Airbnb celebrates its 10th birthday this year - a decade after its founders first rented out an air mattress in their living room to help pay the rent.
Since then the private accommodation service has checked in more than 300 million guests and now has over 4.5 million listings in 81,000 cities across the world.
Considering its image as a travel industry disruptor, it is perhaps somewhat surprising to some that our consumer research finds Airbnb ranked second overall in a list of the most highly regarded "hotel" brands.
Airbnb has some way to go to be entirely accepted as a trusted hotel brand, but the research indicates the travel industry disruptor has already won over consumers.
Lucia Juliano
With a reputation built on being the antithesis of the traditional hotel, it is ironic Airbnb is now regarded by holidaymakers as comparable to major chains such as Premier Inn and Sheraton.
So how does Airbnb compare to its hotel rivals in the eyes of the consumer, and how has it gone from holiday revolutionary to mainstream brand?
As part of its bi-annual Hi Brands research, Harris Interactive asked consumers to consider the sustainability of various hotel brands, with scores out of 10 based on multiple pillars including knowledge and equity, future relevance, brand excitement and brand engagement.
Airbnb came second overall, beating established brands such as Sheraton, Holiday Inn and Hilton, with only Premier Inn scoring higher.
Considering the brand wasn’t even included in the same study two years ago, the results illustrate a rapid change in attitude with consumers no longer drawing a distinction between Airbnb and more traditional hotels.
An exciting and engaging brand?
The success of Airbnb may have propelled the accommodation service into the mainstream, but consumers still see it as an exciting brand.
Airbnb created a new and innovative business model that revolutionized the travel industry.
As we all know, before its arrival consumer choice was limited to hotels, self-catering apartments or holiday home rentals, but with the new model, hosts can post any type of accommodation - whether it is a simple room, a castle, boat or yurt – decide on terms and pricing, and then simply pay the platform a fee for each booking.
The Harris research reveals consumers see Airbnb as a challenging and compelling brand, with a high vitality score.
And when it comes to brand excitement and brand engagement, Airbnb also tops the list.
In addition to the inventive business model, this view is supported by unique marketing messaging such as the Live There campaign which encourages people to experience holiday destinations like a local rather than as a tourist.
Sense of community and social conscience
Another category in which Airbnb comes top of the research charts, trouncing rival hotel chains, is brand community.
This reflects the way the platform operates, linking up guests with hosts who can meet their specific requirements and encouraging them to interact on a personal rather than simply commercial level.
Airbnb also has the travel membership program, known as Superguest, which provides unique experiences and perks for regular users.
Greg Greeley at The Phocuswright Conference
So, what else resonates with consumers?
The platform provides a strong support network for hosts who have access to the Airbnb Community Centre, which allows them to ask questions, post experiences, get updates and arrange meet-ups to share advice and discover best practices.
It also displays a strong social conscience, for instance through the We Accept campaign which aims to provide short-term housing for people in need and support displaced populations.
Future relevance of the brand
The Airbnb brand tops the results once more in the future relevance category.
This result supports the platform’s focus on a long-term approach, with co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky stating earlier this year: "We think that a company should survive to see the next century, not just the next quarter."
Airbnb has clear plans for future development including adding hotels to its offering to help it reach one billion bookings a year by 2028.
The platform has created new accommodation categories such as Airbnb Plus, which features personally verified, high-quality, well-equipped homes, and Beyond, which highlights luxury homes with full-service hospitality.
Recommendation requires improvement
One category in which Airbnb finds itself further down the list in the research – coming ninth below established hotel brands such as Premier Inn, Radisson, Holiday Inn and Hilton – was recommendation.
While Airbnb has successfully tapped into the growth of digital research and online bookings for travelers, it is also heavily reliant on comparison sites and social media reviews which are difficult to control.
A relatively low recommendation score may be linked to issues of transparency of pricing, accusations that the platform deletes negative reviews and a relatively small number of serious complaints or poor experiences that have received widespread media attention.
The next step for Airbnb is to build on elements of recommendation, trust and consideration, which will accelerate brand equity even further above rival hotel chains.
Airbnb has some way to go to be entirely accepted as a trusted hotel brand, but the research indicates the travel industry disruptor has already won over consumers, who see it as an exciting and engaging company with a strong community and future relevance.
Time - and future studies - will tell if Airbnb has the staying power to remain at the head of the hotel hierarchy, and to hit its target of one billion bookings over the next ten years.