First impressions matter: Shaping the servicescape to address anonymity and trust in peer-to-peer sharing economy services

The increasing number of multi-unit hosts in peer-to-peer platforms such as Airbnb poses a significant challenge to single-unit hosts, who compete in a highly professionalized market where host-guest interactions have become increasingly anonymous. However, anonymity may undermine trust and affect eWOM, crucial elements for the performance of peer-to-peer platforms, as they heavily rely on mutual trust and positive eWOM to succeed. This study investigated the effects of the presence of hosts’ personal decorations and a local welcome gift on eWOM. Perceived anonymity and trust emerge as mediating mechanisms, such that the presence of personal decorations reduced the guest’s perception of anonymity towards the host, which subsequently increased guest’s trust and their intention to spread positive eWOM. The local welcome gift did not show any significant effects. These insights contribute to servicescape research and offer practical implications for single-unit hosts to differentiate their service experience from that of professional hosts.