To gain more understanding of their growing community, HomeExchange.com has partnered with a university to profile their users.
The study, My House Is Yours, was spearheaded by a research team from the University of Bergamo, including co-author Professor Francesca Forno. Forno places the survey in context:
Collaborative Consumption describes transactional models like lending, exchange, swapping and bartering that are now able to operate again on a grand scale, across geographic boundaries, thanks to the advent of modern technology.
I believe that investigating these phenomena can help us to find useful insights that may help to make our societies work better towards a “sustainable future.”
The survey is the first comprehensive study of one of the world's largest communities of home exchange services. The point to the research is to create a profile of home exchangers to see who they are, what their behaviors are and what consistencies exist across the community.
Circulating the survey among the 46,000 HomeExchange users led to 7,000 respondents - or a healthy 16% response rate.
Some of the highlights of the study, which can be downloaded here in multiple languages:
- 93% of respondents are satisfied with their experience.
- 81% having swapped homes more than once.
- 98% declare an interest in cultural heritage.
- 84% visit museums and nature parks.
- 62% state a high level of education.
- 49% are with children.
- Fair trade food (63%) and organic food (73%) are important to home exchangers.
- 69% prepare their own meals while traveling.
- 59% participate in community service while at home.
- 75% agree with the statement “most people are trustworthy.”
Other areas of interest are why folks decide to home exchange, and why people travel in general.
Saving money and the desire to experience different cultures are at the top of both results - suggesting that travelers seek to save money so that they can have more spare financial capacity to participate in the cultures they are visiting.
These sorts of insights could suggest some successful partnerships for local businesses seeking to target the culturally-interested home exchanger.
The team also created a handy infographic to catalyze some of the basic demographic information:
Click here for the larger version of the infographic and here for the full study.
NB: Beach house image courtesy Shutterstock.