A recent study by three Harvard Business School researchers has concluded that there is "widespread discrimination" within the ranks of Airbnb hosts. At the end of the research, it was found that Airbnb hosts were less likely to grant bookings to guests with distinctly black-sounding names than those whose names suggested that they are predominantly white, according to The New York Times.
Thus, Greg O'Brien and Laurie Ryan would most likely be accepted by Airbnb hosts over Tyrone Robinson and Latoya Williams.
To gather the study's data, the researchers sent out 6,400 messages in July this year to hosts in five prominent U.S. cities, which included Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and St. Louis. The messages were sent from 20 dummy accounts with distinctly black- and white-sounding names, reports BBC News.
As it turned out, the dummy accounts with distinctly white-sounding names were granted bookings 50 percent of the time. Those with black-sounding names, however, were only accepted by hosts 42 percent of the time.
What is particularly interesting is the fact that the race of the hosts did not seem to matter. Whether the hosts were black or white, the discrimination was still prevalent. The bias of the hosts was also equal for both men and women, according to CNN Money.
Airbnb has addressed the results of the study, stating that the company does recognize that discrimination does happen among hosts and guests.
"We recognize that bias and discrimination are significant challenges, and we welcome the opportunity to work with anyone that can help us reduce potential discrimination in the Airbnb community," the company said in a statement, reports The Daily Mail.
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