International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development

Airbnb's history offers a compact case study in three problems every platform business must eventually solve: coordinating two distinct user groups at scale, manufacturing trust between strangers transacting peer-to-peer, and surviving a demand shock that threatens the core business model. This paper traces Airbnb's evolution as a two-sided marketplace connecting hosts and guests, examines the layered trust-andsafety architecture built to make stranger-to-stranger lodging feel safe, and analyzes the strategic pivot the company executed when the COVID19 pandemic collapsed global travel demand in 2020. The analysis shows that Airbnb's value proposition depends on solving a classic two-sided “chicken-and-egg” problem; that because the company owns none of its inventory, trust is not a feature but the product itself, requiring continuous investment in reputation systems, identity verification, and financial guarantees; and that Airbnb's asset-light, commission-based model allowed it to redirect demand toward local and long-term stays faster than asset-heavy hotel competitors, a pivot that arguably salvaged its long-delayed initial public offering. The paper draws on Airbnb's public filings, company communications, secondary case analyses, and research on trust in the sharing economy, and concludes with lessons for platform strategy and crisis management.

Dr. Lakshmipati K N, Sai Venkat, Chetan Singh,"Airbnb: Building Trust in a Two-Sided Marketplace and Navigating the COVID-19 Pivot" International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development, V9(3): Page(2446-2450) May-June 2026. ISSN: 2581-7175. www.ijsred.com. Published by Scientific and Academic Research Publishing.