Couchsurfing as a socio-anthropological aspect of hospitality Makarov Kiril Spirin Aleksey Zolotareva Polina Higher School of Economics (Department of Social Sciences) Высшая школа экономики, Москва,

2 October 20152

Main concepts Couchsurfing – the global hospitality network targeted at giving travelers all over the world a possibility to find free temporary accommodation or to shelter wayfarers in their house. Surfer Host How does it work: personal profile on couchsurfing.org; searching for a host if the request is welcomed, a face-to- face interaction of both couchsurfers begins. 2 October 20153

History of Couchsurfing Started in million couchsurfers Founder: Casey Fenton Non-profit organization certified corporation Values: tolerance, cultural exchange, cosmopolitism, authenticity, emotional and intellectual growth. 2 October 20154

Problem statement Economized hospitality Hospitality in its “pure”meaning 2 October 2015 Classical tourism Couchsurfing 5

Theoretical basis & objective Theory: Goffman’s theory of frontstage & backstage Cohen’s theory of authenticity (real life VS staged life) Objective: to reveal the prime mechanisms of online- and offline- couchsurfers’ interactions Object: users of couchsurfing.org (surfers/hosts) 2 October 20156

Sample Russian couchsurfers Active participants of the community More than 2 hospitality/travel experiences Qualitative methods (23 semi-structured interviews via Skype/face-to-face) 2 October 20157

The couchsurfing boundaries Aim: to reveal how couchsurfers perceive tourist practices and differ their community and the tourist community. Result: сouchsurfers represent themselves as an unique social group with certain values. Surfers are cosmopolitans who “consume the globe”. Secondary employment and freelance Prefer civil marriage to official one No children 2 October 20158

Couchsurfers VS Tourists Information plays a crucial role for couchsurfers who decrease level of uncertainty. Active quest model is key for surfers. Trustworthy hallmarks: Positive references Common hobbies and values of participants Personal request Number of friends Unreliable yardsticks: Lack of detailed information Negative references Recent online activity Newcomer-Expert (experience) 2 October 20159

Couchsurfers’ motivation Aim: to reveal the motives of couchsurfers while travelling or hosting. Result: three types of motivation were found. Psychological: recognition, curiosity and personal growth. Functional: source of information (advices, leisure time). Social: interaction with local people, cultural exchange, friendship (dating). Consequently, monetary profit is not the primary motivation of surfers. Surfers (egoistic self-interest) VS hosts (altruists) Mutual benefits & sharing “Couchsurfing is considered to be a phenomenon of sharing. It is an exchange, acquaintance with local inhabitants, sometimes you can even find friends. In global meaning ─ it is sharing”. Alex, 30 years, surfer/host.. 2 October

Gift exchange Aim: to reveal the practices of gift-exchange developed among couchsurfers. Result: money are not implemented in couchsurfers’ offline relations in any way. Money offering is regarded as: inappropriate, inconvenient and even offensive behavior. 2 October

Gift exchange Result: hosts were discovered to appreciate emotions and knowledge received from conversations with their guests more than symbolic gifts. Symbolic gifts are an optional part of couchsurfers’ interaction. Result: hosts do differentiate their guests and attitude towards them. However, it is more the matter of external circumstances, not the purposeful act. 2 October

Discussion Mechanisms of matching between male and female couchsurfers Quantitative investigation (types of couchsurfers) Factors that exclude members from the community (failures of trust in couchsurfing network) To prove the argument: couchsurfing do not bear on authenticity 2 October

Thank you for attention!