Eye contact and trust online: The effect of profile pictures on Airbnb booking

This study investigates uncertainty and trust in peer-to-peer (P2P) e-commerce in the shared economy of Airbnb. On P2P marketplaces individuals do business with each other based on the concept of sharing. This type of business may cause a feeling of risk and uncertainty. Hence, trust fulfils a key element in the transactions. On the Airbnb platform profile pictures of the renter are included to diminish consumers’ feelings of uncertainty. An experiment was performed with two accommodation offers that differed in eye contact (eye contact vs. no eye contact) on the profile picture. In total 319 participants took part in the experiment, 157 Dutch and 162 French. The results revealed that a profile picture with eye contact brought along more trust than without eye contact. Further, a higher level of trust leaded to a higher booking intention. Although the French were more uncertainty avoidant than the Dutch, no moderation effect was found for uncertainty avoidance on booking intention.