Effective Airbnb Advertising during COVID-19 pandemic: Message format and hypothetical distance

Airbnb hosts encounter difficulty in choosing an approach to advertising during unprecedented times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores effective Airbnb advertising messages with a particular focus on hypothetical distance based on construal level theory. A 2 (message format: abstract vs. concrete) × 2 (hypothetical distance: low vs. high likelihood of travel) between-subject experiment was conducted. Data collection was conducted in the US during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings revealed that the ‘abstract’ message results in a higher intention to stay when hypothetical distance is ‘low’, whereas the ‘concrete’ message results in a higher intention to stay when hypothetical distance is ‘high’. In addition, the mediating role of message relevance in the relationship between message format and intention to stay was also found. These findings provide meaningful theoretical contributions and have practical implications for tourism and hospitality research.