Survival of the fittest: Standardization by professional short-term rental hosts under severe uncertainty

Abstract

Severe uncertainty, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, forces organizations to adapt quickly to survive in the marketplace. This study examines how professional short-term rental hosts enhance unit resilience under market disruptions through standardization, and how this effect is moderated by business size. A survival analysis is conducted using 155,132 observations of Airbnb units operated by professional hosts in Hong Kong between April 2018 and March 2023. Results reveal positive effects of standardization, and the benefits are more pronounced for larger businesses. The findings further identify that the positive effects of standardization become stronger and less reliant on business size during COVID. In contrast, under market growth, the alignment between standardization and business size is more important, where functional standardization benefits larger businesses but may harm smaller ones. This research enriches tourism literature by emphasizing the strategic lens of professionalization. The findings also provide insights for practitioners, platform managers, and policymakers.