Value Co-creation in Non-profit Accommodation Platforms.

Value co-creation, in the sharing accommodation sector, has been extensively analyzed but mainly with Airbnb as a reference and focusing mostly on guests' perceptions. The aim of this study is to analyze the value co-created for users (guests and hosts) in the non-profit sharing accommodation platforms Couchsurfing and HomeExchange. This study also aims to analyze whether the co-created value of these platforms differs from that of for-profit platforms, along with how the outcomes, resources, and practices of the value co-creation process can help create wellbeing for individuals involved in the accommodation experience. Given that most of the existing literature on value co-creation in sharing accommodation platforms is based on Airbnb and guest perspectives, this study is a pioneer in analyzing how guests and hosts co-create value in the context of non-profit accommodation platforms using online travel reviews (OTRs) from non-profit platforms, and how the co-created value contributes to the wellbeing of the individuals involved. Results show that a set of tangible and intangible resources, such as the home and its amenities, helps users on non-profit platforms co-create value and that interaction and social practices between guests and hosts help co-create value for both groups. This implies that non-profit accommodation platforms may contribute more to the social dimensions of wellbeing of their users than for-profit platforms such as Airbnb where the host is typically absent from the experience. In addition, this study demonstrates that the co-created value in non-profit platforms depends on the modus operandi of each platform. On Couchsurfing, guests and hosts co-create more value from their social practices, and on HomeExchange, value co-creation depends more on tangible and intangible resources.

Measuring Gastronomic Image Online.

Culinary or gastronomic tourism has become one of the main exponents of cultural tourism and a key element of a destination's image identity. Since travellers consult and produce online travel reviews (OTR) before and during a trip, this research aims to provide and implement a framework for analysing OTRs of dining establishments to measure their contribution to destination image formation in their designative (cognitive) and appraisive (affective and evaluative) aspects. To do this, a website was selected from which to download OTRs, extract useful information from the textual and paratextual elements, build a keyword frequency matrix, and perform a quantitative and thematic content analysis. This method was applied to a random sample of 500,000 OTRs from the TripAdvisor restaurants section, written in English, between 2013 and 2017, by tourists visiting the Canary Islands. Results show that, although the gastronomic image of the destination is positive in general, the local and regional gastronomy representative of the community's sociocultural identity is not the most popular nor the best valued in tourists' comments. This research shows a method to measure the main aspects that make up the gastronomic image of a destination and that allow for extracting insights and business intelligence through big data from user-generated content.

An Alternative Approach to Analyze Ipsative Data. Revisiting Experiential Learning Theory.

The ritualistic use of statistical models regardless of the type of data actually available is a common practice across disciplines which we dare to call type zero error. Statistical models involve a series of assumptions whose existence is often neglected altogether, this is specially the case with ipsative data. This paper illustrates the consequences of this ritualistic practice within Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) operationalized through its Learning Style Inventory (KLSI). We show how using a well-known methodology in other disciplines-compositional data analysis (CODA) and log ratio transformations-KLSI data can be properly analyzed. In addition, the method has theoretical implications: a third dimension of the KLSI is unveiled providing room for future research. This third dimension describes an individual's relative preference for learning by prehension rather than by transformation. Using a sample of international MBA students, we relate this dimension with another self-assessment instrument, the Philosophical Orientation Questionnaire (POQ), and with an observer-assessed instrument, the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI-U). Both show plausible statistical relationships. An intellectual operating philosophy (IOP) is linked to a preference for prehension, whereas a pragmatic operating philosophy (POP) is linked to transformation. Self-management and social awareness competencies are linked to a learning preference for transforming knowledge, whereas relationship management and cognitive competencies are more related to approaching learning by prehension.