ATTITUDE AND PREFERENCES TOWARDS SHARING ACCOMMODATION: THE IMPACT OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AMONG CHINESE GEN Z ADULTS

Abstract

Sharing accommodation is a new accommodation type and has rapid development in recent years. Since Generation Z will be the core consumers in the future, this study explored the attitudes of Generation Z tourists towards sharing accommodation products and the impact of their stay experiences and demographic characteristics on their attitudes. This study takes Chinese Gen Z adults as the target population for the boost of sharing accommodation industry in China, the SPSS was utilised to conduct an empirical examination of the identified relationships. The study conducted descriptive analysis, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA. The result showed a slight preference towards sharing accommodation products compared with traditional accommodation for young Gen Z tourists. The independent samples t-test and ANOVA analysis showed that previous experience positively influenced tourists’ attitude preference to sharing accommodation. The study also found that gender and income have no significant effect on attitude preference towards sharing accommodation for Chinese Gen Z tourists; however, the education level and occupation factors showed significant impacts on tourists’ attitudes towards sharing accommodation.