Strategic innovation and business model evolution in the sharing economy: a theory-informed bibliometric analysis of Airbnb research

Purpose This study aims to examine how research on Airbnb and sharing-economy platforms has conceptualized strategic innovation and business model evolution. It integrates bibliometric and text-mining techniques with the business model innovation framework to identify the field's intellectual structure, thematic development, and activity-system design themes. Design/methodology/approach The analysis includes 799 unique Web of Science Core Collection records published from 2014 to January 2025. Two topic searches were merged and deduplicated. Python-based analyses included keyword preprocessing, co-occurrence analysis, hierarchical agglomerative clustering, thematic mapping using Callon centrality and density, temporal trend analysis, and descriptive analysis of countries, institutions, and citations. Findings Airbnb, sharing economy, tourism, trust, collaborative consumption, and digital platforms constitute the field's conceptual core. Sentiment analysis and social media are comparatively developed and interconnected, while Airbnb, sharing economy, and tourism remain basic themes with high relevance but lower internal density. Recent studies increasingly address short-term rentals, user-generated content, housing, regulation, and advanced analytics. The clusters reflect novelty, lock-in, complementarities, and efficiency. Regulation is best understood as an external institutional condition shaping these themes. Research limitations/implications Generalizability is limited by reliance on one database, English-language records, keyword-based analysis, partial 2025 coverage, and sensitivity to data cleaning and clustering choices. Practical implications Managers should treat trust architecture, ecosystem complementarities, operational efficiency, and regulatory alignment as interconnected design challenges. Policymakers should assess regulation's effects on incentives and governance. Originality/value The study advances Airbnb bibliometrics by linking cluster-level findings to the complete four-theme business model innovation framework and distinguishing internal model design from external institutional conditions.