ABSTRACT
This research work investigates the impact of social
networking sites on the hospitality and tourism industries. A social networking
site is a type of social media that provides a platform for people to connect
with each other. Social networking is so versatile that it can be used for both
leisure and business purposes. In the hospitality and tourism industry, social
networking sites are one of the essential tools that play an important and
beneficial role. Content on social networking sites could affect the marketing
in both positive and negative ways. The topic that will be discussed in this
research work are consumer behavior, connection with consumers, effectiveness
in terms of time and cost, creating brand awareness and building the image of
the company, promoting company, targeting consumers, and finally, the
disadvantages.
There are various platforms provided by the social
media networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter to the marketing
of products and services for the hospitality industry. Social network offers
media technologies that can facilitate online functionality and monitoring
perspectives wherein the data gathered can be used to develop their services
for customer satisfaction. The hospitality industry can market themselves in social
media and networking. Hospitality industry can use social media to engage
customers and clients in dialogue and recognize their needs. Through these
networking sites, hospitality industry can interact with consumers before,
during, and after the vacation experience. Social media is relatively new and
the advantages are abundance such as it is affordable, it is viral and has the
potential to spread brand awareness quickly and far and it is said to be able
to develop link baits, attention and massive amounts of traffic. However, it
may not be appropriate for all hotel chains. The purpose of this study is to
evaluate the impact of social media in the hospitality industry.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The rise in popularity of social networking
sites has led social networking to become a global phenomenon. After many
countries gained Internet access, the increase in the use of Internet started
influencing the economy and social life at the beginning of 20th century
(Milano, Baggio & Piattelli, 2011). Later on, in the era of Web 2.0, as
social networking advanced, an increasing number of users on the Internet began
to participate in social networking websites and this has resulted in the
system of social networking to change (Milano, Baggio & Piattelli, 2011;
Seth, 2012).According to Clark and Robert (2010), social networking sites are
now mainly used for “job networking, targeted marketing, and entertainment”.
(p.507).
Social networking is a type of social media; social
networking sites allow Internet users to connect with people and create
information. Social networking sites are originally used for entertainment
purposes however an increase in the use of Internet and information
communication technologies has shifted the way people communicate with each other,
mainly in the hospitality and tourism industries (Assenov & Khurana, 2012;
Clark & Roberts, 2010). For instance, social networking sites like Facebook
allow registered users to interact globally and freely with people who share
the Author: Same interest by uploading photos, sharing posts, chatting,
commenting on the posts and also getting replies, such features allow companies
to get quick feedback from consumers whereas consumers are able to receive
responses immediately. These software and technology features which are
available on social networking sites are also part of the Web 2.0 system (Seth,
2012). “Web 2.0 has also given popularity to user generated content (UGC) where
information is gathered from different online sources all of which collaborate
to form the final source” (Seth, 2012, p. 9). UGC has replaced traditional
marketing in terms of media advertising. The advertisements are often sponsored
posts promoted by people on social networking sites and these online
advertisements appear to be more trustworthy than advertisements from mass
media like televisions, radio, newspaper and magazines (Li & Darban, 2012).
Manap and Adzharudin pointed out that consumers were more likely to be
convinced to buy a product that is recommended by people who had experienced it
(experience good) rather than a search good, the researchers also stated that
it is possible to frequently utilize this strategy in the tourism industry.
(2013)
The change in consumer behavior is majorly affected by
the social networking sites which provide platforms for consumers to connect
with the company and other consumers (Bilgihan, Peng & Kandampully,
2014).The explosive growth of the population of Internet user son social
networking sites has had a huge impact on hospitality and tourism industry
whereby consumers are changing the rule of marketing. In order for a company to
be successful in business, it is necessary for marketers to make decisions
based on consumer needs, changes in society and also the development of
technology. By doing, it not only satisfies consumers but also strengthens the
relationship with customers to ensure they make a comeback. In addition, social
networking sites also help to record the information of consumers so that it is
easy to be obtained whenever needed (Assenov & Khurana, 2012). In addition,
social networking sites also provide social communication services which could
create brand awareness and build a good image for the brand (Bilgihan, Peng
& Kandampully, 2014).
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH
The emergence of Web 2.0, allows one with unlimited
amount of things the individual can do on the internet these days. The
individual is not just restricted to emails or passively absorbing the static
information that is available on the web pages when browsing. It used to be
one-way but now the web is the platform where people can share information,
hold a decent dialogue, build both social and business connections.
Social media has recently been adopted by a small
group of organizations’ integrated marketing plans. There by infusing a mix of
advertisement, public relations, their sales promotion to produce a customer
focused message. With the evolution of platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube, we have the opportunity for exceptional access to the
guest (Lanz, Fischhof, & Lee, 2010). Since social media is so available to
anyone with an internet connection, it should be a platform that can be
recommended to the hospitality industry to increase their brand awareness and
facilitate direct feedback from their customers.
A business that understands the advantage of social
media is well aware that social media is essential in developing new business
in the current competitive and online driven marketplace.
Marketing is an important aspect for any company
involved in business. As such, it is a competitive world out there, and social
media marketing is the ‘new kid in town’ and it can reach out to the people
accessing these social media platform regularly. Communication is essential for
any corporation and business, therefore either they change the way information
is conveyed or be prepared to lose some of the audience. It is imperative for
marketing managers to continuously find a solution to appeal, keep new and
current consumers (Schneider, 2009). Social network is the ideal platform for
communication that applies perfectly with marketing in the virtual world.
Social networks are groups of individuals who prefer to communicate with one
another through a preferred site based on the profile created for themselves
(Laudon and Traver, 2007).
1.2STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM
The hospitality industry tends to be very
customer-centric and also one that prides itself by reaching out to its guests
and providing a personalized experience. In traditional marketing, our lives
are saturated by print media, radio and television. The downside of traditional
marketing is the high cost and it is a one-way communication. Social media
encourages customer engagement, and it being on Web 2.0, promotes two-way
traffic. It allows for a faster response and a low cost investment than is
typically achieved with traditional marketing.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact
of social media networks in the hospitality industry. Social media is
relatively young and the objective for corporations to invest and participate
in social media platform is to offer an alternative mode of communication and
also it helps to cultivate long term relationships with their guests; Such as
promotional campaigns and new information can be pushed through social media
channels.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Currently the hype surrounding social media strategies
for marketing is on the increase, but hotel industry is still trying to cope
and see the advantage from the latest trends on the internet. Social media such
as Facebook and Twitter is growing daily. Challenges faced by hotels is the
‘how to’ engage the consumers and to lead them towards becoming a guest or
share their experience for the hotel within their virtual network. For the past
decades, the Internet has gradually changed to a stage where the search engines
takes control of website traffic .Therefore, businesses that jumped onto the
social media wagon earlier see the pay off , as they have established their
relationships and viral networks (Walsh, 2010).
The research conducted in this manuscript will attempt
to give an insight to the hospitality industry on the effects of social media,
furthermore to establish if social media is effective and recommended, and if
so, provide an insight and proposition for adopting social media as a platform
for marketing purpose.
1.5RESEARCH QUESTION
For the course of this research work the researcher
framed out some research question which shall guide the researcher to carry out
this research work successfully, the research question will be administered to
the respondents and samples of the research question are.
1.Have you ever been able to use the social media
network in reaching out to target customer?
2.Can the social media be a source of advertisement
off you industry to the people?
3.The number of guest turned in how many are from the
source of the social media?
4.Do you have an official web address/website where
commence can be carried out?
5.Apart from the social media, which other means do
your industry use in reaching out to people as a promotional scheme
6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
HOW TO GET THE FULL PROJECT
WORK
PLEASE, print the following
instructions and information if you will like to order/buy our complete written
material(s).
HOW TO RECEIVE PROJECT
MATERIAL(S)
After paying the
appropriate amount into our bank Account below, send the following information
to
08140350866 or 08058580848
(1) Your
project topics
(2)
Email Address
(3)
Payment Name
(4)
Teller Number
We will send your
material(s) immediately we receive bank alert
BANK ACCOUNTS
Account Name: AKINYEMI
OLUWATOSIN
Account Number: 3022179389
Bank: FIRST BANK.
OR
Account Name: AKINYEMI
OLUWATOSIN
Account Number: 2060566256
Bank: UBA.
OR
Account Name: AKINYEMI
OLUWATOSIN
Account Number: 0042695344
Bank: Diamond
HOW TO IDENTIFY SCAM/FRAUD
As a result of fraud in
Nigeria, people don’t believe there are good online businesses in Nigeria.
But on this site, we have
provided “table of content and chapter one” of all our project topics and
materials in order to convince you that we have the complete materials.
Secondly, we have provided
our Bank Account on this site. Our Bank Account contains all information about
the owner of this website. For your own security, all payment should be made in
the bank.
No Fraudulent company uses
Bank Account as a means of payment, because Bank Account contains the overall
information of the owner
CAUTION/WARNING
Please, DO NOT COPY any of
our materials on this website WORD-TO-WORD. These materials are to assist,
direct you during your project. Study the materials carefully and use the
information in them to develop your own new copy. Copying these materials
word-to-word is CHEATING/ ILLEGAL because it affects Educational standard, and
we will not be held responsible for it. If you must copy word-to-word please do
not order/buy.
That you ordered this
material shows you have agreed not to copy word-to-word.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL:
08058580848, 08140350866
YOU CAN ALSO VISIT:
www.achieverprojectmaterial.com
www.acheiversprojectmaterials.com
www.achieversprojectmaterials.com
www.naijasplash.com
www.achieversprojectmaterials.blogspot.com
www.achieverprojectmaterial.blogspot.com
www.acheiversprojectmaterials.blogspot.com
www.archieverprojectmaterials.blogspot.com
www.acheiversprojectmaterials.blogspot.com.ng
www.archieverprojectmaterials.blogspot.com.ng
www.achieversprojectmaterials.blogspot.com.ng
www.achieverprojectmaterial.blogspot.com.ng
www.achieverprojectmaterial.wordpress.com
www.achieversprojectmaterials.wordpress.com
www.acheiversprojectmaterials.wordpress.com
www.archieverprojectmaterials.wordpress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment