Impact of Facebook Marketing on E - Word of Mouth: With Reference to the Hotel Industry

Abstract

This study concentrates on consumer perception of hotel Facebook pages and how effective are the contents posted in those pages in creating a word of mouth about the hotels. The Consumers perception on Facebook has been rapidly evolving and it is due to this fact that social media is gaining a lot of attention among the consumers in their entire decision making and perception of the customers in terms of more service. Existing studies have employed the technology acceptance model (TAM) to address the issue of consumer behavior and the model has now become one of the most widely used models. This study is mainly concentrated on the star rated hotels from Coimbatore region and how their Facebook page is bringing an impact to them. The five hotels taken into consideration are TajVivantha, RadissionBlu, LeMeridian, Residency and Welcome Hotels. These hotels are chosen based on t^he customer preferences. The different parameters taken into consideration are Ease of using the Facebook page, how satisfied are the customers in using the hotel Facebook page. Based on the level of ease of use and the satisfaction level how effective is the contents given in the Facebook page helps the customers in making decisions and the by the make a word of mouth to their friends. While there are existing studies concentrated on other marketing uses of a Facebook Page, many see the need for a closer examination of what exactly t^he customers are looking for in a Facebook page typically to arrive at a better decision. A conceptual model on the considered parameters was created, presented and discussed in light of existing empirical studies. The study shows that the Facebook page with the relevant content and message on different information's that are required to make a booking proved to have a competitive advantage in spreading a word of mouth about the hotel.