How critical is User Generated Content for customer satisfaction in accommodation aggregator sites?
34.125 STUs max. Now 25111 + 1600 (2 charts)
Introduction and problem formulation:
The Internet has grown to be one of the most effective means for tourists to seek information in the planning process of their vacation. Tourists find themselves navigating through an immense amount of information that could be relevant for the planning, which can be experienced as being overwhelming for prospect travellers (Pan and Fesenmaier 2006). In this scenario, aggregator sites enable users to search for content specific for their area of interest, gathering the information needed under a single roof and functioning as an intermediary between
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2), but instead the Web has become the world and everything and everyone can cast their “information shadow”. Web 2.0 has enabled people to collaborate and share information online, and has gained a massive popularity in doing so (Reactive 2007). Social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia are some of the very popular Web 2.0 sites that are dependable on the engagement and activeness of the users to provide the content on these sites. O’reilly (2009) explains how Web 2.0, as a platform, “[builds] applications that literally get better the more people use them, harnessing network effects not only to acquire users, but also to learn from them and build on their contributions” (p. 1). Hence, one of the very important concepts within Web 2.0 is User Generated Content (UGC), which also has become the “pivotal role that individual consumers have in submitting, reviewing, and responding to the online content” (Cox et al, 2009, p. 744). In marketing terms, UGC has effectively become a form of consumer-to-consumer e-marketing, equivalent of electronic word-of-mouth marketing (Cox et al., 2009). Accommodation aggregators makes use of various Web 2.0 features such as mashups (e.g. using the combination of Google Maps with hotel locations), and user reviews and ratings of the hotels which are UGC.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is a concept that relates to how a company's
The use of social media marketing has become a standard way in which organizations advertise their products or services. Social media marketing allows consumers to have immediate access to other consumers reviews or to post a review about a product or service. There is engagement between the company and the consumer (Evans, Dave 2010). Social Media emerged in the late 1980’s when websites such as Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online. Prodigy was first of it’s kind and was known as a ”consumer online service”. Half of the page is devoted to advertising. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Hi5, Bebo and Orkut are all social media platforms that are utilized as platforms today.
Before the days of the Internet, if a family wanted to travel to a far-off, exotic locale, they would have to either find a local travel agent or call a travel agency and plan their getaway. In the 1990’s, the Internet became a staple of everyday life and began entering many homes. As the availability of the Internet increased, so did the services available to clients. With the increasing availability of the World Wide Web the travel industry found itself faced with revolutionizing changes. All of the tools that were once solely available to travel agents now became readily available to anyone with access to the Internet and a search engine. Websites quickly formed around the idea of providing consumers with quick vacation planning ideas at low costs. Getting
E-commerce has played a major role in few continents that the Internet has penetrated. Years before the emergence of e-commerce, traditional business remained the mode for transactions, which made consumers experience difficulties finding time to check various stores in search for different brands and products. However, in today’s generation, the utilization of e-commerce has conveniently provided consumers with the possibilities of doing so without the need to step out of their homes at any time of the day. E-commerce, in a matter of few years, has successfully spread throughout different industries, one of which is tourism. In this developing age of e-commerce, traditional travel agencies are forced to adapt to this change by exploiting the benefits of e-commerce to satisfy the market’s online search for holiday tours.
Social media is not new. Facebook has been around since 2004, YouTube since 2005, and Twitter in 2006. What is new is how social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are affecting the way businesses market their products and services. Never before in our history have consumers been able to communicate so effortlessly with each other and with the businesses they frequent. Never before have businesses been able to interact and react to customer feedback so quickly and efficiently. However, just because businesses have the ability to use social media for their marketing and advertising efforts, does not necessarily mean they should. This paper intends to
The Social media has proved to be a boon that spread across the countries in previous years like a wildfire. The Social media has highly transformed the industry of travel and tourism. Social media like Facebook offers expeditious ways of reaching millions of people across different countries with distinct cultures. The Social media helps people to share great and not so great experiences, to become instant critiques. Tourism companies and tourists have created their networks where they can share views about hotels, restaurants, tourist spots, holiday packages as well as posting their pictures, videos and so on. Social media also acts as a source of advertisement and marketing. The Primary as well as Secondary Research has been followed
Web 2.0 serves as the foundation of much of the social media and e-marketing platforms being developed today. Originally defined in 2006, the Web 2.0 design objectives have influenced every social network, application and e-marketing application since (Skiera, Eckert, Hinz, 2010). To see the Web 2.0 Meme map which shows the key design criterion and objectives of this network, see the Appendix of this analysis. One of the most influential aspects of this Meme Map is the fact that the Web is now the operating system or platform and users own the data, participating freely and sharing it quickly acorns many different workflows and strategies (O'Reilly, 2006). The Web 2.0 design criterion and objectives continued to have a major impact on how Kudler Foods will be able to capture primary and secondary customer data. For an analysis of e-marketing platforms based on Web 2.0 technologies see Appendix B of this document.
The business will use different social media platforms to conduct marketing activities. The advantage of using social media is that a business can track customers’ actual behavior. This can allow Wynn Resort to nurture and personalize relationships with customers. Various measures have been taken to allow the company to have an integrated, holistic view of its customers. Through the use of newer and comprehensive social media platforms, Wynn Resorts will easily integrate data from many platforms and enhance customer engagement. Improved communications online will lead to higher customer satisfaction from better interactions.
The use of Web 2.0 technologies in organizations has introduced innovative ways of collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing. The result of which is a more productive and engaged workforce. The term Web 2.0 is controversial, but plainly used to describe a new wave of Internet technologies that allows users to do more than just access information online. (Gardner, n.d.) Blogs, wikis and social media technologies are examples of the Web 2.0 applications that businesses can use. These social technologies deliver benefits by multiplying the opportunities for collaboration and by allowing knowledge to spread more effectively. (Bughin, Chui, & Miller, 2009) Lets take a look at these new tools used for collaboration and knowledge portals in organizations and the benefits they create.
This means customers can now broadcast their feelings about a business to thousands of people instantly. This has led marketers and small business owners to turn to the Internet as an avenue for cost effective marketing (Phillips et all, 2010). Small business owners can use email campaigns, advertise on websites and word-ofmouth viral marketing at a fraction of the price of traditional advertising. For instance a magazine ad can cost thousands of dollars, yet an ad on Facebook may only cost a few cents each time a person clicks on it (Barnes & Mattson, 2009). In 2010, there were 221 million internet users and 9 of 10 internet users visited a social network at least once a month (Sass, 2011). This provides small business the opportunity today to access millions of people at no monetary cost, something which was only a dream a few years ago (Lacho et al, 2010). Businesses are turning to Twitter for instance, as they look for simple, inexpensive ways to promote their business and disseminate the latest industry information about their company. Twitter is also a tool small business can use to manage their online identity and find out what their clients are saying about their company or competition (Geho et al, 2010). Social media sites can “propagate positive messages about products, raise awareness and organically recruit additional members, all which can provide powerful competitive
In social media every user actively produces data, either by Googling, by sharing tweets, comments, profiles, favorites, likes or follows, or by uploading or downloading blogs, photos, videos or such other content. The amount of information that gets into the Internet is unimaginable large and predicted to double every 18 months. Every single action on the social media produces added value, which can be aggregated and capitalized in commercial advertising and market analysis. This is how companies such as Google and Facebook have been able to become multibillion-dollar businesses.
Yelp has revolutionized businesses’ and customers’ interactions by giving consumers the power to influence others, creating a dependency between businesses and their customers and making a positive social media presence a key to entrepreneurial success. Whereas businesses previously relied on self-advertisement to draw in customers, Yelp emphasizes the importance of making a good impression so that the customer will do the advertising for the business. An example of a business that has become successful because of social media is a Cuban bakery, Porto’s Bakery, located in Burbank, California. Porto’s rise on Yelp’s “Top 100 Places to Eat in the US” from number forty in 2015 to number one in 2016 is evidence of the business’s success. Upon the social media phenomenon that brought success to the bakery, the owner of the bakery, Betty Porto, remarked, “All of a sudden with social media, with Facebook, with Yelp, look how much faster we’re getting recognition.
Today, many businesses are experiencing the effects of social media. Government, businesses, and communities interact through social media and use it to access their investors and potential customers. According to Donovan (2016), “Most types of businesses today make use of different tactics and techniques to make a significant exposure of their website to its target customers.” The goal is to use social media to maximize their potential in order to be one of the strongest participants in the business world.
Information and communication technology (ICT) developments are permeating every aspect of tourism development. The rapid growth of information technology, notably the Internet, has created opportunities for the tourism and hospitality industry. Moreover, one of the fastest raising industries in the world is tourism (Sheldon 2001). Castaneda et al. (2007, p. 402) state that “when combining these two, Information Technology and tourism business, it will serve a new area in communication and as a distribution channel for the suppliers in terms of travel services and products but also for electronic travelers, also known as e-travelers, from all over the world”.
Airbnb’s success can be predominately correlated with the rise in social media and technological advancements which has reshaped the nature of marketing communications (Berthon, Pitt & Campbell, 2008). This is due to the fact that consumers’ profiles become part of the augmented product offering; buyers and sellers refer to social media content as a valuable source of information and reliability regarding the opposite party.
In the 21st century, social media has become the unavoidable modus operandi of marketing. Construction based on the Web 2.0, social media applications have facilitated miraculous growth in human interaction in modern times.