Social Media Strategies

Research shows that you should let consumers’ photos speak for your business

2021-06-22T19:40:00.002-04:00

The advance of technology and the widespread adoption of smartphones and handheld devices in recent years have enabled us to publish our experience about a product or service through online photo or video sharing and provide a review.

Online review websites have also updated their features, making it easier for consumers to attach pictures or videos to their reviews. As both consumers and businesses adapt to the new photo-sharing trend, it becomes crucial to expand our knowledge regarding user-generated photos’ (UGPs’) effect on online reviews.

An empirical study about user-generated photos

I worked with a research team in an interdisciplinary project to assess UGPs’ effects on the helpfulness of hotel reviews. We published our findings in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. The paper is entitled “Let photos speak: The effect of user-generated visual content on hotel review helpfulness.”

The hypotheses

We drew from the media richness theory and advanced five hypotheses for statistical analysis, including:

Online reviews attached with UGPs have significant positive effects on review helpfulness.
Online reviews attached with UGPs containing more guestroom objects are rated as more helpful than those containing fewer guestroom objects.
Online reviews attached with UGPs containing more F&B (food & beverage) objects are rated more helpful than those containing fewer F&B objects.
UGPs’ positive effect on review helpfulness is stronger for lower-priced hotels than higher-priced hotels.
UGPs’ positive effects on review helpfulness are stronger for negative reviews than positive reviews.

The data and the analysis

We used a Python-based web crawler to collect the data needed for hypothesis testing from Qunar.com, one of the largest online travel agent (OTA) sites in mainland China. The data covered 12,138 hotels in Beijing, with about 1.16 million valid reviews and over 464,000 photos published by close to 900,000 users between January 2014 and April 2018. In this sample, about 9.84% (114,000) reviews were attached with UGPs.

We adopted YOLOv3 (You Only Look Once version 3), a real-time object detection algorithm, to identify the guestroom and F&B objects in UGPs. The top 10 guestroom objects identified include bed (15.34%), chair (14.55%), TV (6.23%), sink, toilet, couch, clock, remote control, refrigerator, and laptop.

The top 10 F&B objects included bottle (8.45%), cup (4.39%), bowl (2.82%), dining table, microwave, spoon, wine glass, oven, cake, and knife. Compiling with other numerical data, such as the number of helpfulness votes a review received, star rating of a review, etc., we then tested the hypotheses in a series of linear regression models.

The results

Our analyses confirmed the user-generated visual content’s positive effects on review helpfulness. Moreover, consumers rated UGPs with more product-specific images more helpful than those with fewer product-specific images (guestroom or F&B objects for a lodging product in this case). Such a positive effect becomes more salient for lower-priced hotels (than higher-priced hotels) and reviews with lower ratings (than reviews with higher ratings).

What do the research findings mean?

Besides this study’s theoretical contributions, the research findings provide a few specific practical implications for hotel managers, web admins managing online review platforms, and the consumers relying on online reviews for decision-making. Here, it is imperative to note that the following actionable suggestions are exclusive content only available in this viewpoint article but not in the original journal publication.

Hotel managers

Strategically respond to selected reviews with UGPs.
Respond to most, if not all, reviews with more guestroom objects in UGPs.
For hotels with various F&B offerings, respond to the reviews with more F&B objects in UGPs.
It is unnecessary for hotels with limited F&B offerings to pay attention to the reviews with F&B objects in UGPs.
For hotels of a lower price, make every attempt to answer reviews with UGPs.
Make sure to respond to reviews of lower ratings and with UGPs.

Web admins in online review platforms

List those consumer reviews with UGPs at the top, allowing easy access for potential customers.
Promote the reviews with more guestroom objects in UGPs, regardless of how many F&B offerings a hotel has.
Promote the reviews with UGPs containing more F&B objects for the hotels with various F&B offerings.
Cross-list or promote the reviews with more F&B objects in UGPs for the hotels even when internet users search for restaurant reviews.
It is unnecessary to promote reviews with F&B objects in UGPs for the hotels with minimal F&B offerings.
Highlight the reviews with UGPs, especially for the hotels of a lower price.
Display the ones with UGPs first when internet users want to check out the negative reviews.

Consumers using online review websites

Pay attention to the information conveyed in the reviews with UGPs in general.
Pay even more attention to the reviews with UGPs that show more guestroom objects.
Quickly skip the online reviews with UGPs showing more F&B objects if a hotel has limited F&B offerings or if the traveler does not plan to use the F&B services offered in the hotel.
Pay attention to the reviews with UGPs that show more F&B objects only when the traveler also wants to use the hotel’s F&B services.
In a search for hotels of a lower price, make sure to check out the reviews with UGPs carefully.
When browsing through a hotel’s reviews for decision-making, pay special attention to those reviews of lower ratings and with UGPs.

The conclusion

Although our work is not without limitations, our analysis with an integrated analytical model that incorporates both econometric analysis and image-processing techniques yielded additional insights about user-generated visual content’s effect on online reviews. Once again, this study shows that a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

How much attention do you pay to the pictures or videos attached to online reviews? Are those reviews attached with pictures or videos more influential in your decision-making? If so, in what way?

Note: This post was first published on MultiBriefs.com; The picture was also downloaded from MultiBriefs.com.

How job seekers’ social media profiles affect employability: Evidence from a research study

2021-06-21T19:44:00.003-04:00

Social media plays an increasingly important role in recruitment and employee selection. Recruiters are tempted to check on job candidates’ social media profiles (SMPs) because SMPs could reveal more dynamic information about the candidates than their resumes alone.

By checking the candidates’ SMPs, recruiters can discover their real personality, which cannot be easily achieved even through job interviews. Meanwhile, hiring managers can also assess job candidates’ social capital based on the size and the composition of their social networks.

The study

To investigate how social media may affect recruiters’ hiring decisions, Antonio Muñiz, who graduated from the master’s program at the Collins College of Hospitality Management, Cal Poly Pomona, and I conducted a qualitative study together. We published our work in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management. This research answers:

The two research questions

What information or job candidate’s personality traits revealed on their SMPs gets the hiring managers’ attention?
How do such information or job candidates’ personality traits revealed on their SMPs affect managers’ hiring decisions?

The research method

We conducted 11 semi-structured interviews in 2018 with 11 managers in major hospitality companies, representing the restaurant, hotel, country club, even planning, and managed foodservice sectors. On average, these 11 managers had 19 years of work experience in the hospitality industry. They made hiring decisions, ranging from hiring two to 18 candidates a month. Following the suggestions of ensuring a qualitative study’s trustworthiness, we firstly recorded and transcribed the interviews. We then performed a content analysis of the qualitative data. Finally, we reported the narrative results with direct quotes from the informants.

Finding 1: The recruiting channels and legal considerations

The informants rated Indeed and LinkedIn the preferred websites for recruitment and selection. Surprisingly, none of them were aware of any policies issued by their companies about using social media in screening and selection. Many informants also held reservations about using social media in screening because of privacy concerns, the uncertainty of the information revealed from the candidates’ SMPs, legal compliance, and time constraints.

Finding 2: LinkedIn is the preferred platform

About half of the informants used LinkedIn in screening. Only one informant admitted that s/he screened candidates’ other SMPs besides LinkedIn. That is, s/he also looked at candidates’ posts, videos, and pictures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Finding 3: The preferable content on social media

Most informants favored pictures about food, catering, and events, news articles, and organizational social activities. Having a clear headshot/smiling, professional/appropriate content, positive/motivational content, and activities in general were mentioned once or twice only.

Finding 4: The unfavorable content on social media

Inappropriate language or content, negative posts, personal information on LinkedIn, and anything discriminatory came to the top.

Finding 5: The influential traits that may affect recruiters’ hiring decisions

Of the Big Five personality traits, hospitality managers looked for extroversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Additionally, leadership potentials, professionalism, a good match, the current position held, as well as skills and endorsements, can be influential.

Finding 6: How candidates’ SMPs affect employability

Unfavorable content seemed to have a more substantial influence than favorable content. As far as a candidate’s starting salary is concerned, the informants only factored in the candidates’ skills and experience.

The implications

Besides the research’s theoretical contributions, the findings provide helpful, practical implications for businesses, hiring managers, job seekers, and career counselors. We recommend:

Organizations should develop clear guidelines about using social media in recruitment and selection.
For a minimum, Organizations must provide guidelines or assessment rubrics that are specific to LinkedIn.
Hiring managers are advised to follow the company’s guidelines and policies if provided.
Hiring managers need to justify why and how SMPs are used in screening if no guidelines or policies are provided.
Job seekers are highly encouraged to build a complete LinkedIn profile with a professional picture that projects their personality.
Job seekers may consider sharing favorable content and should avoid the unfavorable content on their SMPs.
If possible, job seekers should have their LinkedIn profile and other SMPS critiqued by their friends, co-workers, and career advisors, as what they would do on their resumes and other application materials.
Career counselors should teach job seekers how to build professional SMPs, with specific examples of how they may strategically display the desired content favored by recruiters.

Do job seekers need even more impeccable social media profiles during the pandemic?

This study was conducted in 2018 before the pandemic hit the economy with numerous long-term effects. Nevertheless, I expect that job seekers’ SMPs may play an even more significant role in influencing recruiters’ hiring decisions for two reasons. On the one hand, more people are forced to leave their jobs, making it more challenging to secure a job offer in a competitive job market. On the other hand, more companies let their employees work from home permanently. The traditional screening methods, such as face-to-face job interviews in the workplace, may no longer be an option for hiring managers.

Back in May 2020, it is reported that 84% of recruiters were adapting to new hiring practices that facilitate remote exchanges. Among them, 58% used LinkedIn, Facebook, and even Instagram to connect with potential hires. It is also believed that job candidates’ digital presence will matter even more in 2021 and beyond.

Lastly, it is important to note that the above results were generated from 11 qualitative interviews. Although we took careful measures to ensure this qualitative inquiry’s trustworthiness, the results may not be generalized in other settings. Instead, this study’s strength relies on its in-depth, narrative results reported by those purposefully selected informants who have abundant first-hand experience of screening job candidates.

Do you believe that people’s digital reputation is critical in a job search? How important are job candidates’ SMPs in helping them secure a job offer?

Note: This post is also available on MultiBriefs.com; the picture was downloaded from ConstructionExec.com.

The 7 Ps marketing mix of home-sharing services: What did the 1 million Airbnb reviews inform us?

2020-07-29T16:00:00.005-04:00

The 7 Ps marketing mix framework is a widely used managerial tool that helps businesses identify the principal components of a service product. The 7 P elements include Product, Promotion, Price, Place, Participant, Physical Evidence, and Process.

The 7 Ps framework can assist marketers in making decisions regarding segmentation, positioning, and differentiation. Even for the same type of products with different brands, marketers can still drive higher sales through the improvement of a product’s marketing mix.

The empirical study about 7 Ps of home-sharing services

Building upon the 7 Ps marketing mix framework, I led a research team in a big-data, supervised machine learning analysis of over 1.14 million English reviews of 37,092 Airbnb listings in San Francisco (SFO) and New York City (NYC). We aimed to discover new meaningful business intelligence through the analysis of an immense quantity of online review information that is created by consumers in the cyber marketplace.

We published the research in the International Journal of Hospitality Management. The report can also be accessed in the Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection.

The three research questions of the study

1. What does the marketing mix revealed from consumers’ online review data on Airbnb inform us about travelers’ experience of home-sharing products?

2. Do travelers comment on the similar element(s) of the marketing mix for their home-sharing stays with multi-unit and single-unit hosts? In other words, do travelers share similar experiences for their home-sharing stays with multi-unit vs. single-unit hosts through a comparison of the two product types’ marketing mix?

3. Do travelers comment on the similar element(s) of the marketing mix for their home-sharing stays with superhosts and ordinary hosts? In other words, do travelers share similar experiences for their home-sharing stays with superhosts vs. ordinary hosts through a comparison of the two product types’ marketing mix?

The data and the analysis

We downloaded the data from InsideAirbnb.com, an independent, non-profit website that provides publicly accessible data collected from Airbnb.com. We picked SFO, for its being a gateway city in the West Coast and Airbnb’s birthplace, as well as NYC, for its being a gateway city in the East Coast and a top tourist destination. We downloaded 233,070 reviews of 4,381 Airbnb listings in SFO and 1,047,337 reviews of 32,985 Airbnb listings in NYC in September/October 2018.

We then cleaned the dataset by removing all non-English reviews, retrieving 94.3% (219,833) and 88.6% (928,229) of the reviews that were written in English from the SFO and NYC markets, respectively. We used a sentence as a unit for data annotation under the assumption that people usually express one idea in one sentence.

Through a series of preliminary analyses, we concluded that most sentences expressed one of the elements in our coding schema, with about 3% of the sentences mentioned two or more of the elements. In the cases when a sentence can be labeled with more than one element, the most probable element was used in our analysis.

7 Ps marketing mix as the coding schema

We trained the model to annotate the sentences using the following coding schema before we applied the validated algorithms to analyze the whole dataset.

· Service Product (PT) – words that describe the overall impression of the intangible experiential product, e.g., “A great experience.”

· Price (PR) – words that indicate the price or value of the experiential product, e.g., “Rather than renting two hotel rooms, we split this 2-bed Airbnb and probably saved $300 per night.”

· Place (PL) – words referring to the location of a listing, e.g., “Short walk to the Bart station.”

· Promotion (PO) – words comparing what the traveler(s) observed against a listing’s photos or descriptions on the website, e.g., “The place was exactly as advertised!”

· Participant (PP) – words mentioning the host(s) or people/pets in the listing, e.g., “The hosts were also extremely friendly and accommodating.”

· Physical Evidence (PE) – words that describe the tangible aspect of the experiential product, such as the physical attributes and the facility of a listing, e.g., “Details like flowers, wine openers, britta water pitcher, shampoo, added to our relaxation.”

· Service Process (PS) – words that emphasize the process where the traveler(s) received a service, with or without the interactions with the host, e.g., “[host name] left detailed instructions for us upon our arrival.”

· Traveler (TR) – words that are irrelevant to the experiential product (Airbnb) itself, e.g., “We had ice cream for dessert two night in a row (Bi-Rite! The Best!) and walked home with our cones feeling very happy indeed.”

The results

Travelers in both markets mentioned PT (about 26%) and PE (about 25%) most often, followed by PL (at about 19%) and PP (at about 15%). PS (less than 10%) was usually about the check-in process and how the hosts handled customer service issues. Travelers seldom talked about PO (about 2%) and PR (about 1%).

Research question two is to compare travelers’ experiences between multi-unit and single-unit hosts. We found almost no observable differences except that travelers would mention the hostnames more often for single-unit hosts. Such a finding suggests that multi-unit hosts are as competitive as single-unit hosts. Hoteliers should pay close attention to multi-unit hosts in the market because they are the micro-entrepreneurs and professional operators of home-sharing services.

Research question three is about the differences between superhosts and ordinary hosts. On average, listings managed by superhosts recorded more reviewers than the ones managed by ordinary hosts, a good indicator that travelers favor listings managed by superhosts. Travelers staying in the listings managed by superhosts commented more on their wonderful experience (PT) and the hosts (PP). In contrast those staying in the listings managed by ordinary hosts commented more on the physical evidence (PE) and the location (PL). Possibly, when travelers do not have as much to talk about PT and PP for ordinary hosts as they would for superhosts, they comment more on PE and PL instead.

COVID-19’s possible impacts on the research findings

COVID-19 is expected to change how people travel, and it will take a long time before we see a real recovery. Now more than ever, hygiene and cleanliness have become the top priority among consumers, hotels, and tourism companies. Travelers’ emphasis on the 7 P elements could have shifted in the post-COVID-19 era, such as about the upkeep and cleanliness of a place (PE) and avoiding direct human contacts (PP & PS).

The implications

Besides this study’s theoretical and methodological contributions, the results provide valuable insights for the hosts who want to compete with the superhosts. Meanwhile, hoteliers may refer to our findings as they seek improvement of their existing products or want to differentiate their products from home-sharing services. Lastly, we recommend the policymakers to consider restricting the professional operators or multi-unit hosts in the short-term residential rental market.

What do you think about the research findings? To what extent does the 7 Ps marketing mix reflect travelers’ experiences of home-sharing services?

Note: This viewpoint article was also published on MultiBriefs.com; The first picture was downloaded from BibleMoneyMatters.com.

CHRS 2017: Opportunities in the era of disruption

2017-12-09T01:55:00.000-05:00

I was in Ithaca, New York, last week for the 2017 Cornell Hospitality Research Summit(#CHRS2017), where a good mix of industry professionals and academic researchers shared their viewpoints on the outlooks of the hospitality business and findings of relevant research.

This year, the conference's theme was "opportunities in the era of disruption."

So, what are the disruptions?

In fact, the hospitality industry is constantly facing challenges from disruptions. In today's economy, the following appears to be more salient:

The advance of technologies, such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence (AI), facial recognition and data analytics, has transformed customer experience and is making innovative disruptions to operations.
Airbnb brought new experiences to travelers, but also a tremendous supply of available rooms to the market almost overnight. Hotels are facing a big threat from room-sharing services and need to improve their practices in revenue management and asset management.
Sustainability is going to become even more important in service operations even though not all consumers are willing to make extra effort for green products (yet).
As hotels are responding to the changing needs of today's travelers, new brands/products are introduced to the market, with many still in construction. Newer properties also create threats to the older ones in the market.
Managers should pay special attention to generation differences, such as the preferences of millennials.
Online reviews and social media are still important, but not all generations pay attention to the same content or platform.
Because OTAs (online travel agents) now have the business intelligence of both hotel sales and residential rentals, they should remain as an important strategic partner of hotels, even though hotels are pushing travelers to book-direct on their websites.
There is a need for business to revamp their strategies in talent management as the industry is constantly being disrupted.

Remain positive when facing the disruptions

Shall we worry about the future because of these disruptions? We could, but feeling worrisome would not help business. Positive thinking is perhaps the only remedy to deal with challenges.

"Disruptions create opportunities," suggested Arthur Adler, the managing director and chairman of the Americas division of Jones Lang LaSalle's (JLL) Hotels and Hospitality Group, in the keynote opening session at #CHRS2017.

By reviewing the history of how the hotel business has evolved over time, Adler concluded that disruptions brought innovations to the industry (e.g., making reservations on the phone vs. on the internet). Rather than feeling worried about the future, we should all react to the new opportunities identified in the era of disruption.

New opportunities in the era of disruption

All attendees in the conference seemed to hold positive attitudes toward the disruptions. Particularly, the industry is highly encouraged to look at the following areas:

Rethink guest experience and be innovative in product offerings.
Utilize space more efficiently. For example, can a hotel's lobby or meeting space be "shared" as what is in the room-sharing and ride-sharing business?
How can technology be used in providing customized service? For example, use AI and machine learning to predict guest preference.
How can technology be better utilized in daily operations (e.g., making improvements in revenue management and productivity among staff members)?
What can we learn from the room-sharing business?
How can blockchain technology be used in the hospitality industry?
What proactive approaches can be taken in sustainability? A good example in case is that the Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl is running a lodging business in a "plus energy building," meaning a building is so energy-efficient that it generates more energy than it consumes.

Do you agree that opportunities are often associated with risks, or disruptions in this case? What opportunities do you see in the era of disruption?

Note: This post is also available on MultiBrief.com; The picture was downloaded from the Twitter account of The Hotel School at Cornell University.

7 technologies that will transform the hospitality industry by 2025

2017-08-17T14:13:00.000-04:00

I was in Baltimore last week for the annual iCHRIE (International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education) Conference, where hospitality professors and graduate students got together to showcase their research work and network with one another. Additionally, selected executives in major hospitality firms were invited to share their perspectives about the industry and their views on the future trends.

For example, Mike Webster, the senior vice president and general manager at Oracle Retail & Oracle Hospitality, spoke in the opening general session at the conference. He believed that by 2025, the following technologies would make transformational changes to the hospitality industry:

1. Wearables

Smartwatch sales in the global market hit a record high in the last quarter of 2016, at 8.2 million for the quarter and 21.1 million for the calendar year. Experts predict wearable tech will make transformational changes in the sport and fitness sector. Will wearable tech also transform how we run business in the hospitality and tourism industry?

Take the MagicBands at Disney, for example. Not only do they enable guests to enter the theme parks, purchase food and merchandise, and enjoy the FastPass+ access, but travelers can also skip the check-in line and unlock their hotel rooms with the MagicBands at the Disney resorts.

Disney will even ship the MagicBands to their guests before their arrivals. When guests link their accounts with the MagicBands, Disney can store their activities and preferences in the database to build a stronger customer relationship over time, of which the information can also be used to develop customized sales and promotion packages to the guests.

2. Facial recognition

It is not a new idea for hotels to let guests use their mobile devices as room keys. With the advance of facial recognition technology, travelers can possibly skip the front desk without carrying any mobile devices; they can access their guestrooms by just showing up.

Certainly, the advance of facial recognition technology can also make it easier for restaurants, hotels and resorts to track and analyze travelers' activities inside the facility.

In addition to their potential of enhancing customer service, wearable and facial recognition technologies can be used to improve back-of-the-house operations as well. For example, employees may use wearable devices and facial recognition technology in clock-ins and clock-outs. The data that is recorded about employees' activities at work can also be used by the management in scheduling and job designs.

3. Voice activation

Aloft Hotels, a Marriott/Starwood brand, recently unveiled voice-activated hotel rooms in Boston and Santa Clara. In a voice-activated room, guests can control the room temperature, adjust the lighting, choose what type of music they want to play in the room, and explore local attractions by talking to the room.

4. 3-D printing

The idea of using 3-D printing in construction has been tested for years. It may not seem real for a 3-D printer to create a skyscraper at this point, but it is now possible to construct a hotel room or at least, part of a hotel room with a 3-D printer.

As a matter of fact, Marriott has adopted the modular construction method to support its need for rapid growth.

Modular construction allows Marriott to build parts of the guestroom, such as the bathroom, somewhere else other than on the construction site of the hotel. When building a hotel, Marriott only needs to ship the ready-to-install bathrooms and other necessary parts of the guestrooms to the construction site. All it takes to build a hotel is to assemble the parts onsite.

The modular construction method and 3-D printing technology can hence be combined to speed up the time of building a new hotel.

5. Automatic or robotic services

Today, more service jobs are performed by machines than ever before. We have seen restaurants with no hosts, no waiters and no tables; robots are cooking food in the kitchen; and restaurant food is delivered by robots.

In the hotel industry, robotic butler service has also been introduced. There are also hotels testing automatic drink dispenser in events and guestrooms.

6. Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence allows machines to "think" like a real human being. Artificial intelligence will then enable a service provider to anticipate customers' needs even in automatic or robotic services.

7. Virtual reality

A few years ago, Marriott was experimenting with VR technology in operations, such as in sales and marketing. The hotel chain allowed guests to use VR to experience the Marriott products in selected world destinations. Likewise, Disney is planning to use VR to enhance consumers' experience in the theme parks and in video games.

A concluding remark

There is no doubt that the advance of technology will transform the way we run a hospitality business. Some jobs will be replaced by machines, but additional opportunities can also be created for those who are well-prepared for the changes.

Moreover, while the seven technologies listed above were suggested by Webster in the opening session at the conference, I elaborated upon his key points with specific examples I have observed in service operations. Hence, this is not intended to be a summary of his speech. Rather, I am hoping to get your input based on my own interpretations of Webster's ideas.

Do you also believe these technologies will soon transform the hospitality industry? If so, in what way? Are there other technologies that would also make transformational impacts to the hospitality industry by 2025 but have not been discussed in this post?

Note: This article was also published at MultiBriefs.com - the leading source for targeted, industry-specific news briefs. The picture was also downloaded from MultiBriefs.com.

Consumers' path of purchasing a travel product

2017-05-30T12:00:00.000-04:00

Hotels have been working hard to win more travelers to "book direct" on their companies' websites, but are consumers listening?

In fact, hotels are not alone. All service providers in the hospitality and tourism industry want their customers to make purchases directly on their websites, but consumers want to search and compare various options before making a decision.

So, to convince customers to purchase directly on the service providers' websites, companies must understand where their customers "hang out" in the cyber marketplace before they make the purchasing decision, as well as where they end up buying their services.

The white paper "Understanding the Travel Consumer's Path to Purchase" by Eye for Travel provides some business intelligence in that regard. The report combined a large panel consumer data of online transactions and surveys into the analysis, revealing the following results:

The places where customers purchase a travel product

With an analysis of about 200,000 bookings in the U.K. and the U.S., online travel agents (OTAs) such as Expedia and Priceline are winning big in the competition.

In the U.S. market, 42 percent of purchases came from OTAs, leaving 39 percent for airline brands and 19 percent for hotel brands. In the U.K. market, 73 percent of purchases came from OTAs, 23 percent from airline brands and only 4 percent from hotel brands.

The devices used for buying the travel product

Devices being used for hotel reservations:

Desktop or laptop (49.9 percent from the U.K. sample / 62.1 percent from the German sample)
Face-to-face (6.1 percent / 11 percent)
Tablet browser (17.3 percent / 5.5 percent)

Devices being used for flight bookings:

Desktop or laptop (51 percent from the U.K. sample / 56.1 percent from the German sample)
Face-to-face (9.3 percent / 20.1 percent)
Tablet browser (15.2 percent / 4.4 percent)

Desktops or laptops remain the most-used devices for making a purchase, and desktops have higher conversion rates for all OTAs, all airline brands and all hotel brands than mobile devices. But before consumers make a purchase, let's also check out ...

The devices used for browsing before making a purchase

80.7 percent of those who used desktops or laptops to search also used the same device to book.
63.8 percent of those who used tablets to search also used tablets to book; 21.3 percent of those who used tablets to search ended up using desktops or laptops to book.
36.2 percent of those who used smartphones to search would use desktops or laptops to book; about the same percentage, 35.1 percent, of those who used smartphones to search also used smartphones to book.

The websites visited before making a purchase

For a purchase on OTAs, about 90 percent used search engines, about 75 percent visited the OTA site prior to conversion, and about 25 percent visited the competitor OTA sites prior to conversion.

For a purchase on an airline website: about 90 percent visited search engines, between 69 and 84 percent visited the airline website prior to conversion (across three samples of the U.S., the U.K., and Germany). Depending on the regions of where the customers came from, over 20 percent also visited a social media site such as Facebook or Twitter (U.S.), a meta-search site such as Kayak or Trivago (U.K.), or an OTA site (U.K. and Germany).

For a purchase on a hotel website: about 90 percent used search engines, about 70 percent visited the hotel website prior to conversion, and about 20 percent visited an OTA site.

Where do smartphones fit in?

It seems smartphones played a more significant role in both the researching and purchasing processes for consumers in less developed countries than those in developed countries. For example, 66 percent of Indians accessed travel websites with mobile devices, but only 34 percent of them used desktops. In the U.S., such percentages changed to 54 percent for using mobile devices and 46 percent for using desktops.

Not surprisingly, a large percentage of consumers aged between 18 and 34 owned at least one smartphone. For example, 85 percent of Chinese aged between 18 and 34 owned at least one smartphone, but only 43 percent of Chinese aged 35 or above used smartphones.

Another good example came from the U.K. consumers aged between 18 and 35. When asked if they researched and/or booked air travel on a smartphone in the past, over 90 percent of participants said so. Specifically,

23.4 percent always booked flights on a smartphone.
22.9 percent regularly booked flights on a smartphone.
21.8 percent occasionally booked flights on a smartphone.
22.1 percent researched flight information using a smartphone even though they did not book with a smartphone.

What are the next big things?

The top two "game-changing" factors in the industry were mentioned:

Data-driven personalization (78 percent of participants being surveyed)
API-led (application programming interface) distribution partnership (14 percent)

The top three areas for future opportunities include:

Mobile (79 percent from European respondents / 74.7 percent from North American respondents)
Content and digital marketing (58.8 percent / 65.3 percent)
Social media (35.3 percent / 50 percent)

Other possibilities or opportunities may include:

Will search engines become the next big player in selling travel products? Many consumers have already been using search engines to research products, so why can't Google Travel or Bing Travel become the next big thing?
Can Facebook get into the game, too? Facebook has tried to let its users make purchases on a business's page, rate a business or service and make recommendations of purchases for their friends. Most of all, the hospitality and tourism industry is too big to be ignored.
Will Apple try Apple Travel, too? At least, Apple can easily reach all the Apple users.
Will WeChat dominate the Chinese marketing in selling travel products? I tried to make hotel reservations on WeChat because I could not find good internet connections when I was traveling in mainland China, and WeChat became very handy.

Now, do you have a better idea of where travel or hospitality companies can reach their target customers in the cyber marketplace? Tell us what else you want to know. Your voice could inspire the next big research project.

This post was also published on MultiBriefs Exclusive, the leading source for targeted, industry-specific news briefs.

Can hotels stop the growth of Airbnb?

2017-05-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

As a substitute for the traditional lodging facilities, including hotels, hostels and short-term rentals, the increasing supply of Airbnb properties is no doubt making an impact on hotels' bottom lines. So, can hotels stop the growth of Airbnb?

Hotels' strategies for fighting against Airbnb

#Airbnb #Hotels #Competition - http://bit.ly/kwok051117

Hotels are working hard to fight against the competition from Airbnb, other room-sharing websites and online travel agents (OTAs). For example:

Hotels are encouraging travelers to search and make reservations directly on the hotels' websites by offering special discounts if they book directly, even though this strategy might possibly push Airbnb and OTAs to work closely together against hotels.
Hotels are reinventing loyalty programs to win more new travelers and, at the same time, keep their repeat customers.
More hotels are adding local flavors to lure travelers. If travelers choose Airbnb over hotels because they want to gain some unique experience as a local resident, this strategy may work particularly well.
Hotels are responding to the shifting needs of customers by introducing new brands and through acquisitions. The merger of Marriott and Starwood is a good example.
Most recently, hotels are planning for a lobbying push over the Priceline-Expedia "monopoly," in addition to the legislation push toward Airbnb. Hotels want to play a "fair" game in the competition with Airbnb and OTAs. So far, hotels have successfully convinced legislators to impose stricter regulations on room-sharing operators in several locations, including San Francisco, Vancouver, Amsterdam, and London.

Challenges that Airbnb faces

Despite Airbnb's phenomenal growth since its inception in August 2008, the company is facing more challenges lately.

On one hand, hotels are gaining more success in combating Airbnb. For example, New York City just passed a new regulation, charging steep fines to those Airbnb hosts who break local housing rules, resulting in fewer qualified listings in the market. Airbnb is also more willing to work with local governments to collect taxes on room-sharing rentals, now at the same rate as the one for hotels. On the other hand, Airbnb is facing allegations for the hosts' racial discrimination against renters.

The question is: Will those challenges slow down Airbnb's growth?

Airbnb's strategies for growth

Airbnb wants to become more than just a leading room-sharing platform in the market, as suggested in the following moves taken by Airbnb recently:

Airbnb acquired a couple of travel service companies, including Luxury Retreats and Tilt, as the company is getting ready to become a full-service travel company.
Airbnb wants business travelers, too. Not only has the company launched a website that tailors to business travelers, but they also work closely with the hosts to ensure the listings meet business travelers' needs. The most recent move Airbnb took was to introduce new booking tools that were specifically designed for business travelers.
Airbnb is working on a gadget that will provide travelers with reliable internet connections during their trip. For business travelers as well as those young leisure travelers, stable WiFi connections have become a must-have amenity for their stays.

Competition between Airbnb and hotels

It is unlikely that anyone can stop the growth of Airbnb. The competition between Airbnb and hotels is only going to get tougher.

Can you predict what the next moves for hotels or Airbnb might be? What suggestions would you make to hotels or Airbnb to win the battle?

* This discussion was first published at Multibriefs.com.

Let's imagine how hotels and restaurants are run in smart cities

2017-05-03T13:20:00.000-04:00

We have seen more robots and machines are replacing humans in the service sector. This trend is irreversible, but the good news is there are ways to cope with such changes at work.

What if these changes also take place in the macro level? Then, what can businesses do to embrace this wave of innovations?

Indeed, the cities where we live have also become "smarter" than ever. According to The Wall Street Journal, more cities are now using different types of data to make people's living safer and healthier and the cities' operations more efficient.

The rise of smart cities

Boston

The city works with Waze, a navigation app from Google, to improve traffic conditions. Officials are able to respond to traffic problems, such as a double-parked truck or a fender-bender more quickly.

Chicago

The Department of Innovation and Technology developed an algorithm to predict the risk of a restaurant for spreading food-borne illnesses. The algorithm uses 11 variables in prediction, including a restaurant's past record of violations, length of operations, the weather condition, nearby burglaries, etc.

The data was used to inform the Department of Public Health for restaurant health inspections. The results? Since the program's initiation in 2015, it takes seven fewer days before inspectors visit restaurants with possible critical violations; 15 percent more critical violations are also reported.

Los Angeles

Mobile data is used to help clean up the city's 22,000 miles of streets and alleyways. The city uses video and smartphones to collect data about illegal dumping, abandoned bulky items and other trash problems. The streets are labeled with three categories: being clean, somewhat clean and not clean. This program has resulted in an 80 percent reduction in the number of streets categorized as "not clean."

New Orleans

The city of New Orleans put three data sets together to help prevent deaths in fires, including:

homes without smoke detectors (from Census Bureau surveys)
homes at the greatest risk for fire fatalities, such as those with elderly and young children (from Census Bureau surveys)
neighborhoods with a history of house fires

With the aid of machine-learning technique, the city analyzed the data and identified the blocks where fire deaths were most likely to occur. Then, the fire department was able to target high-risk neighborhoods when distributing smoke detectors. Since early 2015, the department has installed 18,000 smoke detectors, as compared to installing 800 detectors per year under the old program.

How effective is it? A few months after the program began, three families (11 people in total) were alerted by the recently installed smoke detectors about a fire, and the firefighters were able to quickly respond to the incident.

#SmartCity #Technology #Trend #Trends #Hospitality #Hotel #Restaurant

Let's imagine how restaurants and hotels can be run inside a smart city

Here are my thoughts:

Restaurants and hotels can share their availability with the city, allowing people to easily locate the restaurants or hotels with empty seats or rooms.
Historic data of traffic, including foot traffic, can be used to predict sales, allowing restaurants and hotels to better manage employees' work schedules.
Restaurants and hotels will be able to get extra help even in the last minute when the city suddenly observes increasing traffic, possibly through the standby part-timers in the city's database.
Restaurants using automated services, such as coffee shops with robot baristas and self-service facilities with no hosts, no servers and no tables, can be built on the street with fast foot traffic.
New lodging products can be invented, where customer service will be provided in a remote mobile service center. Travelers can reserve and check into a hotel room with their mobile device, use their mobile device as a room key to get into the hotel room, have items delivered to their room with a robot, and check out with their mobile device. These hotels only need to hire staff to clean the rooms after the guests check out, in addition to the staff members working in the mobile service center.
Restaurants and hotels that provide customer service with humans can still be found inside the city, but possibly limited to some specific areas, with slower foot traffic and/or a lower turnaround rate.

What are your thoughts?

*The original and full-length of this discussion was firstly published on MultiBriefs.com.

How not to get replaced by machines

2017-04-27T14:20:00.000-04:00

I was not exaggerating in my previous article when I discussed how "machines will soon perform more service jobs than humans." If it is still difficult to convince you, here is an additional example: "Meet Sally, the robot who makes perfect salads." This machine specializes in only one menu item — salad — yet it can do a better job than most chefs. For example:

It can make salads within 60 seconds.
It makes salad with perfect proportions, even with accurate calorie counts.
It can create more than 1,000 salads from the 21 ingredients stored inside the machine.
Those 21 ingredients can be changed over time, making it possible for the machine to create even more salads.
It weighs 350 pounds.
It has a price tag of $30,000, but can also be leased for $500 a month.

"What? A machine that costs over $10,000? That is too expensive, especially when we consider the high maintenance fees associated with the machines. There is no way that restaurants would use such expensive machines to replace real humans at work." — That was one comment I received from my previous discussion.

Actually, $30,000 is not that expensive if we do the math.

Let's say a restaurant pays a cook $15 an hour ($15 an hour will soon become the minimum wage). Let's also assume the restaurant does not pay any benefits for this cook, even though an employer would usually pay over 30 percent on top of a staff person's base salary as benefits.

Thus, $30,000 is equivalent to 2,000 working hours for this chef ($15 x 2,000 = $30,000). If a full-time cook works eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, those 2,000 working hours are equivalent of 50 weeks of work for one cook (40 x 50 = 2,000).

Because a machine can work 16 hours a day without a break (two shifts), as compared to eight hours a day for a cook, those 50 weeks of work for one cook are now shortened into 25 weeks (if two cooks are replaced by the machine) (80 x 25 = 2,000).

In fact, a machine can work seven days a week without any holiday pay, meaning it can work for 112 hours a week (16 x 7 = 112). Then, it will only take 17.86 weeks, or 4.5 months for the restaurant to get the initial investment back (2,000 / 112 = 17.86; 17.86 / 4 = 4.46).

What do you think now? Does $30,000 still sound expensive to you? Most of all, when machines are put to work, there involves no recruiting or training cost, and machines will never call in sick or want to quit.

So, what can we do if we do not want to get replaced by machines?

If you are with me and convinced that most manual labor will be replaced soon, it is now time for us to make plans for the future. My suggestions include:

Strive to be a leader in the field

People can demonstrate their leadership potentials with a progressive career path on their resumes or through the leadership responsibilities they take in professional or student organizations.

Leaders are visionaries and focus on the big things in life. Leaders set good examples for others, but at the same time, they understand the art of delegation. Leaders inspire others and grow with their team. No matter how good they are, leaders never stop learning.

Focus on transferable skills

We need to develop transferable skills, such as leadership, critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as effective communication skills, in addition to the technical skills taught in class or learned at work. The content we learn in class or the ways people do business may change or get updated quickly, but those transferable skills will stay with us throughout our career.

Do whatever it takes to be irreplaceable

The attributes for being irreplaceable may include:

Being an advocate for our organization and ourselves both online and in person.
Being a good presenter or public speaker, with or without visual aids.
Being able to tell stories with pictures, which can be used in business communications, presentations, and public speaking.
Being approachable and being able to anticipate others' needs.
Being a critical thinker who can make informed, rational decisions, sometimes through an analysis of a data set or a complex situation.

What else can we do so that we will not be replaced by machines at work? Any suggestions?

Machines are now replacing humans in service jobs

2017-04-06T17:25:00.000-04:00

I am not joking. Machine serving people has now become the new reality, as I suggested in my recent discussion on Multibriefs.com .

Here are just some examples:

Does it become obvious that the new era of machines serving people has already arrived? I think it is now the time for those who are feeling the panic of being replaced by machines or robots at work to reconsider their career paths. Manual labor will certainly be replaced, and the only way for us to survive in this competition is to become the leaders in the field.

How to shut down bad online reviews

2017-04-04T13:07:00.001-04:00

What can managers do to shut down bad online reviews? Here is a real example:

It started at the Broadway Oyster Bar in St. Louis this February when Mary S., a Yelper, left the business with a one-star rating and a description of the negative experience she received in the restaurant. As a reference, the restaurant is now being monitored by Yelp for any content related to media reports, meaning some reviews have been or would be removed from the business's page on Yelp, but the restaurant has an overall 4.4 star rating from more than 900 Yelpers in March.

Mary went there for a birthday dinner. She claimed that she had a reservation for a party of nine people, but the party waited for two hours before they were finally seated. To make it even worse, because there were three additional people joining the party and the manager was unwilling to work with them, they would have to wait for longer to be seated together or be split up.

She then took the group of 12 people with her to a nearby restaurant, where she and her guests could enjoy a "FABULOUS dinner with EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE"(in Mary's own words).

Then, the owner of the restaurant exercised his rights of responding to Mary's review on Yelp — for every comment left by a customer, managers are usually allowed to post one response. As a matter of fact, managers are highly recommended to post managerial responses to online reviews because their responses have significant positive impacts on the helpfulness of reviews as well as their business's financial performance.

The owner of the Broadway Oyster Bar pointed out the "real" facts on Yelp, including:

Mary did not have a reservation because the restaurant doesn't take reservations.
The party was waiting for one hour and half, but not two hours.
The party of nine was indeed squishing in a table for eight guests, but that was agreed to by the party.
Shortly after the party was seated, five additional guests (not three) joined the party.
Without asking for any assistance, the party helped themselves by getting more chairs from another part of the restaurant.
When 14 people sitting in a table for eight, some guests were actually sitting in the aisles or right next to other guests.
Because the party had infringed on other guests' personal space and the server found it difficult to serve the party in their current seating situation, the floor manager offered a separate table for those five additional guests, which triggered a fight between a member from the party and the staff, or "a heated argument with F-bombs" in the manager's words.
Some members of the party ended up staying and not going with Mary to another restaurant.

Later, Mary posted another review to respond to the manager's "real" facts:

Some members of her party stayed only because they had already ordered food and wanted to wait to take out their order so that they could join the party afterward in another restaurant.
"The rest of your inaccuracies were not even worth debating."

Now that you have read the reviews from Mary and the manager's response, which side will you take? Who presented the real facts?

More importantly, do you see how critical it is for the owner to respond to Mary's review? In a case like this, managerial responses can provide additional information from the business's perspective, allowing other customers to make an informed purchasing decision with an evaluation of both sides of the story.

In the end, I would like to make the following recommendations for managers who are ready to take an active role in responding to online reviews:

Listen to what customers say about your business, and treat online reviews as customer feedback.
Encourage satisfied customers to post positive reviews and let them be the advocates for the business.
Thank those "influential" customers who left positive reviews.
Stay calm when reading negative reviews; do not get emotional.
Focus on the facts, but not how you feel or how the guest felt when writing a response.
When more than one customer brings up the same issue, it is likely that the customer is right.
When the customer is right, acknowledge that and seek ways to address the issue. It is important to show that the management team is listening and working on the issue.
Understand the needs and wants of the target customers. Because different customers are seeking different types of product-service mixes, managers should adopt different tactics in responding to online reviews based on the unique characteristics their product carries.

What else should a manager do in responding to online reviews? What are your suggestions?

* Another version of this post was published in MultiBrief.com.

Managerial responses to online reviews: Strategies should vary across different hotels

2017-02-20T13:05:00.001-05:00

Last month, I published two journal articles about online reviews. The first one was about how managers of different hotels should use different strategies to respond to online reviews and published in The Cornell Hospitality Quarterly (with Karen Xie and Wei Wang). The second one was a review of current literature about online reviews and published in International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (with Karen Xie and Tori Richards).

I highlighted the important implications of these two journal articles on Multibriefs.com. For example, I recommend that responses to online reviews should vary based on hotel class. In particularly:

Budget traveler hotels — provide more but also more concise (shorter) responses by the executives.

Mid-market economy hotels — provide more responses by the executives.

Full-service hotels — provide more responses by the executives in a timely manner.

Above-average hotels — provide more and longer responses by the functional managers (e.g., front desk manager, sales manager, etc.) and reply in a timely manner.

Luxury hotels — provide more and longer responses by the functional managers.

In the literature review paper, we pointed out what we know and what we don't know about online reviews. Particularly, I would like to see what you want to know about online reviews. Maybe your comments will inspire more research studies in the future to help us further advance our knowledge about online reviews.

Looking forward to 2017 with a review of 2016

2017-01-01T14:27:00.001-05:00

Are you ready for a new year? I know I am. As we are looking forward to 2017, let's review some of the key events and discussions in 2016 as published at MultiBriefs.com.

Impacts from the major events in 2016

There were several surprising, if not revolutionary, changes in 2016 that need our special attention as we enter 2017. Here are some examples:

Donald Trump will officially become the 45th president of the United States after the inauguration on Jan. 20. I do not believe his presidency or his comments about illegal immigrants will stop people from traveling to the U.S., but his foreign policies — such as tighter border controls and new regulations or procedures of handling visas for temporary visitors — might have a negative impact. Meanwhile, Trump's infrastructure plan may boost the travel and tourism industry, providing easier, faster and safer access to a destination.
A growing number of terrorist attacks in Europe have made (or soon will make) it more difficult to travel from one country to another in Europe. Those tragic events also put people in great concern of their safety when traveling inside of Europe.
Brexit is probably the most shocking news in 2016 for Europeans. This past weekend, Italian voters rejected a batch of reforms, and the resounding defeat has led to the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Now, there is a strong chance Italy will become the second country to separate from the European Union (EU). The collapse of EU would make it more difficult to travel in Europe. The positive spin of Brexit is that the value of the pound is at a historic low, making a trip to Britain a great bargain.
President Barack Obama's visit to Cuba helps to spur travel to the country.

The economy

The U.S. dollar remained strong in 2016, and this trend will probably continue in 2017. We can expect a more diverse mix of international travelers visiting the U.S. as the number of visitors from Canada and Mexico drops. Meanwhile, more Americans are expected to travel overseas.
Travelers have been taking more road trips in recent years due to low gas prices. Last week, however, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reached an agreement to cut production, which may lead to higher gas prices in the future.
The possible recession, as well as the rising minimum wages will continue pushing hospitality businesses to optimize efficiency in operations. More restaurants and hotels are rolling out new concepts, such as automatic service and no-tipping policies.

The evolving competitive landscape

2016 has been an exciting year for many hoteliers. Marriott and Starwood completed a merger and became the biggest hotel chain in the world. Yet the competition is just going to get tougher. For example:

More hotels are luring travelers with local flavors.
Hotels are reinventing their loyalty programs to win travelers, as reflected in 2016's top travel reward programs.
Room-sharing websites, such as Airbnb, have become a big threat to hotels, even though some believe Airbnb's negative impact remains negligible.
As hotels continue to fight with online travel agents (OTAs) using book-direct campaigns, we need to pay close attention to the possibility of Airbnb and OTAs working together against hotels.
Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and online reviews deserve continuous attention from businesses. I am going to share the results of my research on online reviews as soon as my papers become available on the journals' websites.

Travelers want more authentic experiences

In 2016, I also shared a few discussions about new hotel and travel trends. Today's travelers want to gain more authentic experience in a tourist destination. They want to try local flavors, demand efficient service with the aid of technology, stay healthy and practice sustainability.

Above is a highlight of the key events of 2016, as reflected in my discussions over the year. Do you recall any big events in 2016 that I missed? How would they impact the future of hospitality and tourism business?

References:
The picture was downloaded from ArmstrongEconomics.com.

2017 hotel trends: Some indications from AHLA 2016 Lodging Survey

2016-11-22T15:09:00.001-05:00

Recently, the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) and Smith Travel Research (STR) released the "2016 Lodging Survey." The goal of this biennial survey is to provide a current and comprehensive understanding of hotel operations, with the possibility of identifying the critical travel trends heading into 2017.

The survey covers a wide range of areas. I highlighted the key findings from the survey on Multibriefs.com, but here is a brief summary:

Technology

#Hotel #Trends http://bit.ly/112216

Almost all hotels across various chain scales (from luxury to economy hotels) adopt central reservation systems (94-100 percent).
More hotels are using mobile apps for customer service, including checking-in into a hotel.
98 percent of hotels offer high-speed in-room internet service with wireless access, with fewer hotels charging for the service.
Fewer hotels are using social networking sites for marketing purposes, dropping from 93 percent in 2014 to 87 percent in 2016.

Additional discussions for consideration:

Sustainability

A substantial increase in the number of hotels using high-efficiency/LED lighting.
94 percent of hotels offer a towel/linen reuse program.
47 percent of hotels participate in an amenity-recycling program.
A record number is set by the hotels using energy management sensors in rooms.

Additional discussions for consideration:

In-room amenities

A downward trend shows fewer hotels are offering shower-only rooms.
Only 10 percent use shower shampoo/conditioner dispensers.

Guest services

85 percent of hotels that are located at an airport location provide complimentary airport shuttle service.
62 percent of hotels offer complimentary breakfast — 80 percent among upper-midscale hotels, 96 percent among midscale hotels and 81 percent among economy hotels.
The percentage of hotels that provide room service dropped to 22 percent, but at the same, 21 percent offer alternatives to traditional room service.
34 percent of hotels charge a fee for checking out one or more days early.

Additional discussions for consideration:

Property offering

55 percent of luxury hotels and 25 percent of independent hotels have music/entertainment/nightclubs, much higher than other categories.
Large meeting space (over 10,000 square feet) is usually found in luxury, upper-upscale and independent hotels.
More hotels are offering free parking service, increasing from 72 percent in the previous survey to 85 percent this year.

Additional discussions for consideration:

Managing travelers' experience, through an understanding of the travel trends for millennials

Safety and security

86 percent of hotels installed surveillance cameras in the lobby, the highest number ever.
Additional discussions for consideration:

Charging a fee for Wi-Fi service for security and stability

Will you be able to see the 2017 hotel trends from this report? Please share your thoughts with us, as I share mine under "additional discussions for consideration."

Advertising Methods Done Right (by Enmy Zheng Feng)

2016-11-20T14:28:00.001-05:00

Hotels have a difficulty in building relationships with their customers through advertisements. Nowadays, it is not an easy task to inform a customer about one’s property, especially to the millennials. Some customers do not find ads credible or accurate, and new software such as AdBlock provides customers the options to remove advertisements from their computer. Today, people rely on social media to acquire and follow the latest trends. A new method of advertisement has taken over due to this concept. Many hotels are changing their marketing plan and trying to improve their social media presence to gain more sales. Moreover, Google has come up with a plan to help hotels acquire more businesses.

Social media have become a great mean to advertise a product. However, advertising on social media is different than on television. It is not as simple as opening a Facebook fan page or creating an Instagram account. It requires hours of preparation and a good understanding of what customers are looking for. For instance, on Instagram, I follow a very well-known fashion stylist who is always traveling. Through her posts, I have noticed that she mentions the places that she has visited. The pictures that she posts show the beauty of those places and can inspire people to visit. The places she has visited, the hotels she has stayed, and the food she has eaten are all advertised in the forms of social media posts.

On the other hand, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts have utilized social media in a different manner. They decided to create a campaign featuring a plush toy named Maxine. This plush toy was featured in all the most well-known social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and etcetera. Maxine traveled everywhere in the Big Apple, and people were excited to see where Maxine was going to travel next. This was a genius idea since it was meant to target family travelers to their hotels. Kids loved the plush toy and they wanted to visit the same destinations that Maxine had visited. They were also able to interact with Maxine in their facilities. The campaign not only brought profits to the hotel, but also to nearby businesses featured in Maxine’s travels.

Google has been experimenting with a new way of advertising, according to Nicholas Ward (2016), CEO of a digital marketing agency. Every time a person searches for information about a hotel, or when they want to book a room through Google search engine, nearby deals will be shown at the top of the list. People will be able to click on them and more information about the hotel will be shown. Also, when changing the check-in and check-out dates, the deal will also change just like any other booking websites. Moreover, Google is trying to make the search engine better to their users by offering not only the best deal but also hotels that are similar in rating for people to compare. Users will be more well informed, and this will make their booking experience more satisfying.

These new ways of advertisement will influence the sales of many hotels in the long run. On the other hand, it is important for hotels to understand this processes and to know how to employ each mean of advertising. For instance, for the hotel to thrive, it would be beneficial for the hotel to be seen in the nearby deals under Google’s search engine. This is because many millennials seek inexpensive hotels with a good location. Social media advertising can also be difficult but not impossible if they have a good sales marketing plan. I believe if done well, a hotel could increase its sales due to these new ways of advertising. What would the advancement in technology affect sales in the future? Would televised advertisement cease to exist? If so, why or why not?

About the Author

Enmy is a Chinese who was born in Venezuela. She loves to travel, discover new places, and plan events. These are the reasons why she chose hospitality management as a career. Enmy is fluent in Spanish, English, and Cantonese, and she is also in the process of learning Mandarin. Enmy is now a senior at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and she is expected to graduate in Spring 2017. She is very interested in event planning and wants to own her own event planning company in the future. She is diligent and cooperative, and she currently works at Wokcano, Pasadena as a host.

Reference

Ward, N. (2016, October 24). Google tests single hotel deal placements in search - Tnooz. Retrieved November 02, 2016, from https://www.tnooz.com/article/google-tests-single-hotel-deal-search/

Olenski, S. (2014, February 7). The Impact Of Social Media In The Travel Marketing Industry. Retrieved November 2, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2014/02/07/the-impact-of-social-media-in-the-travel-marketing-industry/#2f794f725c37

Public Relations and Social Media (by Marlon Wong Granados)

2016-06-11T14:03:00.001-04:00

“Every business interacts with a variety of publics: consumers, the general public, the financial community, the organizations’ employees, government, the media, suppliers, and many others. Public relations is the process by which the relationships with each to these publics is managed.” --- Reid and Bojanic, in Hospitality Marketing Management (2010, p. 492).

Just recently at my workplace, there was an incident regarding one of my coworkers. It turns out that he used Facebook’s personal messaging system as a medium to exchange harsh words with another person. This person was not in any way connected to our company, but after finding out where my coworker worked through my coworker’s Facebook profile, this person decided to post on our company’s public Facebook profile what my coworker had said to them for anyone to see. It appeared that my coworker said things that were not nice; and even though he thought he was having a private conversation via personal messaging with this person, this person exposed publicly what was said. The person also accused our workplace of hiring a person that was disrespectful and crass. The incident was handled by management, in essence it was a minor job in public relations, and as such the post was deleted, the person contacted by management, and after conducting an investigation, my workplace decided that my coworker must be let go.

This incident first made me think about our first amendment --- our freedom of speech. While my coworker said disrespectful words, was it right for the other person involved to accuse him at his workplace, to expose him on the company’s Facebook profile? Was it the correct decision for the company to let my coworker go? Secondly, I thought of the issue of public relations for company. A company’s public relations team might be an external company or it could just be an owner or a manager. Nowadays, companies should provide guidelines in employee manuals that refer to social media use, especially usage regarding the company. Even in the mentioned incident, where the private discussion was not about anything related to the company, the way someone projects themselves when speaking to another person, regardless of the medium, can be measured against the values of a company. While our company did have social media guidelines regarding the use of these tools concerning the company itself, and while there was nothing explicitly mentioned on the employee handbook about conducting oneself appropriately when speaking to other people outside of work, it was implied in our manual that we must conduct ourselves professionally in and out of work.

In the early days of Facebook, I wouldn’t think twice about posting any kind of status update, much less what I wrote in a personal message. In those days, while we still valued anonymity and privacy, as a society we were slowly changing. There was no Instagram or Yelp, and most people remained anonymous through nicknames and online handles. With the advent of social media sites, starting with Myspace, social media began to change. We started posting selfies, carefully manicuring our personal profiles, and increasingly communicating with one another online. Facebook came along and at first it was a college student only website. With the expansion of Facebook to encompass anyone in the world, including our parents and bosses, there were some issues that we began to deal with.

Do we have to self-censor nowadays? If we do, does it inhibit part of our personality? What can companies do to protect themselves from incidents such as my coworker’s? As future managers, we will have to deal with issues such as this, and we must learn how to handle them effectively.

About the Author

Marlon Wong-Granados is a transfer student and Hospitality Management major at Cal Poly Pomona. His focus is on Restaurant Management. His ultimate goal is to be a restaurant operator and make a positive impact in the restaurant industry. He enjoys food, soccer, boxing, and travel.

References

Reid, R.D. and Bojanic, D.C. (2010). Hospitality Marketing Management (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The picture was downloaded from the TopRankBlog.com

Do you want the option of accessing all social media websites?

2015-09-24T21:52:00.000-04:00

Social media allows mass communications, but WeChat does not. When people post something on a social media website, such as Facebook, people can interact with their friends' friends even thought they may not connect with their friends' friends on Facebook. They can also search and participate in trending conversations with the aids of hashtags. Can people do that on WeChat?

People can only interact with the friends with direct connections on WeChat. Let's say two people, Tom and Amy are "friends" on WeChat. I happen to know both of them in person but I am only connected with Tom on WeChat. When Tom posts an update, Amy and I can both respond to Tom's update, but I will not be able to see the conversation between Amy and Tom. Likewise, Amy will not able to see my conversation with Tom because Amy and I are not connected. The hashtags do not work on WeChat either.

Therefore, I don't think WeChat is a real social media tool. And because most social media tools are blocked in Mainland China, people living there really don't have a voice on social media.

The fact that people don't have access to social media in Mainland China does not surprise me, however. Things have always been well controlled for decades. What shocks me the most is people's choice when they are presented with options.

I met a nice lady last week, who told me she originally came from Shanghai and had been working at Cal Poly Pomona for over 10 years. We briefly talked about the firewall issues in Mainland China. Her response was: "I only want one-to-one conversation like what WeChat offers. I don't want Facebook or any other social media tools. They are just too much! Why bother?" When she said "I," her attitude and body language suggested that she was referring to the people living in China. All of a sudden, she became very offensive.

I was shocked. It is fine for people not to use the real social media tools. And yes, they may choose to have one-to-one conversation via SMS, WeChat, e-mails, or phone calls, but the question is: Do we want people to have the option of carrying on one-to-many or many-to-many conversations besides one-to-one conversation?

I certainly respected her choice, and I stopped the conversation. Yet, her comments keep me wonder what Mainland Chinese really want. Unfortunately, they cannot answer my question as they are not allowed on Blogger.com.

Documenting the Changes of B2C Communications on Facebook from 2010 to 2014

2015-05-08T18:40:00.000-04:00

Last, I published a research study in Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, and I shared a brief discussion about this study on MultiBriefs.com. In this study, I led a research team to investigate how restaurants' B2C communication strategies evolved on Facebook over time and how consumers' reactions to a variety of Facebook messages changed over time.

We analyzed 2,463 Facebook messages initiated by 10 restaurant chains in the fourth quarter of 2010, 2012, and 2014. We have found status updates experienced a substantial decrease by restaurants while usage of photo updates increased dramatically in the same period. Photo remained to be the most "popular" media type, receiving most "Likes," comments, and shares from consumers. Video was not "popular" at all in 2010 but experienced a slight increase in usage and slowly emerged in 2012 and 2014 as another "popular" media.

Drawing from the research findings, I made the following recommendations to businesses:

Engage with Facebook users in a consistent manner. We found that companies could win more customers over time by posting about the same amount of messages over the years.
Post high-quality photos. Because it seems "everyone" knows the power of photos on Facebook, now it may take more than just a regular photo to catch people's attention.
Use other picture-based social media tools to engage customers, such as Instagram and Pinterest.
Choose an eye-catching screen shot for a video cover.

If you are interested in reading more of our findings and implications, please email me for a desk copy of the article for personal usage or download the article online on Emerald Insight.

Have you observed any changes among organizations' or people's behavior on Facebook? Would you mind sharing your observations with us?

#B2C #Communications #Facebook #Research #Longitudinal

Can Hotels Fine Guests for a Bad Review?

2014-08-08T12:34:00.000-04:00

A hotel in Upstate NY has a policy to fine guests for bad reviews on online review sites. Is it even legal?

The hotel says it never enforce the policy. If so, why would this hotel put this policy out there for criticism? Well, unless the management wants to get more attention, regardless if it is good or bad.

Check out more details in the following Fox News video.

Are Customers Also Responsible for Their Dining Experience?

2014-08-07T20:44:00.000-04:00

I recently read an interesting experiment from a famous restaurant in #NYC, where the owners compared customers' behavior of today and that of 10 years ago. I wrote an article about it on MultiBriefs.

Here is what was reported by the restaurant (and what I included in the article):

July 1, 2004:

Customers walked in.

They were seated with a menu. Three out of 45 requested for a different seat.

Customers spent about 8 minutes on the menu before closing it, indicating that they were ready to order.

Servers instantly took the order.

Appetizers were served in about 6 minutes (except for complex items).

Two out of 45 customers sent items back.

Servers remained attentive to customers.

Checks were delivered when customers finished their meals.

Customers left within 5 minutes.

On average, it took 1 hour and 5 minutes from start to finish.

July 3, 2014:

Customers walked in.

They were seated with a menu. Eighteen out of 45 requested for a different seat.

Instead of opening the menu, they took their phones out. Some were taking pictures; others were just playing with their phones.

Seven out of 45 had servers come over immediately.

They showed something on their phone to the server and took about 5 minutes of the server’s time. Later, the servers explained to the management team that the customers needed help with Wi-Fi connections for their phones.

When servers approached customers for orders, most had not even opened the menu and asked the servers to wait.

Customers finally opened the menu, with their hands holding their phones on top of the menu. They were still playing with their phone.

Servers came back to check with the customers. Customers asked for additional time.

Customers were finally ready to order, with an average wait time of 21 minutes.

Food began arriving in about 6 minutes (except for complex items).

Twenty-six out of 45 customers spent about 3 minutes taking pictures of the food.

Fourteen out of 45 customers spent an additional 4 minutes taking pictures of themselves or one another with the food in front of them.

Nine out of 45 customers sent food back to reheat.

Twenty-seven out of 45 customers asked servers to take a group picture for them. On average, it took about 5 minutes of theirs and the server’s time until the customers were satisfied with the group picture.

On average, customers spent 20 minutes more on the meal and 15 minutes more to pay and leave.

Eight out of 45 bumped into somebody in the restaurant while they were texting and walking in/out of the restaurant.

On average, it took 1 hour and 55 minutes from start to finish.

I am thinking: Are customers also responsible for their dining experience? How does technology has brought down (if it does in some way) people's dining experience? In regarding to online reviews, what information matters most from online reviews --- The overall rating? Service? Quality of food? Or something else?

What Is the Core Principle of Social Media Marketing?

2014-04-19T18:03:00.002-04:00

I attended the Social Media Marketing World Conference 2014 in San Diego (#SMMW14). I heard many case studies and real success on social media marketing, which were drawn from different industrial sectors and represented a variety of social media platforms. In the end, I made one conclusion: Listening and responding to customers is the core principle of social media marketing. Companies now can answer the following questions by analyzing the consumer data on the Internet:

For what purpose or on what occasion do customers use a product/service?
What do they like or dislike about a product/service? And for what reasons?
Who is actually buying and using a particular product/service?
When is the best time to communicate with the target customers on social media?
Where is the best "place" to reach the target customers?

Is it that simple? Just "listen" to what customers said online, and then "respond" to what they need? Check out my reflections on #SMMW14.

What Is the Future for Hotel Centeral Reservation Center?

2014-03-10T14:08:00.000-04:00

In a recent post I shared on MultiBriefs.com, I discussed the future of the traditional central reservation centers (CRCs) in hotels. If CRCs are determined to "step down from the stage," what can hotels do to prepare for the future? Will a mobile service center be the answer? If so, what will a mobile service center do?

What changes do you anticipate in CRCs? If you work in a hotel's CRCs, what changes have you seen in the past five years?

References:
The picture was downloaded from PhonePhunnies.com

Brand Loyalty Programs: Let the Customer Work for You (Contributed by Cesar Tenorio)

2014-02-15T14:06:00.001-05:00

One of the biggest issues that the hotel industry has been facing today is the lack of guest retention to a certain brand. With the added competition of online travel agencies (OTA's) today, hotels are scrambling to try and get guests to stick around for more reasons than just room rates and complimentary Wi-Fi.

Cue in the loyalty program: a business technique that awards those returning guests through free parking, free snacks, a fancy name, and you guessed it, complimentary Wi-Fi. However, even with the opportunity with all the perks and salty snacks that a hotel offers, marketing researchers are still scratching their heads as to what will make people not only prefer a certain brand, but also desire it. It strongly poses the question, what do we have to do next? Or what new thing can we offer? Maybe it's time to start asking, is it time to step back and view the issue in a new lens?

To begin, we need to boil down this issue to its core: satisfying the guests' wants in a unique way. I observed how many loyalty programs offer generally the same amenities along with the same customer service. This leaves customers with no choice but to base loyalty programs off of price and free nights than rather the distinguishable experience that the hotel strives for. Additionally, with the rapid advancement of technology, companies are slowly implementing online strategies to differentiate themselves. The answer? Companies need to take some time to rethink their online presence and generate a solid, online game plan to stay ahead of the competition.

According to Access and Fast Company statistics, 66% of 18-24 year olds are more loyal to companies with a strong social media presence. Meanwhile, the fastest growing demographic on Twitter consists of those in the 55-64 year old age bracket. As you scroll down the tons of stories on Facebook or view the amount of Twitter 'favorites' a single tweet generates from Justin Bieber's latest arrest, the fact seems apparent that online social media is how people quickly communicate today. It has no longer become a hobby, but a lifestyle. More and more people are implementing social media into their lives ranging from posting pictures of adorable puppies on Facebook to young women incorporating Pintrest ideas into their weddings. If every brand boasts of such a unique culture, why not let guests become a part of it? Better yet, why not let them take the wheel and drive?

It is a common rule of thumb that one satisfied guest may speak with two people about their experience, but will tell twenty people if they had a bad stay. With the advantage of social media, those satisfied guests can now tell hundreds of people on a single media source. The catch? To find the motivation for guests to pull out their media device and capture moments that you want captured.

One of the more straight forward techniques is to visually impress the guest so that they will take a picture and share it with their friends. Want to take it one step further? Actively encourage guests to share their experiences through social media by taking photos of their drinks, views from their hotel room, and their trips that they embark while they're out of the hotel. Is there a bartender who can serve drinks while performing tricks? Let the guests take a Snapchat video of the bartender expertly tossing bottles around and finish the spectacle by pouring a perfect long island iced tea. Another way to get guests incorporated is by asking what plans future guests have when they stay at a particular hotel. Even a simple 'Tag someone you love/know' while posting a picture of a popular destination is enough to get people talking and start tagging their friends. The idea is participation in the organization. The more that people are incorporated into the hotel culture, the more they will feel inclined to return to a certain brand.

One amazing thing that I have seen is how small operations are able to have a hold on so many followers. One Instagram user that I am impressed is Beautiful Destinations. They have over a million followers on Instagram and the only things they post are beautiful photos of various locations around the world and ask their followers to tag someone else. They constantly update their feed two or three times a day all while receiving over 10k favorites on at least every photo. Large name brands such as Hilton and Marriott have just over 5K followers. The demand for a shift towards a new loyalty program is higher than ever before.

What do you think would be a huge factor in guest retention? Do you think small business tactics such as Beautiful Destinations would work for a large name brand? Do you think social media can play a part in guest retention?

About the Author

Cesar Tenorio is a full-time undergraduate student at the Collins College of Hospitality Management in California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he is currently pursuing a degree in Hospitality Management. He has held several different positions on campus including Resident Advisor, Orientation Leader, Executive Director for the Up 'Til Dawn fundraising event, and more. He also held an internship position this past summer in the selective Hilton Worldwide program. He has also received scholarships from both The Collins College and the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Cesar currently aspires to receive a management program upon graduation and pursue an MBA in Finance.

References:

Lodging Staff. "Your Good Name." Lodging. n.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

Wengen, Deidre. "Building Guest Loyalty in the Digital Age." Lodging. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

Cooper, Belle B. "10 Surprising Social Media Statistics That Will Make You Rethink Your Social Strategy | Fast Company | Business + Innovation." Fast Company. N.p., 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

Carter, Brandon. "The Access Loyalty Blog." The Access Loyalty Blog. N.p., 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

Social Media in Hotel Operations - by Yu Hsan Wang

2014-02-12T15:09:00.000-05:00

The amount of smart phone users are ever-growing, and ownership of smartphones have become the norm. With carriers rolling out cheap data plans, wireless internet on the go has become extremely affordable. The widespread access to internet content on mobile devices has made it possible for millions of smartphone users to stay connected through social media regardless of their location.

According to the article, Social Media Inspires Hotel Design by Terence Baker, many hotels are incorporating social media into their hotel designs in order to keep up with the trends of the digital age. By capitalizing this idea, hoteliers are able to attract consumers and provide them with a brand new experience where they can “meet, interact, have fun, compete, experience, flirt, tweet and much, much more” (Baker). A hotel property in Dublin offers Twitter-themed rooms where customers can “tweet” requests such as filling their mini bars. This innovative service makes it extremely easy for the room service department to keep track of requests; and on the other hand, the sales for mini bar items may increase due to the curiosity to try out this service.

Aside from offering a wide array of unique services through social media, hotel owners can also utilize this platform as a source of research. The 1888 Hotel re-designed the rooms by browsing through countless hotel design photos that were shared on Instagram, where “every angle, detail and element of the hotel was looked at through the prism of an Instagram photograph” (Baker).

By looking at the trend on Instagram, hoteliers can have a grasp of what is liked and what is not by consumers and remodel their properties to cater to the likes and wants of customers. When digital meets design, hotels are able to provide customers with a sense of participation where their voice is heard and their meets met. Besides offering a brand new experience to customers, hotels are able to save money on their R&D sector by crowdsourcing ideas from various social media sites, creating a win-win situation where they make more money by spending less. These secondary data are an inexpensive, yet valuable asset to hotel owners; they can keep track of real-time trends and interact with users to improvise on the service they deliver.

The trend utilizing social media in hotels have also become a marketing scheme for hotels where customers can gain access to live updates about the events and happenings of the hotels in which they plan to stay. This way, not only can guests obtain information easily, they can also share this information with their friends and create a word of mouth effect, which can bring in even more potential customers to the property.

What kind of service would you, as a guest, wish to see in hotels that incorporates social media? If hotels are a place where people go for getaways, will the incorporation of social media contradict the very essence of taking a rest from life?

About the author:

Hi all, my name is Yu Hsuan Wang, but you can call me Alicia. I am a third year hospitality management student in The Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona, with an emphasis on hotel management. I was a transfer student from Mt. San Antonio College, the school that opened my eyes to the world of the hospitality industry. I am originally from Taiwan where tourism is an integral part of the country’s economy; and because of that, there is a bright outlook for the hospitality industry. I hope that I can learn as much as possible and bring it with me back to my home country one day and make practicing it into a career.

Creating Original Content --- First and Foremost for Blogging

2014-01-26T17:11:00.000-05:00

Do you know many websites are built on a WordPress (blog) theme? Oh yes. People are very likely reading blogs when they browse contents on the internet, and blogging can be very effective in marketing communications and making sales. Yet, how does blogging different from Facebook or Twitter updates? What can we expected from a good blog post?

Blog is definitely different from Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites. Blogging is more than just an update. There is no set limit on how many characters a blog post can have, allowing people to publish longer and more in-depth discussion. Plus, bloggers can embed other social media contents in a post (e.g., pictures and videos).

I started blogging about four years ago. When I first started, I did more “sharing” than “creating.” I shared the news articles that I found interesting and relevant to my target audience. My blog posts read more like summaries of relevant news articles with very little in-depth discussion. Over time, I saw a steady increase of pageviews, but I wondered why would people want to read my “summaries.” They can easily find summaries of news updates on the internet. If they only want to read the news articles that are relevant to them (e.g., my blog is related to hospitality management and social media), they can sign up for those subscription services available on the internet and the news will “find” them instead. Moreover, if I only want to share news articles, I can do that just as well on Twitter or Facebook. Why do I bother to talk about those updates on my blog?

To me, a good blog discussion must reveal what is “inside” of the author, and good bloggers post original content. They share their unique perspectives of an event or develop knowledge-based propositions. If a blogger simply shares a summary of somebody else’s work, s/he is just “manipulating content.” Creating original content should be the first and foremost indication of a good blog post.

In fact, creating original content has become extremely important in social media marketing and business communications. Taco Bell, for example, shared in the Big Data Idea Exchange Workshop @UCIrvine that the company had sent the social media team to The New York Times and The Huffington Post for training because Taco Bell also wants to be a content creator on social media. Evidence from Taco Bell’s social media presence has shown the training had paid off.

Do you read blogs? Please share with us what blogs or websites you visit often and what draws you back to those blogs or websites.

References:

The picture was downloaded from Profalbrecht.wordpress.com