Extant literature indicates that accessing online word of mouth (eWOM) impacts subsequent purchasing and other consumer behaviors (Chatterjee 2001; Chen et al. 2011; Teng et al. 2017). Specifically, in the context of the sharing economy, which is still relatively new to some consumers, the reviews are of increasing importance as there are few traditional indicators of service quality (Ert et al. 2016). Gretzel and Yoo (2008) observe that online reviews may contain information pertaining to the quality of a service or product, which could assist in reducing risk when purchasing experience goods. However, in the case of the travel industry, it has been observed that on average satisfaction ratings for Airbnb listings are higher than satisfaction ratings of hotel listings on TripAdvisor (Zervas et al. 2015). In this paper, we review and reason on a set of key factors which may drive this gap in rating averages. In particular six propositions are developed from the relevant literature and are organized into three groupings: expectations, experiences, and evaluation. With regard to expectations, two propositions are developed relating to price anchoring (Kahneman et al. 1982) from hotel rates during the search phase and the uncertainty surrounding the anticipation of staying in the home of a stranger. This first set of propositions suggests travelers reduce their expectations of an upcoming Airbnb stay due to the comparatively low price. The second set of propositions concern the experience specific to Airbnb that would lead to surprisingly positive experiences of an Airbnb stay itself, such as accessing local wisdom from and socially interacting with Airbnb hosts (Week 2012). The last set of two propositions relate to evaluating the experience of an Airbnb stay. The first proposition is specific to an Airbnb stay in that the previous reviews may increase the chance of the anchoring bias taking effect in the review and rating process. Whereas, the second proposition suggests the lack of anonymity (Lapidot-Lefler and Barak, 2012) as a reviewer influences guests to rate an Airbnb accommodation more positively. These six propositions are presented collectively in the form of a reported satisfaction advantage conceptual model for reference by academics and practitioners.