How the name-letter effect influences peer choice in the P2P economy

Abstract

This research aims to examine and extend the current understanding of the name-letter effect (NLE) – people’s implicit preference for the letters of their own name – on consumer peer choices in the P2P economy. Drawing on implicit consumer cognition, a new study is conducted to enhance the internal and external validity, which has been identified as weak in the previous literature. The current research successfully shows the NLE in actual consumer choices and reveals that it is an important driver influencing peer choice. Guest consumers on Airbnb disproportionally preferred renting accommodation from a host whose first name resembled their own (based on shared initials or shared unordered letters) rather than from any other host. This NLE increases with an increasing number of letters shared and is more pronounced in the case of first price tier accommodations and when the proximity with the host is high. This finding suggests an implicit name similarity preference that has important practical and ethical implications for the personalization marketing of recommender systems.