Evaluation of Airbnb consumer experiences in terms of culture and tourist typologies

Airbnb has emerged in 2008 with new idea and has started to mediate internet-based rentals of unused idle rooms and houses belonging to the local people in the destination. The innovative ideas brought by Airbnb and the mode of service it mediates are called sharing economy. Sharing economy expresses the understanding of mutual benefit between peers. Airbnb offers its users to experience authentic experiences by staying under the same roof with the local hosts, sharing the same table and life style. The offer of authentic experiences offered by Airbnb means the the experience economy, which is the fourth economic dimension after the service economy, where commodities, prodcuts and services are differentiated and presented to consumers with experiences. Travel preferences of tourists vary. The motivations behind these differences will be the cultural differences of nationalities, as well as tourists seeking novelty or familiarity individually. Because culture affects the fate of a nation, from general to private, it also has an impact on individual behavior. The search for novelty or familiarity of tourists leads to differences in travel and holiday preferences, and on this axis, there are differences in terms of tourists, those who want to experience the life and culture of the local people and those who prefer traditional travel and accommodation services during their holidays. Based on these differences, the purpose of the study is to examine the differences between tourists' Airbnb experiences in terms of cultures and tourist typologies, and to determine whether there is a difference between groups, and to understand whether tourist typologies differ by culture. The data required for the study were obtained through 485 questionnaires from 43 different nationalities, some online and some face-to-face. In order to test the hypotheses of the research, regression models were created, and multiple linear regression analyzes and dummy variable regression analyzes were applied. As a result of the analyzes, two of the hypotheses were supported, and one hypothesis was partially supported. While it is understood that Airbnb experiences of tourists differ according to tourist typologies and cultures; it has been determined that tourist typologies also differ partially according to cultures. Keywords: Experience, Tourist Typology, Culture, Airbnb, Airbnb Experiences