Case comment/response

to comment on the analysis, ask questions, and/or make suggestions about how this analysis could be improved.

comment each questions 300 words!

Airbnb: Can it Regulate Private Individuals’ Behavior?
This case is about two individuals, Joe and Brian, who started a company called Airbnb. They started out renting three air beds in their living room and serving breakfast to their guests. Seeing that the guests had no problem paying $80 each and they booked with no trouble at all, Brian and Joe realized that there was an ongoing opportunity and wanted to take advantage of it. They developed their company, which would connect individuals that were looking for lodging, with family’s or individuals that were willing to rent space to those guests. The owners chose the price and space available, which ranged anywhere from a room to an entire home. Through the Airbnb website, the hosts post pictures of the available space and the price. Renters that are interested post a profile which includes a picture of them, and the host chooses to accept or decline the offer. This has led to a problem with some hosts, as they were found to be discriminating against African Americans. This was proven by three Harvard researchers in a study they conducted, which showed that people with African American names were 16 percent less likely to be accepted than someone with names such as Brent or Kristen. This was acknowledged by Airbnb to be a problem, so they hired someone to create a non-discrimination policy, in which everyone who uses Airbnb must certify that they will follow this policy. Harvard made two suggestions, one which allow the renters to apply and conceal their names. The other was to allow them to use pseudonyms (a fictitious name). Airbnb also has an “Instant Book” option on their website that allows renters to skip to application process, but requires some faith from the hosts.
1. Does the evidence presented convince you that Airbnb hosts may be discriminating? Why or why not?
Yes, the evidence provided has convinced us that the Airbnb hosts may be discriminating. During the allocation process, the visitors are required to reveal their identities either through posting a picture, or through revealing their names. In doing so, it becomes easy for someone to identify the identity of the person that seeks accommodation services. In addition, it gives the hosts an opportunity to know the race of the person that wants to be accommodated in their apartments.
Based on this steps that must be followed, I believe that there is sufficient evidence to show that Airbnb hosts may be discriminating. Another reason as to why I say this is based on the evidence that has been provided by one African American that wanted to seek the services of Airbnb. When he revealed his actual identity, he was rejected, but when he changed the names and put the identity of a white person, he is accepted. I believe this is evidence enough to show that the Airbnb hosts may be discriminating.
2. Do you think Airbnb’s non-discrimination policy will be enforceable? How should the company go about enforcing this policy?
Yes, I do believe that the non-discrimination policy will be enforceable. This can be done in several different ways; one way is that they could change the application processes. Instead of creating a profile and adding a picture, Airbnb could create a new application process in which a simple background check is performed on the applicants. This program could all be automated which would eliminate all biased people, and each background check will go through a simple screening process. If the applicant passes this screening then the first one to apply will get the room that is being rented. Another thing that could be done, is that the hosts could create a simple contract, one that states if anything is damaged or broken during the stay, that a fee will be charged to their credit card to fix the damage. This would eliminate any fear of bad things happening to their house they are renting. Perhaps the simplest way to eliminate discrimination, would be to have a review post section added to Airbnb’s site. This would allow anyone to write a review of their stay or any problems that they had with certain hosts. This could be monitored by Airbnb, and if anyone is marked for discrimination, then Airbnb could contact that host and investigate it. If a host is found guilty of discrimination, then they will be marked on Airbnb’s website a bad host, and no longer allowed to use Airbnb’s platform or services. Overtime this would eliminate any host that could potentially be discriminating. Another way Airbnb could help is to train its employees and the hosts on the need to eliminate discrimination, training the customer service representatives on how to alert them immediately of any potential discrimination and to make good use of technology to enforce the policies on discrimination by ensuring that machines can alert the management on any discrimination attempt.
3. What can Airbnb do to help hosts understand the complexities of serving as a “public accommodation” rather than simply being the landlord in a private home?
What the hosts need to understand in this situation is that their home, or room that they have for rent, is open to the public. This means anyone who can pay what they are asking for the stay, not just who they are comfortable with. What Airbnb could do to ensure that their hosts are following their policy, is to have them sign a contract agreeing to being unbiased towards who they select. If they in anyway discriminated against someone because of race or ethnicity, then Airbnb will no longer provide them with any services, and they will be marked as a discriminatory host. Not only this but Airbnb could have renters rate and write reviews of their hosts and how their stay was on Airbnb’s website. If the hosts continue to get bad reviews then Airbnb could over time eliminate bad hosts.
4. It is possible that Airbnb could be face with other types of discrimination claims; for example, it is quite likely that many private homes are not handicap-accessible. Should Airbnb require hosts to meet the standards for handicap-accessibility? Why or why not?
When many homes were built, they were building to seek the needs of the current homeowner, and then some eventually modified if needed in some circumstances. So, some of these homes could possibly be handicap-accessible, but I highly doubt it. There could be an option on Airbnb for handicap-accessible places, but I do not think that all hosts should have to meet the standards for it if they cannot host for a handicapped person, or do not want to. If they do want to host and pass the requirements for it then it should be allowed. This is because these homes that are being rented are only done so in certain times of the year. They are the homeowner’s personal homes, not permanent business, because their homes are not permanently a business just for renting, the homeowners should not be forced to accommodate for handicap. Making a home handicap accessible could cost the homeowner more than what they would make off renting in their lifetime, depending on how often they rent. Just because a person’s home is not handicap accessible, does not mean they are discriminating against handicap people. However, if one’s home was handicap accessible and they denied rights to a handicap person, which would be very odd, this would be considered discrimination. Trying to enforce such a rule on everyone would essentially turn most hosts away, simply because of the cost.