Safety is a major factor impacting consumers’ participation in peer-to-peer (P2P) economies. Using spatial econometric models, this study examined crime effects on the performance (RevPAR) of P2P lodgings at three spatial ranges: property, community, and destination level. The performance of P2P lodgings is negatively associated with crime densities, while the degree of the association varies by crime types and room types. Crime can “spill over” to the neighborhood and have the strongest impact at the community level, followed by the destination level and the property level. The study provides a way to understand tourism risks using criminology theories and the concept of social uncertainty. Empirically, the study provides implications to the governance of community-based lodging business. We suggest that the effect of crime on P2P lodging performance was more conditioned by the safety environment in its neighborhood and the whole destination, rather than individual business operations.
Agent Community based Peer-to-Peer Information Retrieval
