Legitimizing the Disruptor: Investor-Driven Competitor Recognition of Short-Term Leases Among Hotel Chains

Firms rarely redraw their competitive maps without pressure from the environments that surround them. Guided by institutional theory, this study introduces capital‑market actors as field‑level forces that reshape competitor recognition in the lodging industry. A multi‑firm event study traces cumulative abnormal returns around 51 pivotal Airbnb announcements before system-wide legitimation, while natural‑language processing quantifies Airbnb‑related questions in 785 quarterly earnings‑call transcripts. Ordered‑logit models and distribution free trend tests show that (a) negative stock‑market reactions to Airbnb milestones and (b) heightened analyst scrutiny are associated with a greater likelihood and strength of a hotel firm’s explicit acknowledgment of Airbnb in its Form 10‑K filings and strategic moves. However, these associations are not measurably weakened by a firm’s resource similarity to Airbnb, consistent with the field level reach of capital market pressures.