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1.1 Introduction
The first chapter of this project contains brief overview and background of the research topic.
It is followed by the introduction to selected case study, problem statement, aim and
objectives, and rationale and significance. Lastly, definitions of core concepts are stated.
networking sites have overcome the geographical location and time because now
organisations can easily communicate with the distant audience through internet in short
timeframe (Harris & Rae, 2009). In addition to that, previously, the process of
communication used to be long and time consuming as it took time to seek information and
wait for the response but nowadays with the advancement of internet, customer issues and
queries can be resolved in a prompt manner (Wang & Fesenmaier, 2004). Moreover, in past,
the physical activities were mainly used to promote and advertise business products and
services but now online activities are common especially in tourism and hospitality sector to
communicate with the consumers (Gretzel, Kang, & Lee, 2012).
The work of Paris, Lee, & Seery, (2010) showed that social media is a generational
development and driven from the earlier concepts of web development and designs that
started with the purpose or entertainment but later on shape up as a vital instrument to share,
inform, collaborate, and facilitate communication. To support aforementioned statement, it
can be seen from the work of Jain (2010) that reflects the importance of various social
websites including; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc used as a platform to create awareness
about products and services along with regular customer correspondence inside hospitality
and tourism sector.
The above argument shows that, with the passage of time, tools and techniques have modified
to large extent. Nowadays, businesses in hospitality and tourism are using social networking
sites as a platform to advertise, promote, and market its services and products. Moreover,
social networking sites have taken over conventional methods to communicate with the direct
and indirect customers.
The hotel is very active on social networking sites to update its customers with all recent
trends and developments. There are special announcements on different social networking
sites about seminars and conferences taking place inside the hotel (Marriott Hotel Karachi,
2015). In addition to that, the hotel is in the central location thus it is near to the most
important business area (II Chundrigarh road, Saddar, Clifton, etc) (cited from Marriott Hotel
Karachi, 2015).
1.4 Aims:
In the light of statement of problem and background study following aim is developed as;
"The aim of this study is to examine the role of social media in hotel marketing to attract
tourists in central Karachi".
1.5 Objectives:
To accomplish the aforementioned aim, following objectives are developed in this study;
1. To critically examine the potential and role of internet in changing the marketing methods
of hotel from conventional to most advanced methods by means of social media as change
instrument.
2. To commence a primary investigation to explore the key aspects, role and strengths of
social media marketing as part of hotel Marriott's marketing strategies to attract its potential
customers.
3. To investigate the role and affect of social media marketing in creating strong destination
brand image in developing economies.
4. To recommend strategies to the management of hotel Marriott in improving the efficiency
through social media marketing.
setup in the country. Moreover, this study offers a unique aspect to explore the brand
management and branding destination in developing economies whereas previously the
concept was only confined to developed economies. In addition to that, previous studies on
the similar topic have been descriptive researches whereas this study serves a strong
foundation to examine exploratory research regarding selected research variables.
In all types of researches there are certain limits and therefore researchers set certain limits to
work in specific paradigm. It serves the purpose of keeping the researchers to specific aspects
so that the focus of paper is always restricted to searching in depth. In this study, no
longitudinal study has been used because of time constraint thus cross sectional research
design is undertaken in delimitation. In addition to that, the phenomenon of social media
marketing and brand destination is not very old thus the researches commenced in last two
decades have been used to explore the theories and models related to research variables.
Moreover, only exploratory researches from past has been included in this study to explore
the research variables due to the nature of research. Furthermore, since this study is
commenced in Pakistan thus we exclude the ethnic grounds as it is not significant to consider
it for interview purpose.
1.8 Definitions:
Social Media:
Campbell et al., (2011) defines social media as, rather than technology itself, it is more
concerned with people using technology. The purpose of social media is not limited only
extract information but develop and consume it along with allowing the individuals to add
value to the organisation by websites (87). On the other hand, Sinclaire and Vogus (2011)
explained social media as, it is a wider terminology which describes software tools to
develop contents by users and at same time it can be shared with others.
Tourist Destination:
According to Qu (2011), "it is formed of both intangible and tangible assets. History, culture,
and customs are part of intangible assets whereas attractions, historical sites, mountains and
beaches are included in tangible assets of tourist destination". On the other hand, Morgan
(2002) argued that, "tourist destination is a place where travellers come to experience nature
as part of their vacation in order to spend their vacations".