Social Media Marketing Lessons from Hospitality

Social Media Marketing Strategy:
Lessons from the Hospitality Industry

By Ani Nacheva
ID: NAC09289899

BSc Business Management
University of Roehampton London
Business School
2012
i

Acknowledgements

I would like to provide many thanks to all participants in the online survey for

their time and collaboration. I would also like to thank Dr Guy Bohane for his

supervision and valuable advice and support.

ii

Abstract

Social media technology phenomenon has become an integral part of the modern society,
widely used by both general public and business enterprises. Social media are gaining
popularity as an efficient and cost-effective marketing strategic tool. However, social media’s
business integration is found to be at a very early stage, and the majority of the organisations
do not fully understand the power and business potential of the social web. The aim of this
research is to explore the application of social web as a marketing medium, especially in the
hospitality and tourism industry, and the relationship between social media and online
consumer behaviour. The research is explanatory, descriptive and quantitative in nature. It
uses comparative content analysis of three national and international hospitality
organisations, and an online survey to examine the adoption and potential of social media
marketing strategies, and the influence of social media on consumer behaviours and purchase
intentions. The study also develops a best practices framework for other organisations in the
sector to learn from. The results of the research distinguished two main social media
strategies adopted by hospitality organisations: marketing and/or customer service strategies.
In addition, it became clear that the social web provides businesses with key opportunities to
reach and engage with large number of customers, to create relationships, build brand
personality and identity, and to improve customer loyalty and market reputation. Finally, the
study revealed that there is a positive relationship between social media and consumer
behaviour, and that the social web can influence purchase intentions and decisions,
particularly during travel search process. However, the level of the social media’s influence
significantly depends on variety of factors including the reliability, usefulness, entertaining,
and interactivity degree of the media. In conclusion, the research argues that enterprises, and
particularly hospitality organisations, should not ignore the increasing popularity of social
media, their potential as a marketing tool, and their effect on consumer behaviours and
purchase intentions. However, social media should not be employed as an independent
marketing strategy, but in combination with traditional marketing communications and
practices.

Keywords: Social Media; Web 2.0; Social Media Marketing; Online Consumer Behaviour;
Tourism & Hospitality

iii

Contents

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. ii

Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iii

Contents ................................................................................................................................................. iv

List of tables: ......................................................................................................................................... vi

List of figures: ....................................................................................................................................... vi

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1

Research objectives & hypothesis .................................................................................................... 2

2. Literature review .......................................................................................................................... 3

2.1 Definitions of social media or social web............................................................................. 3

2.2 Social media business integration & importance ............................................................... 4

2.1.1 The relationship between social web and marketing ................................................. 4

2.1.2 Social web marketing business potential & importance ............................................ 5

2.1.3 Travel 2.0: social web marketing in the context of the hotel industry .................... 5

2.1.4 Social web marketing business integration & benefits: real world evidence........... 7

2.3. The relationship between consumer behaviour & Web 2.0. Factors affecting consumer
perception of social media. ............................................................................................................... 9

2.3.1. The influence of social media on online consumer behaviour. .................................. 9

2.3.2. The influence of Web 2.0 on travel behaviour .......................................................... 11

2.4. Summary.............................................................................................................................. 12

3. Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 14

3.1. Research Method ................................................................................................................ 14

3.2. Sample .................................................................................................................................. 16

3.3. Data Collection .................................................................................................................... 16

3.4. Pre-testing and Pilot Survey............................................................................................... 18

4. Findings........................................................................................................................................ 19

4.1. Phase one: comparative content analysis .......................................................................... 19

4.1.1. Organisation profile .................................................................................................... 19

4.1.2. Organisations’ social web presence ........................................................................... 19

iv

4.1.3. Social media strategies applied by the examined organisations ............................. 20

4.2. Phase two: online survey .................................................................................................... 26

4.2.1. Respondent profile ...................................................................................................... 26

4.2.2. Use of social media ...................................................................................................... 28

4.2.3. Reasons to use social media ........................................................................................ 28

4.2.4. Types of travel information obtained from social media......................................... 29

4.2.5. Social websites visited during travel search.............................................................. 30

4.2.6. Effect of social media on travel decision-making ..................................................... 31

4.2.7. Perceived reliability of social media .......................................................................... 34

4.2.8. Attitudes towards social media .................................................................................. 35

5. Discussion..................................................................................................................................... 37

5.1. Social media strategies ........................................................................................................ 37

5.2. Business opportunities that social media offers................................................................ 39

5.3 The relationship between consumer behaviour & social media ..................................... 40

5.3.1 Awareness and usage of social media ........................................................................ 40

5.3.2 Factors affecting social media usage and perception ............................................... 40

5.3.3 Use of social media during travel planning process ................................................. 41

5.3.4 Social media’s effect on consumer travel behaviour ................................................ 42

6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 43

7. Best practice strategic framework and industry implications ................................................ 45

Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... 46

Appendix 1: Online Survey .................................................................................................................. 50

Appendix 2: Comparative Content Analysis ....................................................................................... 56

Appendix 3: Survey Results ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

v

List of tables:

Table 1: Research methods used for the implementation of the project according to the
defined research objectives…………………………………………………………………..15
Table 2: Categories’ list for the content analysis…………………………………………...17
Table 3: Data collection process’s details…………………………………………………..18
Table 4: Average daily and total number of posts/tweets/uploads in March 2012………..20
Table 5: Number of Tweets in different interactive categories, March 2012……………...24
Table 6: Number of FB posts in different interactive categories, March 2012……………24
Table 7: Demographic profile of respondents………………………………………………27
Table 8: Reasons to visit the social web during travel search……………………………...30
Table 9: Social websites visited during trip-planning process……………………………..30
Table 10: Stages of journey planning when using social media…………………………...33
Table 11: Reliability level of specific travel social media…………………………………..34
Table 12: Level of reliability of travel information sources………………………………..35
Table 13: Attitudes toward social web and user-generated content………….………….…36

List of figures:

Figure 1: Booz&Co/Buddy Media “Campaigns to Capabilities Social Media & Marketing
2011”, Benefits of Social Media Results……………………………………………………..8
Figure 2: Gains expected from social media, Hotel Social Media Monitor (2011)….…..…9
Figure 3: Percentage of active travellers who have confidence in destination and travel
service supplier information, YPartnership 2010………………………………..…………12
Figure 4: Combined frequency of FB & Twitter posts, March 2012………………….…...21
Figure 5: Percentages of organisations’ total tweets in each content group,
March 2012………………….……………………………………………………………….22
Figure 6: Percentages of organisations’ total FB posts in each content group,
March 2012…………………………………………………………………………………..22
Figure 7: Use of social media (in percentages (%))………………………………….……..28
Figure 8: User-generated content's effect on travel planning decisions…………………..32
Figure 9: Influence of consumer-generated content on final travel plans
(in percentage %)…………………………………………………………………………….33

vi

1. Introduction

As a result of the increasing popularity and diffusion of social media among the world
Internet population (around 30% of the world population), more and more world executives
have started integrating social media into their business strategies across a range of functional
areas, including sales & marketing, customer service, research & development, etc.
(internetworldstats.com). Allowing two-way communication, interaction, and creation and
exchange of user-generated content (UGC), the social web has completely changed the world
marketing landscape by revealing some significant opportunities for word of mouth and viral
marketing (Tuten, 2008).

The tourism and hospitality industry is not an exception and hence a growing number of hotel
professionals and researchers have acknowledged the importance of Web 2.0 for the sector
and the potential benefits that it provides (Gretzel et al., 2000; Hjalager, 2010; Ruzic & Bilos,
2010; Schegg et al., 2008). For instance, given the information-based, intangible nature of the
hospitality products, according to Rogl (2007), social media is already having a substantial
impact on the industry, reducing the knowledge advantage of tourism intermediaries and
principals (Papathanassis & Knolle, 2011, p216).

Therefore, a clear understanding of how social media works, and how consumers use and
perceive this type of media is essential for businesses’ successful future growth and
development. That is why, the following study focused on social media’s business integration
as a marketing tool, particularly in the hospitality and tourism sector, and the relationship
between social web and online consumer behaviour, executing both primary and secondary
research methods.

The report begins with a review of the social web phenomenon, and then explores in details
the social media’s business integration and importance. Afterwards, existing research
examining social media’s effect on consumer behaviour, and especially on travel behaviour,
was also critically discussed.

The next section of the report represents the findings of two-phase research. The first stage of
the study included a comparative content analysis of three hospitality organisations, which
aims to identify the social web strategies they have employed. The second stage involved an
online survey of about 80 hotel customers attempting to evaluate consumers’ use and

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perception of social media, and the social web’s influence on consumer behaviour and
purchase intentions during travel search process.

The report concludes with an in-depth discussion and analysis of the obtained results, and the
introduction of best practices strategic framework.

Research objectives & hypothesis
Finally, the research objectives and hypothesis are as follow:

Descriptive Objectives

RO1: To explore how small and medium hotel businesses apply social web to market their
organisations.

RO2: To explore to what extent social media is being used by consumers and its influence on
online consumer behaviour, particularly focusing on travel behaviour.

Explanatory Objectives

RO3: To identify the business opportunities that social media provides.

RO4: To identify the factors that determine consumers’ use and perception of social media.

 H1: There is a positive correlation between age and use of social media.
 H2: There is a positive relationship between gender and use of social media.
 H3: Employment status will positively affect use of social media.

Developmental Objectives

RO5: To develop and propose a strategic framework of best practices, industry organisations to
learn from.

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2. Literature review

The aim of this section is to build a theoretical framework for the research problem. The
section describes and critically discusses relevant literature and research on social media,
particularly focusing on the social media’s business integration as a tourism marketing tool,
and its effect on consumer behaviour.

2.1 Definitions of social media or social web
The definition of the terminology ‘social media’ can be formulated from the two words that
compose it. On the one hand, social refers to the interaction of individuals within a group or
community, and the exchange of communication. Media, on the other hand, refers to those
instruments and channels that are used for the realisation of this connection. Hence, social
media generally refers to the communication platforms that are result of the interaction
between individuals by means of particular technological tool (Neti, 2011, p2).

Instead of social media, Weber (2009) uses the term social web and he characterises it as ‘the
online place where people with a common interest can gather to share thoughts, comments,
and opinions’ (Weber, 2009, p4). Therefore, social media or web can be simply defined as
networking or ‘the use of the Internet’s capabilities to expand creativity and communication’
(Vickery & Wunsch-Vincent, 2007, p17). It represents all those online applications, such as
Reputation aggregators in terms of search engines that aggregate sites with the best product
or service, including Google, Yahoo!, Ask, as well as customer review portals such as
TripAdviser; online personal or corporate journals known as Blogs and the microblogging
site Twitter; Topic - specific e – communities; and Social networks such as Flickr, Facebook
and Youtube (Weber, 2009, p4-5).

Another definition of social web is related to the concept of User Generated Contents (UGC),
which represent ‘a variety of new and emerging sources of online information that are
created, initiated, circulated, and used by consumers with the intent of educating each other
about products, brands, services and issues’ (Xiang & Gretzel, 2010, p10). In result, bearing
in mind that more and more consumers have started adapting and embracing this ‘collective
intelligence’ on the web, the execution and perception of many businesses’ traditional
marketing practices, especially in the information-intense tourism sector, have become more
challenging than ever (Xiang & Gretzel, 2010, p10).

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2.2 Social media business integration & importance

2.1.1 The relationship between social web and marketing
One of the most common understandings of the term marketing is that it means selling. Very
often marketing is associated with practices such as advertising and promotions, but they are
only two of the many marketing functions (Thackeray et al., 2008, p338). According to one
of the most influential writers in the marketing field, Philip Kotler (1999), marketing should
be understood in the sense of satisfying customer needs (Kotler et al., 1999). Peter Drucker,
pioneer in the management literature, also suggests that ‘the aim of the marketing is to make
selling superfluous. The aim is to know and understand the customer so well that the product
or service fits…and sells itself’ (Drucker, 1971, pp 64-65).

Over the last two decades, the relationship between companies and customers has changed
drastically. According to Assaad & Gomez (2011) customers have become more engaged
with the business, obtaining greater control over and through the marketing communication
of the organisation and its products, or services. They also argue that, since customers are the
base of every business, social web provides a great opportunity to develop a closer and
valuable relationship with customers. Thus, in order to remain competitive in the new market
environment, businesses should respond to this change properly (Assaad & Gomez, 2011,
p18-19). Furthermore, Weber (2009) suggests that, nowadays, ‘rather than talking at
customers, marketers should talk with them. And the social web is the most effective way in
the history of the world to do just that on a large scale’ (Weber, 2009, pp 4-24). Hence,
although traditional media marketing instruments (TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, etc.)
are still recognised as the most effective promotional tools, Internet based applications (Web
2.0) have significantly increased their importance and potential in the modern commercial
world (Drury, 2007, p274).

Therefore, social web can be considered as a strategic medium for the implementation of
fundamental marketing activities on the Internet as a complement to the traditional marketing
tools. According to Wilson (2010), for example, social web marketing can be simply defined
as a popular marketing promotional activity through which a company targets customers or
prospects by using social web applications in order to increase sales, brand loyalty, or achieve
other business objectives (Wilson, 2010, p5).

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2.1.2 Social web marketing business potential & importance
Social web marketing provides various opportunities for businesses’ growth and development
through strengthening and expanding relationships with customers. Gotta & O’Kelly (2007)
suggest that creating social community networks about products or services is an implied
business strategy to build brand loyalty by facilitating viral marketing, and communication
through emergent customer reviews and recommendations. Hence, these communities can
further stimulate an organisation’s research and development (R&D) process. Moreover,
social web communities can attract new potential customers and contribute to a company’s
market and competitive intelligence (Gotta & O’Kelly, 2007, p17).

Therefore, to be more specific, social media marketing provides a wide range of potential
branding prospects. Besides building brand awareness and loyalty, social web presence can
facilitate examining consumer behaviour, drive traffic to corporate Web sites, create
customer databases, spread specific messages virally, increase sales, brand credibility and
trust, etc. All these, on the other hand, will contribute to an organisation’s brand reputation
and market image enhancement (Tuten, 2008, p25-26).

2.1.3 Travel 2.0: social web marketing in the context of the hotel industry
The number of world travellers using social media is considerably increasing. In the U.S., for
example, according to the US Mandala Research’s latest report (2010) around 53% of the 152
million adult leisure travellers (about 79 million people) already actively use social media
platforms and tools (cited by ITB Berlin, 2010, p19). Similarly, another research in the field,
the 2010 Portrait of American Traveller by YPartnership, demonstrates that 46% of the US
active travellers are registered in at least one social media website (YPartnership & Harrson
Group, 2010). Moreover, Laura Mandala, managing director of US-based Mandala Research,
reveals that ‘about 41% of US online leisure travellers have become ‘travel social fans’
(TSFs), signing up as followers of travel suppliers on the social web’ (cited by ITB Berlin,
2010, p19). Thus, this online social active population is found to be an appealing customer
segment generating $102.9bn for the domestic US tourism sector compared to $69.5bn,
originated from non-social media users (cited by ITB Berlin, 2010, p19).

Furthermore, Coutras et al. (2011) suggest that social media phenomenon has profoundly
transformed the technological and communication perspectives of the hospitality industry
(Coutras et al., 2011). Sigala (2010) argues that since information is the principal driver of
the tourism industry, the wide popularity and application of social web technologies proved
to have a significant impact on both tourism supply and demand (Sigala, 2010, p607). As an

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illustration, according to Coutras et al., due to the emergence of the Web 2.0 applications that
enable freely broadcasting of content, user-generated content (UGC) and social networking,
the information is no longer presented by the tourism organisation, and the customer is in
control of information creation and transmission. Moreover, static information, such as
photos or text, are no longer ample for the client to make a decision and because there is a
plenty of information regarding different hotels on the Web, the guest is aiming to save time
and to obtain credible information by observing feedback from previous visitors (Coutras, et
al., 2011, p332-334). Hence, given the intangible nature of hotel products and services, UGCs
and e-word of mouth (eWOM) are recognised to be a major influence on online travel
consumer behaviour (Cox et al. 2007; O’Connor, 2008; Schegg et al., 2008). In this direction,
notwithstanding Frommer’s (2007) scepticism about UGC’s impact on travel decision-
making, recent studies conducted in the UK, Austria and Germany clearly demonstrate that
consumers perceive social interactive review-sites as more credible than professional guides
and travel agencies (Akehurst, 2009, p55).

Sigala (2010) further emphasises the fact that tripadvisor.com (a customer review portal) is
recognised as a major travel channel. Moreover, social networks such as facebook.com are
among the most frequently used media tools for promoting and developing the services of a
variety of destinations and tourism suppliers, as well as, for allowing travellers to interact
and, thus, obtain support and trip advice from each other. Content social networks, including
youtube.com and flickr.com, on the other hand, have become major media channel for
propaganda and trialling of tourism marketing campaigns, as well as receiving regular
customers’ feedback (Sigala, 2010, p607).

Finally, following the analysis above and the main advantages of the social web technologies
discussed in the beginning of the section, it is evident that social media business integration
can deliver some crucial benefits for hotel’s marketing and promotion, including increased
brand loyalty, information and credibility, relationship building, cost effectiveness and
monitoring.

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2.1.4 Social web marketing business integration & benefits: real world evidence
During the last couple of years, Web 2.0 has significantly increased its popularity among
businesses. More and more enterprises have started integrating social media into their
marketing strategies. As an illustration, according to the latest Web 2.0 survey conducted by
McKensey&Co, in 2010, the usage of social media among businesses and professionals from
different industries and sectors is considerably growing. The survey shows that the number of
companies using social networking and corporate blogs, for example, has increased by 40%
and 38%, respectively. Among the most commonly used social networks by businesses are
Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. Moreover, the research also demonstrates that about two-
thirds of the companies that have integrated Web 2.0 into their business strategy will increase
their future investments in these technologies, as compared to just half in 2009 (Buchin &
Chui, 2010, p3). Consequently, nowadays, about 84% of the total fortunate global 100
companies are using at least one of the most popular social media platforms for marketing
(Burson-Marsteller, 2011, p4).

In addition, McKinsey&Co’s Web 2.0 Annual Survey (2010) found that almost nine out of
ten companies that have adopted the social web are receiving at least one measurable
business benefit as a result of Web 2.0 application. These benefits varied from increased sales
to faster access to knowledge (Buchin & Chui, 2010, p3).

More importantly, McKinsey&Co’s survey found that there is a positive correlation between
the usage of social web and two key performance business indicators: market share gains and
operating profits. The survey demonstrates that companies, which are broad users of Web 2.0
technologies, have reported improved market shares. It also suggests that widely networked
and Web-integrated organisations are more efficient and better at operating outside resources
to increase productivity and to develop more valuable products and services, and, therefore,
higher profits. In general, 27% of the companies that participated in McKinsey&Co’s survey
demonstrated both higher profit margins and increased market share, as compared to their
industry rivals (Buchin & Chui, 2010, p8).

The results of Booz&Co and Buddy Media’s (2011) latest survey are also very similar to
those obtained by McKinsey&Co. They found that brand building, interactivity, buzz
building and consumer insights are the most frequently achieved benefits from social media’s
integration by the organisations. Moreover, companies acknowledged that social media
delivers substantial marketing value that is essential for the successful business development.
Notwithstanding sales generation is at the bottom of the social media’s benefits rating list,

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about half of the respondents have indicated it as a key benefit of social media’s engagement
(Vollmer & Premo, 2011) (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: Booz&Co/Buddy Media “Campaigns to Capabilities Social Media & Marketing
2011”, Benefits of Social Media Results

Source: Vollmer &Premo, 2011, Campaigns to Capabilities: Social Media & Marketing 2011, Booz&Co&
Buddy Media, available at: http://www.booz.com/media/file/BoozCo-Campaigns-to-Capabilities-Social-Media-
and-Marketing-2011.pdf

In terms of travel industry, in particular, likewise the general business social media surveys,
the Hotel Social Media Monitor (2011) have demonstrated that there is an increasing
adoption of social media in the sector with over 80% of the hotels using social web
applications as part of their business strategy. Among the most cited expected results of
applying social media strategy by hospitality executives are also found to be: increased brand
awareness, sales, bookings generations and feedback generation, and customer engagement
(Design & Rate Gain, 2011, p13) (See Figure 2). Finally, the latest TripAdvisor 2012
Industry Index, the world largest travel website, demonstrates that about 50% of the global
accommodation suppliers are planning to increase their social media marketing budget in
2012 (TripAdvisor, ir.tripadvisor.com).

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Figure 2: Gains expected from social media, Hotel Social Media
Monitor (2011)

Source: Design & Rate Gain, (2011). The Hotel Social Media Monitor, Revenue
by Design & Rate Gain

However, although many industry studies provide substantial evidence about social media’s
increased popularity and adoption in the hospitality sector, numbers of studies argue that
most small and medium sized tourism organisations do not fully understand the social web
and its business potential (Kothari & Fesenmaier, 2007; Sigala et al., 2001 cited by Lee &
Wicks, 2010, p40). They do not have the knowledge how they can integrate the social media
into their strategies, and use it to their advantage. Hence, this lack of knowledge very often
results in using social media practices improperly and in a poor manner, which, on the other
hand, may be considerably harmful to the whole business (Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2012, p4).

2.3. The relationship between consumer behaviour & Web 2.0. Factors
affecting consumer perception of social media.
How consumers interact with social media and online consumer behaviour became
fundamental to marketers and professionals. Consumer perception and response determine
the effectiveness and results of any successful marketing strategy and campaign. That is why
a review and understanding of e-consumer behaviour is essential for this research.

2.3.1. The influence of social media on online consumer behaviour.
The influence of social media and user-generated content platforms and sites on e-consumers
behaviour and purchase intention is found to be very controversial area of research.
According to a survey conducted by Booz&Co (2007) approximately 50% of web 2.0 online
users worldwide are considering purchasing recommendations provided from friends or
acquaintances on the web during their buying decision-making process, and about 40% are

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even willing to accept and use recommendations on products or services from unknown users
(Eikelmann et al., 2007, p7). A US-based research implemented by DEI Worldwide (2008)
demonstrated that seven out of ten (70%) consumers used social web sites and platforms such
as message boards, social networking sites, and blogs to obtain information, and about 50%
of them reported their purchase decision was influenced by the gathered information (DEI
Worldwide, 2008, p4). Hence, the impact these sites have on the consumer’s actual purchase
decision is unambiguous. Furthermore, there is sufficient market data, which prove that
‘brands that exploit the two way communication opportunities presented by Web 2.0 will
succeed above those who continue to rely solely on traditional forms of one-way marketing
communications’ (Cox et al., 2008, p5).

In addition to market insights, there are several traditional theories and models that also
attempt to explain online consumer behaviour and attitudes, which have been successfully
integrated in the context of the new mass media during the last decade: the Theory of
Reasoned Action (TRA), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the Uses and
Gratifications Theory (UGT), the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Elaboration
Likelihood Model (ELM) (Kim et al. 2010; Taylor & Strutton 2008; Lee et al. 2006;
Morosana & Jeongh 2008). They have demonstrated that online consumer behavioural and
purchase intention are predominantly determined by variety of social and personal
motivational dimensions and psychological variables, including entertainment,
informativeness, irritation, trust, perceived risk, as well as usefulness and ease of use of the
Web application (Kim et al. 2010; Taylor & Strutton 2008; Lee et al. 2006; Morosan & Jeong
2008; Huang, 2008). Moreover, Cox et al. (2008) suggest that the level of trust in the
consumer content, provided on social websites, is one of the key determinants of social
media’s effectiveness and influence on consumer behaviour. Wasserman (2006) clearly
indicates that according to a survey executed by Jupiter Research, only 21% of consumers
investigated actually trusted information distributed about products or services on social
networking sites. People considered as more credible the information provided by other
sources such as corporate web sites (Wasserman, 2006, p10).

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2.3.2. The influence of Web 2.0 on travel behaviour
The impact of social media on traveller’s purchase intention and consumer behaviour is
clearly identified in a number of market and academic studies. For instance, according to a
research conducted by Compete Inc. (2007), one in three travel consumers who access social
media information online agreed that the information influenced their final purchase decision.
ComScore (2007), on the other hand, noticed that 84 % of travel review users reported that
consumer-generated content on social media substantially affected their purchasing decisions.
Gretzel and Yoo (2008) and Xiang and Gretzel’s (2010) investigations also emphasised the
increasing importance of social media on the travel consumer’s decision-making process and
purchase intention (cited by Fuchs, Ricci, Cantoni, 2012, p2). Thus, considering social
media’s significance, Cox et al. (2009) even suggest that its effect on travel purchases and
behaviour is similar in extent to the influence that traditional forms of travel sites and
platforms may have (Cox et al., 2009).

Notwithstanding some studies argue that social web and consumer review sites are
recognised as a more credible and reliable source of travel information than the traditional
ones, trust remains one of the most important and debatable factors influencing the
customer’s ultimate selection and buying decision (Gretzel, 2006; Eyefortravel, 2007). The
main issue regarding the social media’s usage and effectiveness during travel planning
process is related to the extent to which the social web content is actually objective and hence
trustworthy. For instance, according to Mandala 2010 Research’s findings only 20% of the
US social media users rely on social websites for leisure and travel advice, and traditional
travel information channels, including friends and family, brochures and different media, are
considered much more trustworthy than social media and social networks, in particular (cited
by ITB Berlin, 2010, p19). (See Figure 7) Burgess et al. (2009) suggest that travellers’ main
concerns about the social media’s content credibility are due to the potential for ‘fake’
information to be posted by professional organisations pretending to be independent
reviewers and users (Burgess et al., 2009, p224). Moreover, as noted by Senecal and Nantel
(2004), the majority of consumers are found to be suspicious about any type of information
on the web that is perceived to be misrepresented in order to fulfil the interests of
information-generator (Senecal & Nantel, 2004, p168). Finally, besides level of trust and
credibility, there are some other key factors that determine social media consumer perception
and influence purchase consumer behaviour, including: functional, psychological and
hedonic, and social motivational dimensions, such as entertainment and informativeness, as

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well as environment conditions, and availability of technology (Gretzel, 2007; Lin and
Huang, 2006; Parra-López et al., 2011).

Figure 3: Percentage of active travellers who have confidence in destination and travel
service supplier information, YPartnership 2010

Source: Ypartnership 2010 Portrait of American Traveller, available at:
http://www.nationalparksonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Y-Partnership-Portrait-of-American-
Travelers-Highlights.pdf

2.4. Summary
The purpose of this chapter was to review and summarise the relevant literature in the sphere
of social media and social web marketing in particular, in order to provide a comprehensive
theoretical framework and conceptual background into the research topic. In result, it became
clear that social media has completely changed the marketing landscape, revealing some
significant opportunities for both practitioners and consumers. Although it is a relatively new
subject to study there is a substantial body of academic research examining social media’s
business adoption and practical application that prove its effectiveness and versatility in the
real world.

In conclusion, the social web’s main advantage, namely enabling two-way communication
and consumer interaction, plays arguably a crucial role in the modern marketing practice,
especially in the hospitality industry where access and availability of information are
recognised as the lifeblood of the sector. Thus, a clear understanding of the social media’s
function and capacity is found to be essential to online marketing, and particularly to tourism
hospitality marketing. However, little research has been conducted to explore how hospitality

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organisations are integrating social media to their advantage, namely to effectively market
their services and products and communicate with potential customers. Therefore, there is a
large gap in the existing literature in terms of research exploring the adoption of social media
by tourism and hospitality organisations, and the business nature of social media platforms
itself. Finally, an understanding of why and how customers are using and responding to social
media is also vital to organisations’ successful online marketing.

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3. Methodology

The following section presents a detailed explanation of the methodology used in this
research.

3.1. Research Method
The main study objectives are to examine the integration of social web as a new marketing
tool, to explore the business opportunities that it provides, and to study to what extent social
media are being used by consumers and their influence on e-consumer behaviour, focusing on
small hotel business. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the problem, exploratory and
descriptive research will be accomplished, including analysis of primary and secondary data
and using both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. The qualitative
approach involved critical analysis of existing academic literature and theory, exploring
social media marketing.

In contrast, the quantitative approach involved survey strategy and comparative content
analysis. Because of the large amount of data required for the execution of the research, a
survey was found to be one of the most appropriate methods of investigation. The main
advantages of the survey strategy are that it is comparatively easy to explain and understand
and that it provides more control over the research process in comparison to other research
strategies (Saunders et al., 2009, p144). In addition, a comparative analysis method was used
because it allows the identification of similarities and differences through deep explanation of
experiences and practices (Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2012, p4). Content analysis, on the other
hand, is one of the most commonly used techniques in communication research (Hambrick et
al., 2010) since ‘the pursuit of content analysis is fundamentally empirical in orientation,
exploratory, concerned with real phenomena, and predictive in intent’ (Krippendorf, 1980
cited by Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2012, p4). This approach was also successfully applied in a
large number of tourism-related communication studies (Cox et al., 2008; Munar, 2011;
Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2012; Choi, Lehto & Morrison, 2007). That is why comparative
content analysis and survey were chosen as principal research methods for this project.

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Table 1: Research methods used for the implementation of the project according to the
defined research objectives.

Research Objective Qualitative Approach Quantitative Approach

RO1 To explore how small and medium Secondary research of Survey Questionnaire
hotel businesses apply social web to academic literature

market their organisations.

RO2 To explore to what extent social media - Survey Questionnaire
is being used by consumers and its
influence on online consumer
behaviour, particularly focusing on
travel behaviour.

RO3 To identify the business opportunities Secondary research of Comparative content
that social media provides. academic literature analysis

RO4 To identify the factors that determine Secondary research of Survey Questionnaire
consumers’ use and perception of social academic literature

media.

RO5: To develop and propose a strategic Secondary research of Survey Questionnaire
framework of best practices, industry academic literature Comparative content
organisations to learn from. analysis

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3.2. Sample
The survey sample includes Abcone hotel’s existing customers. An existing sampling frame
of the hotel’s guest history records (including guests’ personal data) was used and therefore
probability sampling approach was applied. The main advantage of the probability sampling
is the impartial selection and its objectivism (Sarandal et al, 2003, p9).

According to Stutely (2003) and many statisticians the minimum required sample size to
obtain a sampling distribution for the mean closed to the normal distribution should be 30
(cited by Saunders et al., 2009, p218). That is why for the implementation of the research the
target sample size was 350. Due to the availability of the existing sampling frame, a simple
random sampling technique was applied. Hence, all the population was organised
alphabetically and each member was assigned an individual unique number, and according to
these numbers the samples were selected using MS Excel program.

Finally, considering the limited time frame for the study, the comparative content analysis
sample is composed by three top hotel organisations that are already employing social web
marketing strategies. In order for the investigation to be more objective, the sample also
includes both national and international companies.

3.3. Data Collection
The data needed for the implementation of the qualitative research was gathered by analysis
of existing academic literature and theories in the field. On the other hand, the data needed
for the quantitative comparative research was collected through content analysis of the
examined organisations’ presence on the social web particularly focusing on four of the most
popular social web platforms, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blogs. The content analysis
involved categorisation and analysis of the organisations’ social web content that was
implemented in March to April 2012. Based on one of the most prominent guides in the
sector, the Hospitality eBusiness Strategies Best Practices, and the previously mentioned
academic study executed by Hays, Page & Buhalis (2012) examining social media as
destination marketing tool, a list of relevant categories was created, which is presented in
Table 2.

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Table 2: Categories’ list for the content analysis

Although the content analysis allows an explanation of the way social media has been
integrated by the organisation, it does not particularly determine the strategies applied to this
specific type of integration, and, that is why, the study is complemented by the use of
secondary data gathered from additional public sources regarding the businesses (e.g.
documents and reports).

Finally, for the implementation of the survey research strategy, an appropriate on-line
questionnaire was modified that was based on previous research in the field (Cox et al, 2008).
It contains 14 closed and 2 open questions that examine online consumer behaviour, travel
planning, and purchase intentions and attitudes towards social media marketing (see
Appendix 1). The first couple of questions are background and they focus on determining a
personal profile of the examinee, including general questions about age, gender, occupation,

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etc. The rest of the questions are particularly related to the investigated research problem. The
questionnaire was given to a sample derived from the Abcone hotel’s guest history records by
e-mail. Data was collected over a one-month period, and it was then analysed through
spreadsheet software Microsoft Excel using descriptive statistics (frequency and proportions)
with 95% level of confidence.

Table 3: Data collection process’s details
Who? Abcone hotel’s existing customers, National & International
Hotel Organisations
When? From 22 September 2011 to 21 April 2012
Where? London
How? Questionnaire Survey, Literature & Theory Analysis,
Comparative Content Analysis
How many? 350 existing hotel’s customers, 3 hotel organisations

3.4. Pre-testing and Pilot Survey
Pre-testing is the first stage of the data collection process. In comparison to the main study, it
uses a small sub-sample and its main objective is to assess the effectiveness of the primary
data collection plan (Adams et al., 2007, p87). Therefore, the preliminary questionnaire was
given to a sample of 5 people. After completing the survey, the respondents were
interviewed, and asked to provide a feedback, suggesting improvements. Upon the results of
the pilot survey, the layout of the primary questionnaire was changed. In addition, some of
the primary questions were either reconsidered, or removed.

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4. Findings

In this section the key results of the comparative content analysis and the online survey are
represented.

4.1. Phase one: comparative content analysis

4.1.1. Organisation profile
The sample of the examined hospitality organisations includes Roger Smith Hotel (RSH),
CitizenM Hotel Group, and The May Fair Hotel. Roger Smith Hotel (RSH) is a small
independent family business in New York. In contrast, CitizenM is a small group of boutique
hotels with current presence in Glasgow and Amsterdam, having plans to further expand to
London, New York and Paris. The May Fair Hotel, on the other hand, is a medium luxury
hotel based in central London.

4.1.2. Organisations’ social web presence
The earliest adopter of social media from the organisations’ sample is Roger Smith Hotel. It
established a video-based corporate blog, RogerSmithLife.com, and YouTube channel in
2006. The blog currently contains a collection of 938 videos that are further published in
YouTube. RSH’s YouTube channel has 619,333 views and 480 subscribers. In contrast,
CitizenM and The May Fair created their YouTube accounts in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
Currently, CitizenM’s channel reports 72,079 numbers of views, and only 54 numbers of
subscriptions, as compared to The May Fair’s 289,910 views and 140 subscribers. Interesting
trend is that that the date at which each member registered with YouTube is not directly
related to the number of subscribers and views. In addition, the Facebook and Twitter’s
statistics revealed a similar pattern. Even though the three hotels joined the platforms in the
same year, 2009, at present, there is a significant difference between the numbers of their
Facebook fans and Twitter followers. For example, RSH has 4,036, CitizenM has 9,968, and
The May Fair has 11,346 fans on Facebook, and 12 527, 10 716, and 9,378 followers on
Twitter, respectively (See Appendix 2).

Besides the commonly popular social media platforms, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, the
hotel companies have adopted some other applications and social media approaches. As it has
already been mentioned, RSH is actively blogging through its corporate blog. Likewise, The
May Fair Hotel is also engaged in blogging, updating its followers through
themayfairhotel.co.uk/blog/. In comparison, CitizenM is not managing a corporate blog, but

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instead it is issuing a quarterly digital magazine, citizenMag, which serves the same purpose.
Other social media websites that are used by the hotels are Flickr, Linkedin, Foursquare, and
Vimeo (See Appendix 2).

4.1.3. Social media strategies applied by the examined organisations

4.1.3.1. Activity level and frequency of use
Although all three organisations demonstrate significant presence on the social web and use
various sites, there is a substantial difference between their usage levels of the distinct sites.
Some websites are found to be more actively used than others. For an illustration, the data
gathered from the hotels’ posts clearly shows that Twitter is the most actively used social
media website by all three organisations, followed by Facebook, YouTube and Blogs.

Table 4: Average daily and total number of posts/tweets/uploads in March 2012
FB Twitter YouTube Blog
Organisation Total
Total Average Total Average Total Average
Average Blog
FB Tweets Tweets YouTube YouTube Blog
FB post posts
posts in in in uploads uploads posts in
in March in
March March March in March in March March
March
Roger Smith
1.8 55 5.5 166 0.7 23 0.1 3
Hotel
CitizenM
0.2 7 6.6 197 * * ~ ~
Hotel
The MayFair
0.3 10 3.1 94 0.06 2 0.1 3
Hotel
Combined 2.3 72 15.2 457 0.76 25 0.2 6
*CitizenM Hotel is not involved in publishing original videos, but it is active in recommending other users’
interesting hotel-related and general video content.
~CitizenM Hotel releases a quarterly online magazine.

In order to further examine hotels’ level of engagement with the four leading social media
platforms, the average daily and total number of posts during a one-month time period were
calculated (See Table 4). The combined number of all three organisations’ Tweets in March
was 457, as compared to 72, 25 and 6 posts and uploads on Facebook, YouTube and Blogs,
respectively. Consequently, the hotels’ average numbers of daily posts were: 15.2 on
Twitter, 2.3 on Facebook, 0.76 on YouTube, and 0.2 on Blogs.

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Comparing the hotels’ posting frequency individually, it should also be noted that there is a
significant difference between hotels’ average daily posts on each individual website, which
might be referred to various factors and strategies. According to Table 4, Roger Smith Hotel
is the most active one on Facebook and YouTube. CitizenM, on the other hand, is the most
active user of Twitter, but the most passive one of YouTube. The May Fair hotel
demonstrates decent activity and presence on all four social media sites. Finally, after more
detailed examination of the hotels’ daily social web activity, Figure 4 clearly shows that there
is no specific pattern of how often the organisations post a day. For instance, RSH’s tweets
vary from 2 to 36 per day, and Facebook posts from 1 to 15 (See Appendix 2).

Figure 4: Combined frequency of FB & Twitter posts, March 2012

4.1.3.2. Content characteristics
Besides the frequency of usage and activity level, in attempt to understand hotels’ strategies,
the particular content of each individual post on Facebook and Twitter also was examined.
Each post was coded into one of the categories that have been presented in the Methodology
section. After the data was analysed four main clusters of posts were differentiated: ‘customer
service- related’, ‘promotional’, ‘informative’, and ‘engaging’. ‘Customer service-related’
posts include all those posts that provide some form of customer-related content, such as
support driven or posts responding to any customer issues. The all posts centred on specific
service, event, discounts, etc. were defined as ‘promotional’. ‘Informative’ posts’ cluster
contains the posts that provide any information about new trends, updates, events, reviews,
etc. Finally, a post was characterised as ‘engaging’ if it directly asked a question or required
some form of response. A good example is a post on Facebook by the May Fair Hotel:
FRIDAY FUN! Fill in the blank. My favourite item from the mini bar is _______. Figures 5

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and 6 present the numbers of hotels’ posts and tweets in each individual group as percentages
of their total posts/tweets in March 2012.

Figure 5: Percentages of organisations’ total tweets in each
content group, March 2012

Figure 6: Percentages of organisations’ total FB posts in each
content group, March 2012

According to Figures 5, there is a substantial difference between the percentages of
organisations’ tweets in the distinct content groups. About 66% of CitizenM’s total tweets
were customer service-related, whilst 9% were engaging, and only 6% and 3% were
promotional and informative, respectively. The majority (60%) of the May Fair hotel’s tweets
also were customer service-related, while only 9% were engaging, 6% promotional, and 3%
informative. RSH’s tweets, on the other hand, were predominantly engaging, about 30%.
Similarly to the other three hotels’ results, RGH’s promotional tweets were the fewest ones,
only 4% of the total tweets.

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In addition, analysing the content of organisations’ FB posts, it can be noted that there is a
considerable variance between the numbers of FB posts and the numbers of tweets in each
individual cluster (See Figure 5 and 6). While the highest percentages of hotels’ total tweets
were customer service-related, the majority of the FB posts were defined as promotional,
engaging and informative. For instance, 49% of RSH’s total FB posts were promotional, 18%
engaging and only 4% were found to be customer service-related. The majority (45%) of the
May Fair Hotel’s posts were engaging, 36% were informative, and 18% were promotional.
None of the May Fair Hotel’s FB posts were customer service-related. Likewise, CitizenM’s
customer service related posts were 8%, whilst 31% of its posts were informative, engaging
or promotional. From these results can be concluded that hotels employ Twitter as mainly
customer service-focused platform, and Facebook as more brand image-oriented technology.

Besides the content type of organisations’ posts on Facebook and Twitter, the content of
hotels’ uploads and posts on YouTube and blogs was also analysed and categorised. About
80% of RSH’s videos on YouTube and its corporate blog are reports and reviews of the
company’s distinct initiatives and events, including The Lab:Arts, RS POP, Cookbook, which
are related to art, culture, and urban movements, for example. Interesting fact is that the
videos are not tourism-related and promotional, or brand-oriented. In contrast, the May Fair
hotel’s videos are more image-oriented, presenting reviews and reports of events that have
been hosted at the hotel, interviews with special guests, and ‘how to make’ videos that are
found to be more customer-oriented.

Moreover, analysing hotels’ corporate blogs and blog-type magazines’ content, a pattern of
topics and categories of the posts can be identified. The majority (about 70%) of the content
and stories are not tourism and travel-related, but related to art, lifestyle, culture, fashion, etc.
Comparing the three hotels’ individual publications, the May Fair hotel’s posts distinguish
for more PR and promotional posts.

4.1.3.3. Level and categories of interactivity
Interactivity in this research was defined as a category for use in the content analysis as a post
that includes any form of interactive content such as pictures, videos, and links to other
websites that can be liked, favoured, commented or shared, as well as direct replies to
customers. Hence, Tables 5 and 6 represent the numbers of posts on Twitter and Facebook
for each hotel individually, separated in 4 and 3 distinct clusters, respectively.

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Table 5: Number of Tweets in different interactive categories, March 2012*
Organisation No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of
tweets tweets tweets tweets total
including including including including tweets
replies picture links videos
Roger Smith Hotel 57 36 28 6 166
CitizenM Hotel 151 6 14 - 197
May Fair Hotel 56 6 16 1 94
Combined 264 48 58 7 457
*Interactive tweets are including tweets from different other categories, such as informative,
promoting, etc.

Table 6: Number of FB posts in different interactive categories, March 2012
Organisation No. of No. of No. of No. of total
posts posts posts posts
including including including
picture links videos
Roger Smith Hotel 26 15 7 55
CitizenM Hotel 1 3 - 7
The MayFair Hotel 5 1 - 10
Combined 32 18 7 72
*Interactive tweets are including tweets from different other categories, such
as informative, promoting, etc.

In terms of tweets, about 82% of the total combined tweets in March were defined as
interactive. Moreover, the majority (36%) of the total combined tweets were actually replies
to another user. Analysing the three hotels individually, it can be noticed that 77% of
CitizenM tweets in March were replies to customers and users, and only 10% included
pictures or links to external website. RSH’s replying tweets were 35% of its total tweets,
while 22% included pictures, 17% included link, and 4% included videos. The May Fair
hotel’s tweets, on the other hand, included 60% replying tweets, and 17%, 6%, and 1% tweets
containing links, pictures and videos, respectively.

The interactivity level of hotels’ posts on FB is found to be similar to that on Twitter - 80% of
the total combined FB posts were characterised as interactive. Examining the posts’

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interactivity of each hotel separately, the most interactive hotel on Facebook is found to be
RSH, with 88% of its total posts including picture, videos, or links to external websites.
CitizenM and the May Fair hotel demonstrate relatively lower level of interactivity - about
60% of their posts contained either pictures or external links, whilst none of their tweets
included video.

Finally, the interactivity level of organisations’ corporate blogs and blog-type digital
magazines is found to be high. All three hotels’ posts are characterised by simple but
engaging writing style, combining videos or other types of media.

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4.2. Phase two: online survey
As mentioned in section three, the survey sample was derived from the Abcone hotel’s guest
history records. Abcone is a small, three-star family hotel situated in central London.

By the end of the survey closing date, 89 surveys were completed. Hence, the rate of
response was approximately 23%. However, it should be noticed that not all respondents who
entered the survey responded to all questions, since some of the questions were optional.
Additionally, some of the questions were not asked to all respondents if their previous
responses suggested a question was irrelevant. These points should be taken into
consideration when referring to the total number of responses represented in the distinct
tables and figures in this section. Finally, 7 responses were not entirely completed, and then
the test number of responses for the research was 82.

4.2.1. Respondent profile
The demographic profile of survey respondents is presented in Table 7. This profile was
compared to the profile of the initial sample of 350 Abcone hotel’s customers from which the
survey participants were derived, in order to identify any relevant response trends. In general,
the sample of the respondents is found to be relatively representative excerpt from the total
research sample.

The age range of the surveyed participants comparatively reflects that of the initial research
sample of 350 hotel customers. About 60% of the respondents were between 30-49 years old.
Another 21% were aged over 50 years, and only 16% and 3% were 18-29 years and less than
18 years, respectively. Similarly, the gender profile characterised by higher percentage (67%)
of female respondents is also reflecting the profile of the original sample.

In terms of country of origin, the majority of the respondents were from the UK (23%), which
is in accordance with the overall sample profile, where the UK representatives are the highest
percentage of the whole population. The UK is followed by Italy (17%), Spain (15%), US
(15%) and Australia (10%) as the most often cited places of origin among the survey
participants.

The employment status profile of the respondents was defined by 56% full-time and 15%
part-time employees, 21% retired and 6% students. This category was not compared to the

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research overall sample profile, because the database profile does not provide employment-
related information.

Table 7: Demographic profile of respondents
Sample
Variable Category N Responded (%) (%)
Age Group Less than 18 2 3 0.5
18 to 29 13 16 22
30 to 39 24 28 23.5
40 to 49 26 32 38
50 to older 17 21 16
Total 82 100 100
Gender Female 55 67 61
Male 27 33 39
Total 82 100 100
Country of Origin UK 19 23 17.6
Italy 14 17 12
Spain 12 15 14
USA 12 15 9.5
Australia 8 10 7
Germany 4 5 3.5
France 2 3 5.3
China 2 3 8.2
India 2 3 2.4
Japan 2 3 3.1
Other 5 4 17.4
Total 82 100 100
Employment Full-time employee 46 56 N/A
Part-time employee 12 15 N/A
Seasonal worker 0 0 N/A
Unemployed 0 0 N/A
Retired 17 21 N/A
Student 5 6 N/A
Other 2 2 N/A
Total 82 100 N/A

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4.2.2. Use of social media
The first specific question, directly related to the research problem, had as a purpose to
identify the familiarity of the respondent with some of the most popular social media
platforms. The survey asked participants to indicate whether they have ever used any of the
following social web platforms: social networks (e.g. Facebook, Linkedin), YouTube,
Twitter, Forums, Blogs or customer review portals (e.g TripAdvisor). The results are
presented in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Use of social media (in percentages (%)*)

*this is a multiple question, do not add to 100
Figure 7 clearly demonstrates that social networks are the most commonly used (90%) social
media technologies among the examined population, followed by the video-sharing platform
YouTube (82%) and the specific customer review websites (72%). Another 66% of the
respondents have used the micro-blogging website Twitter, whilst 51% and 43% have used
forums and blogs, respectively. All of the survey participants have used at least one of the
specified social web platforms and were generally familiar with social media.

4.2.3. Reasons to use social media
To determine the reasons for using social media, the survey asked participants to indicate
what the motives behind their choice of using a particular social web platform were. Six main
reasons were identified, namely ‘curiosity’, ‘entertainment’, ‘informativeness’, ‘usefulness’,
‘interaction’, and ‘passing time’. Among these, obtaining information was defined as a major
reason to use social media, indicated by approximately 80% of the total respondents. 71%
pointed out the opportunity to interact and communicate with peers as a reason to engage
with social media. Further 68% of the participants perceive social web as entertaining.
Usefulness, passing time and curiosity were indicated by 56%, 41% and 34% of the sample
population, respectively.
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In addition, to examine whether any demographic factors influence the general use of social
media, a chi-squared hypothesis test with 95% level of significance was also implemented.
The following hypotheses were considered:

H1: There is a positive correlation between age and use of social media.

H2: There is a positive relationship between gender and use of social media.

H3: Employment status will positively affect use of social media.

According to the results from the chi-squared test, there was a relationship between use of
social media and age range, with a significance of p= 0.00029. The very low level of
significance clearly demonstrates that there is sufficient evidence to support the first test
hypothesis (H1) that age positively influences use of social media.

The second research hypothesis (H2), however, was not supported. The significance result
equals p=0.61 and then it is unambiguous that there was no relationship between gender and
use of social web. Hence, the gender factor has no effect on people’s engagement with social
media.

Finally, the third study hypothesis (H3) also was rejected. The significance was estimated at
p=0.12, which clearly reveals that there is no correlation between use of social media and
social status. Therefore, there is no evidence to support the initial assumption that
employment status will positively affect use of social web technologies.

4.2.4. Types of travel information obtained from social media
In order to discover the reasons to visit a particular social web site during trip planning, the
survey participants were asked to specify what type of travel-related information they had
previously searched for on the social web. The results are presented in Table 8.
Approximately 85% of the respondents used social media to gather information about travel
destinations, and only 10% have not used social media for travel purposes at all.

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Table 8: Reasons to visit the social web during travel search
Information about: Responded (%)
Travel Destinations 85
Accommodation 62
Other travel-related services 56
Not have used 10

4.2.5. Social websites visited during travel search
To examine the people’s familiarity with some widely popular travel-related social websites,
the respondents were asked to identify which sites they had already used from a list.
Moreover, they were further asked to define the level of usefulness of the site on a 7-point
scale (where 1 = not at all useful, 7 = very useful) as presented in Table 9.

Table 9: Social websites visited during trip-planning process

Barely useful
Responded *

Quite useful
Very useful

Somewhat

Minor use

Not at all
Not sure
useful

useful
Total

Website
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Trip Advisor 77 22 29 32 6 3 2 6
Expedia 69 21 17 17 25 8 2 6
Yahoo Travel 59 24 20 20 18 5 9 4
Travelocity 50 3 21 26 26 14 7 3
Orbitz 46 4 19 18 15 21 14 9
Virtual Tourist 43 6 3 13 32 9 12 11
Facebook 42 13 10 17 60 10 3 7
YouTube 40 1 3 20 57 3 4 12
TravBuddy 36 6 14 12 33 18 11 6
Travel Up 33 5 23 17 36 8 6 5
IgoUgo 32 8 13 21 31 18 6 3
Epic Trip 27 0 5 4 71 4 12 4
*72 total answers of this question

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It should be noted that 72 of all participants answered this question. Of these, 77% had used
Trip Advisor, which is then the most often used travel social website, followed by Expedia
(69%), Yahoo (59%), Travelocity (50%). The social network Facebook and the video-sharing
platform YouTube were also quite popular, indicated by 42% and 40% number of the
respondents, respectively.

Regarding the degree of usefulness of the distinct social websites, an interesting pattern is
that non-travel specialised social sites, such as Facebook and YouTube were not considered
as useful as the majority of the travel-related sites. For an illustration, YouTube was
recognised as useful by only 24% of participants who had used it, whilst Trip Advisor was
perceived as useful by 83% of users.

Besides the pre-selected list of travel social websites, the questionnaire additionally asked
respondents to self-nominate up to five travel-specialised and non-travel social websites they
had consulted during trip planning process. As a result, 41 participants answered this
question. Surprisingly, the responses included only websites that were not provided in the
pre-selected list. The most commonly cited one was LonelyPlanet (33 entries), followed by
Wotif (27 entries), Google (20 entries), and Hostelworld (13 entries). The rest of the entries
were regional and national websites.

4.2.6. Effect of social media on travel decision-making
Another particular objective of the survey was to identify the influence level of travel 2.0 on
users’ actual travel plans. Therefore, the questionnaire asked respondents to remember back
when they were planning a journey and specify how often the content provided by other users
had any effect on their final travel plans. Figure 8 clearly demonstrates that the majority
(63%) of the respondents stated that their travel decisions had been ‘sometimes’ affected by
user-generated content, 16% reported that the information had been influential ‘mostly’ of the
time, and 20% claimed that it had been effective either ‘about half of the time’ or ‘never’.

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Figure 8: User-generated content's effect on
travel planning decisions

Regarding the effectiveness of social media on travel decision-making, two further questions
were asked:

 How likely are you to make a final decision relating to purchasing a travel product
because of the influence of consumer-generated content?
 How likely are you to completely change your existing travel-related decision because
of the influence of consumer-generated content?

The responses of both questions are provided in Figure 9. According to the figure, 49% of the
total respondents claimed that they would make a final purchase/booking decision as a result
of the impact of consumer-generated content on the web. On the other hand, 30% were
unlikely to make a purchase influenced by information provided by other users. In contrast,
27% of the participants were likely to completely change their final travel decisions due to
the impact of consumer-generated content, as compared to 35% who were unlikely.

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Figure 9: Influence of consumer-generated content on final travel plans
(in percentage %)

Finally, the respondents were asked to indicate at what stage of their trip planning process
they had used social websites. The findings are provided in Table 10. They revealed that the
majority of the population (81%) had used social media when beginning to search for an
accommodation in destination that had already been chosen. Equal percentages (43%) of all
respondents indicated that they had consulted to the social web when trying to narrow down
choice of accommodations or when the accommodation had been chosen and looking for
additional information about it. Only 8% of participants had used social media after their trip
to compare their experiences with those of other consumers.

Table 10: Stages of journey planning when using social media
Responded
Trip Planning Stage (%)
When beginning to search for an accommodation in
destination that has already been chosen 81
When trying to narrow down my choice of
accommodations 43
When I had chosen my accommodation and was looking
for further information about it 43

After my trip to share my experiences with other travellers 27
After my trip to compare my experiences with those of
other travellers 8

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4.2.7. Perceived reliability of social media
In the literature review section, trust was defined as a major factor affecting users’ perception
and use of social media during trip planning. In result, survey participants were asked to
define the reliability level of a specific social media site they had previously used on a 4-
point scale. Table 11 represents the results that align with the results of some other questions
in the research. Trip Advisor, Expedia, and Yahoo Travel are among the most commonly
used sites. Trip Advisor, Expedia, and Yahoo Travel, for example, were perceived with high
level of trustworthiness. An interesting trend is that users recognised the social networks
Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube as less reliable in comparison to the other travel-
specialised social websites in the list.

Table 11: Reliability level of specific travel social media
Total Completely Very Fairly Not
Responded Reliable Reliable reliable reliable
Website (%)* (%) (%) (%) (%)
Expedia 70 37 15 42 6
Trip Advisor 82 32 40 24 4
IgoUgo 28 24 41 26 9
Blogs 47 24 34 29 12
Orbitz 43 21 43 25 9
Virtual Tourist 41 20 42 27 11
Yahoo Travel 55 20 31 44 4
TravBuddy 32 9 59 41 11
Forums 68 18 32 37 13
Travelocity 43 17 26 53 4
Travel Up 25 14 21 59 6
YouTube 41 13 26 51 17
Twitter 34 7 20 42 31
Facebook 46 6 31 48 15
Epic Trip 24 5 25 56 14
My Space 23 3 33 43 21
* 69 respondents of this question

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In addition, to examine the level of reliability of social media compared to other traditional
sources of travel information, such as travel agents, the questionnaire asked respondents to
rate the trustworthiness of distinct information sources on a 4-point scale. According to the
results in Table 12, traditional providers of travel information, tourism websites and travel
agents, were still recognised as the most credible sources, as compared to the new media
ones. Travel agents (96%) are found to be the most reliable source, followed by tourism
websites (92%), commercial operators (88%), forums (82%), review websites (75%), and
social networks (68%). Again social networks were perceived as the least reliable source of
travel information in the list.

Table 12: Level of reliability of travel information sources
Completely Very Fairly Not
Reliable Reliable reliable reliable
Sources (%) (%) (%) (%)
Tourism Websites 19 38 35 8
Travel Agents 13 34 49 4
Review Websites 10 33 32 25
Social Networks 4 25 39 32
Forums 6 27 19 18
Commercial Operators 0 34 53 12

4.2.8. Attitudes towards social media
The final specific question in the survey had for purpose to identify what is the users’
perception of social media in general and tourism context. It asked participants to state
whether they agree or disagree with a list of statements. Table 13 presents the results, and the
main trends are as follow:

 67% of the respondents agreed that they would be more willing to make a purchase
from a company that has a personal relationship with them.
 65% people agreed that they had much better impression of a company that uses
social media and engage with their customers on the web.
 87% of the participants positively perceived organisation that responded to customer
reviews.
 In terms of travel information, majority of the population (62%) preferred consumer
reviews over organisation’s description of itself. However, 58% specified that they

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would only take into account user-generated content that is provided by independent
travellers. Further 52% stated that user-generated content is of real importance for
them.
 In general, about 80% of the survey participants agreed that tourism organisations
should incorporate social media into their business.

Table 13: Attitudes toward social web and user-generated content
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree
I would be more willing to purchase a product/ service
8% 12% 12% 45% 22%
from a company that has a personal relationship with me
I feel organisations should engage with their customers
0% 5% 30% 40% 25%
on social web sites
I have a much better impression of a company that uses
2% 5% 28% 45% 20%
social web for customer service
It is positive when an organisation responds to customer
0% 0% 12% 45% 42%
reviews/user-generated content
I prefer consumer reviews over a hotel’s description of
0% 5% 33% 36% 26%
itself
It is best to rely on organisations' websites for
8% 20% 32% 32% 8%
information when planning a trip
I would only take notice of user-generated content when
it is provided by independent travellers (i.e. with no 0% 8% 34% 45% 13%
involvement from travel operators)
Consumer-generated content has limited importance for
10% 42% 30% 10% 8%
me when I plan my travel
Third party travel sites, such as tripadvisor.com, are the
most trustworthy source of consumer-generated 8% 13% 56% 21% 3%
information
Travel information provided by unknown people are not
10% 28% 30% 20% 12%
useful
Tourism organisations should incorporate social
0% 5% 15% 55% 25%
media into their sites

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5. Discussion

The following section will analyse and discuss the obtained results grounding on the
theoretical framework outlined in section 2. The headings reflect the research objectives.

5.1. Social media strategies
Each hotel demonstrates presence on commonly popular social networks, micro-blogging,
and video-sharing web sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YoutTube. However, there is a
significant difference between the hotels’ level of activity and frequency of use of the distinct
platforms. Twitter is found to be the most actively used by the all three organisations, as
compared to the other three examined platforms. This trend might be simply explained by the
distinct nature and concept of each platform. Twitter’s idea is focused on micro-blogging or
posting of short messages (up to 140 characters). YouTube is centred only on video-posting
and sharing. Blogs and Facebook, on the other hand, are versatile, providing the opportunity
to publish different types of micro-content that might be textual posts, pictures, and videos.
However, Facebook as a social network is found to be more social-oriented providing more
close and direct communication through connections, direct messaging, comments, personal
posts, etc. Thus, in business context, Twitter might be recognised as the most effective one in
terms of customer service by allowing posting of timely updates. On the other hand,
Facebook, YouTube and Blogs might be seen as more image-oriented platforms, providing
the opportunity to post various contents. Consequently, the activity level and frequency of
use of the different platforms depend on the organisations’ individual strategies. If an
organisation’s social media strategy is more customers service-oriented, the organisations
will be more active on Twitter. On the contrary, if an organisation is employing more image
and promotional-focused strategy, it will mainly use Facebook, YouTube and Blogs.

Furthermore, it should be noticed that the results of the Facebook and Twitter’s content
analysis are in accordance with the general public’s use of these sites - ‘12% of Facebook
users update their status each day, whereas 52% of users on Twitter post daily’ (Hays, Page
& Buhalis, 2012, p10). Therefore, timely status updates are more integral to the function of
Twitter, for businesses and individuals alike. In addition, although all the three hotels have
YouTube brand channels, the video-sharing website is found not to be so popular and
effective among the businesses. This trend aligns with the results obtained by McKensey&Co
(2010) and Booz&Co’s (2011) industry studies revealing that social networks and blogs are
the most frequently used platforms for business purposes.

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The research also reveals that while two of the hotels employed a corporate blog in their
social media strategies, the third one had chosen a different approach to reach and
communicate with its customers. Rather than using a corporate blog, the hotel has established
a regularly published digital magazine. Although it has integrated a different format, the
digital magazine accomplishes the same purpose as the other hotels’ blogs and, thus, the
content that the magazine provides is found to be very similar to the one presented by the
competition: brand information and updates, news as well as travel, cultural, lifestyle and
other types of interesting and entertaining material. However, the hotel’s attempt and effort
for brand differentiation and distinctiveness should be noted.

Another interesting pattern that was observed in the previous section is that the date at which
each member registered with a particular platform is not directly related to the number of
followers. Although it might be argued that an organisation employing a given social web
account for a longer period of time would have more followers, it is evident that the number
of followers does not always correspond with the date of account creation, which is further
proved by Hays, Page & Buhalis (2012) (Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2012, p8).

Hays, Page & Buhalis (2012) also suggest that ‘it is important for organisations to include as
much rich content as possible, while providing the necessary information to their consumers’
(Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2012, p16).The published content on the social web is similar
between the three hotels. It is predominantly original, created by the organisations, and, at the
same time, very varied including stories, news, photos and videos that are not only related to
travel and tourism, but to lifestyle, culture, fashion, art, etc.

Furthermore, the research differentiated four main types of social media content, namely
‘customer service- related’, ‘promotional’, ‘informative’, and ‘engaging’. The type of content
significantly varied between the distinct platforms. For instance, considerable percentage
(46%) of the combined hotels’ tweets was defined as customer service-related, as compared
to only 4% of the Facebook posts. Hence, the results align with the assumption made earlier
in the discussion that Twitter is perceived by businesses as more customers service-oriented
platform, while Facebook, Youtube and Blogs are found to be more focused and effective on
building business’s brand identity, personality and image. Thus, two principal social media
strategies were defined: customer service-centred and image and identity-focused. CitizenM
and the May Fair hotel’s social media strategies are mainly customer service focused,
demonstrating greater activity and high interaction with customers on Twitter. On the other

Page | 38

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