Antecedents of behavioral intention and use of shared accommodation: Gender as a moderator

Abstract

Purpose- As the recent global pandemic has brought international tourism to a halt for nearly two years, many countries have developed strategies to cope with the crisis by promoting domestic tourism. This study investigates the variables that contribute to customers’ behavioral intention to share accommodation The gender differences in using shared accommodation are explored. Design/methodology/approach - The authors used a survey instrument to collect data from 460 respondents from India. The respondents were consumers using shared housing. Partial least squares – structural equation modeling (Smart PLS-SEM) was conducted to test the structural model. Findings - The results reveal that (i) desire, frugality, and materialism are positively related to behavioral intention, and (ii) behavioral intention strongly predicts the use. The findings also suggest that gender plays a moderating role, such that the effect of desire and materialism on behavioral intention was stronger for women than for men. In addition, as frugality increases (from low to high), men show higher behavioral intention than women. The results also show that the negative effect of perceived risk is stronger for women than for men. Originality/value - The novelty of this study lies in the examination of gender as a moderator in the relationship between behavioral intention and use of shared accommodation. Implications for tourism and hospitality research are discussed.