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
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