5 Conclusion and Further Research

The underlying research question of this thesis was “How do stakeholders in the
tourism and hospitality industry measure the success of social media in their
business?” A literature review revealed what researchers have discussed and
summarized their insights. 9 hotels in Vienna were interviewed to compare these
insights with the industry’s opinion.

Based on empirical data and the literature review, a number of conclusions can be
drawn. The social media phenomenon represents an ongoing trend where hospitality
has a lot to gain, but should always be careful not tomisuse the medium. Lim (2010)
states that “the hospitality industry embraced the possibilities of social media; the
hotel websites in their infancy stages were understood by marketers as the
equivalent of a brochure in an online environment. At the moment,social media is
still evolving and its potential in this industry still remains to be seen”. S/he also
agrees with most of the interview respondents when s/he observes that social media
create “a real connection between companies and customers”. This connection
creates a trend for purchase intensity. Ongoing connection and relationship with the
guests will eventually turn them into ambassadors and a volunteer marketing army.

The property needs to ensure that social media is an integral part of the overall
marketing plan. Should the budget and resources become limited, thenthe social
media domain needs to be monitored in an effective manner. Hoteliers who want
stay ahead of the curve need to invest in popular communication channels. The most
used social media channel in Europe is still Facebook, but channels that offer more
visuals for their customers, like Instagram and Flickr are to see a positive
development in the future, as some of the respondentsobserved.

As this study has shown many Viennese hotels do not measure social media in terms
of revenues and costs. They measure engagement levels of followers, rating and
reviews from customers, but never connect the positive or negative feedback with
the number of bookings. The hoteliers use social media mostly to make their
customers aware of their brand and product, and to communicate with them in order
to identify their wants and needs. The most used measurement procedures

44
are the statistics offered by the platforms themselves. It can also be observed that
the more hotels a respondent was in charge of, the higher the degree of engagement
and complexity of the online communication strategy. In conclusion, the response to
the research question was answered to a certain degree. Hoteliers measure the
influence of social media, but do not look at it at as a higher level of engagement with
the customers to increase sales. This underscores the character of social media
platforms used as informational tool. Marketers have noticed how crucial it is to have
an online presence not only to reach a wide range of customers, but also to get to
know them and personalize the service provided. Social media channels are currently
not used with the purpose of increasing sales.

Another concern some of the respondents of this research have is the misuse of
social media marketing. The candidates emphasized that overuse of these channels
can create information overflow, which can be negatively perceived by customers
and which can lead to ignorance of the brand, and consequently toa negative image.
The social media marketers added that tools should be used, but also attentively
supervised as an insignificantly small negative comment can cause significant and
irreversible damage to a brand. In regard to level of satisfaction with the social media
tools and their contribution to company’s goals, the respondents seemed content
with the results, but consideration for improved solutions has nevertheless been
mentioned. The fact that they do not set measureable goals when considering online
communication goals makes it difficult to measure the contribution, but influence can
be noticed through the immeasurable goals such as customer satisfaction and brand
awareness.

Considering the results obtained, social media measurement research represents a

very developed field and is still evolving at a fast pace. The use of tools, however, is
not increasing at the same speed. Since this thesis is based on a comparably small
sample of empirical data, further research should broaden the scope and investigate
why hospitality stakeholders do not engage in more complex measurement methods,
and develop recommendations on how to involve them in such advanced
measurements.

45
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