic Geography - Social Sciences
  • Other Social Sciences - Social Sciences
Funding Records
Funding Reference Funding Entity
UIDB/50021/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
UID/ECO/04007/2024 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia