To tweet or not to tweet: that is the question for hoteliers: a preliminary study

Abstract

Social media present the hospitality industry with an unparalleled opportunity to make greater contact with its customers and ultimately create partnerships for brand growth and development. Twitter has commanded a presence in company brands, including those in the hotel industry, since its beginning in 2006. But which hotel segments are using Twitter effectively and which guest cohort should hotels target? This paper provides strategies for using Twitter by observing different strategies implemented by hotel segments and identifying a target market, Using two separate exploratory studies, one applying a qualitative method and the other a quantitative survey method, this study investigated the differences in the use of Twitter by two separate lodging segments (e.g. Mid-scale and luxury) and by Generation Y, which is the largest consumer segment today and entering its critical years of consumption behavior. Results from both studies suggest that luxury hotels and their target market are much more active on Twitter than the midscale hotel segment. However, Generation Y users may not be the end market for hotels as they are particular about the frequency of on-line information and how it is presented. Implications suggest that although there is no current expectation from midscale hotel travelers to follow a Twitter feed, the increasing presence of Twitter will demand that midscale hotels actively participate on the social media site in the near future.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

2.1 Study 1 Interview Questions

2.1.1 General questions

• 1. Do you have a Twitter account? (Qualifying question—if no did not have Twitter account, survey ended).

• 2. How long has the hotel had a Twitter account?

• 3. What triggered the hotel to create a Twitter account?

• 4. How active is the hotel on Twitter?

• 5. Who is in charge of the Twitter account?

• 6. How long did it take for the Twitter account to start attracting a good number of followers?

• 7. Does the hotel follow competitors on Twitter?

• 8. Does the hotel follow guests on Twitter?

  • a. How did you decide to follow a guest?

2.1.2 Communication strategy

• 9. What type of guest is the hotel mainly trying to attract on Twitter? Potential? Current stay guests? Loyal Guests? General Public?

• 10. Does the account generally Tweet out to individual people first or does the account wait for the person to Tweet at the hotel first?

• 11. Does the hotel Tweet about promotions?

• 12. Does the hotel Tweet about upcoming events in the area? Concerts? Games?

• 13. Does the hotel use Twitter to resolve guest issues?

• 14. Does the hotel use Twitter to re-Tweet complimentary comments on the hotel?

• 15. Does the hotel use Twitter to foresee the needs of guests with upcoming arrivals?

• 16. Does the hotel use Twitter get an understanding of the expectations of today’s travelers in general?

• 17. Does the hotel use Twitter to keep track of the specific preferences of individual guests?

• 18. Does the hotel have their front desk employees observe what people are saying on Twitter about the hotel?

• 19. Has the hotel ever used Twitter directly to make a sell to a guest?

• 20. Is there a certain type of Tweet that the hotel generally watches out for to respond or keep track of? Guest Issues? Compliments of hotels?

• 21. Do guests ever use the hotel’s Twitter account to directly ask questions about the hotel?

  • a. Does the hotel follow up on these questions?

• 22. Does the hotel reach out to guests that have previously stayed at the hotel?

  • a. How does the hotel generally reach out? Thank yous? Safe travels?

2.1.3 Outcome

• 23. By reaching out to guests that have previously stayed at the hotel, has the hotel found that this aids in building guest loyalty? Guest Satisfaction?

• 24. By Tweeting about any upcoming events in the area, can you say this has led to rooms being sold?

• 25. By Tweeting promotions, has the hotel found that this has increased awareness and purchasing decisions of the promotion?

• 26. How do guests react to having their issues resolved through Twitter?

  • a. Are guests generally impressed? Satisfied?

  • b. Has this aided in increasing guest loyalty? Repeat guests?

  • c. Are there guests that find that issues resolved through Twitter is unconventional?

• 27. Is there one specific example that directly led to a room being sold through Twitter?

  • a. Did you try to recreate this situation afterwards?

• 28. Do guests ever re-Tweet what the hotel posts?

  • a. What type of posts are mainly re-Tweeted?

  • b. Do you find that re-Tweets create a sudden jump in an increase of followers?

• 29. Can you safely say that since the activation of your Twitter account, hotel occupancy has increased?

• 30. Can you safely say that since the activation of your Twitter account, guest loyalty and repeat guests have increased?

• 31. Are there any other noticeable changes that have occurred to the hotel in regards to its guests since the activation of Twitter?

2.2 Study 2 survey measures

Appendix 3: Definitions

Favorite Favorite a Tweet means to mark it as one of your favorites by clicking the yellow star next to the message.

Follow To follow someone on Twitter is to subscribe to their Tweets or updates on the site.

Follower A follower is another Twitter user who has followed you.

Hashtag The # symbol is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users.

Interactions A timeline in the Connect tab displaying all ways other users have interacted with your account, like adding you to a list, sending you a @reply, marking one of your Tweets as a Favorite, re-Tweeting one of your Tweets.

Mention Mentioning another user in your Tweet by including the @ sign followed directly by their username is called a “mention”. Also refers to Tweets in which your username was included.

Reply (@) A Tweet posted in reply to another user’s message, usually posted by clicking the “reply” button next to their Tweet in your timeline. Always begins with @username.

Re-Tweet (RT) A Tweet by another user, forwarded to you by someone you follow. Often used to spread news or share valuable findings on Twitter.

To Re-Tweet To re-Tweet, re-Tweeting, re-Tweeted. The act of forwarding another user’s Tweet to all of your followers.

To Tweet Tweet, Tweeting, Tweeted. The act of posting a message, often called a “Tweet”, on Twitter.

Tweet A message posted via Twitter containing 140 characters or fewer.