Showing that you helped others brought more yeses to hosting requests

The study, in plain language

The team created eight profiles for an online hospitality community using names and photos of real people who gave permission. Some profiles described the person as having helped others. The rest had equally positive references, but described a friendship without that helping experience. The team designed the text, and ten existing community members posted references following instructions. Researchers then randomly assigned which profile sent each lodging request.

Requests with a history of helping received more immediate acceptances and more responses in an analysis adjusted for other factors. In a separate, non-randomized analysis, researchers compared whether prospective hosts with more references indicating that they had received hospitality accepted more requests. They found no such association. There are limits: only eight profiles, with different photos, were used, and community administrators ended the study early. The results do not show what drove each response or whether a yes led to an actual stay.