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2014 | Buch

The Social Web in the Hotel Industry

The Impact of the Social Web on the Information Process of German Hotel Guests

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The social web is defined as the social part of the Internet that enables (personally unknown) people to socially interact with each other in order to cherish friendships and make new acquaintances. The social web’s current significance exceeds this initial focus, by also encompassing corporate and commercial activities. Nadine Chehimi examines to what extent the social web influences the information process of German hotel guests. In addition to the presentation of the social web’s development and current state of use, general and tourist information processes as well as the German hotel market are described. With the help of a standardized guest survey, the author presents the exact role the social web currently plays in the tourist information search.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
1. Introduction
Abstract
Until some years ago, this review would have only been shared with friends and families. The spread of the personal hotel experience would have been limited to the guest’s circle of acquaintances and would have neither sustainably influenced the hotel’s image nor the booking decision of many others. However, with the emergence of the social web, these personal and geographical limitations diminish. Today, guests can share their experiences with the whole online world. They can write reviews on review sites like TripAdvisor and HolidayCheck, they can upload photos on media sharing platforms like YouTube and can start discussions about their experiences on social networks like Facebook. All these sites belong to the so-called social web which has fundamentally changed the way users may gather information. Users are no longer only consumers who access providerbased information but rather prosumers who actively create contents – user-generated- content (UGC) – and are therefore also referred to as co-producers.
Nadine Chehimi
2. The Social Web
Abstract
The emergence of the social web has fundamentally changed the online world. According to the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW), the world is currently in the biggest media revolution ‘[…] since the invention of modern letterpress printing by Gutenberg in 1452’. Searching the keyword social web on Google reveals more than 1.87 billion results – but what exactly is meant by this term? Web 2.0, social web, social media: all of these catchphrases describe the modified Internet usage of the last few years, however, their definition differs.
Nadine Chehimi
3. Tourist Information Search
Abstract
Hotel accommodations are tourist services which are defined by the following characteristics:
  • immateriality: tourist services can neither be seen nor experienced before consumption
  • abstractness: tourist services consist of the components time, space, person and are therefore always individual
  • perishability: tourist services cannot be stored and are time and space dependent
  • uno actu-principle: the production and consumption of tourist services take place simultaneously
  • consumption at place of service performance: the services cannot be consumed in the tourist’s hometown but only at the place of service performance
  • integration of an external factor: the tourist is integrated into the production of service
  • service package: the journey is made up by many components.
Nadine Chehimi
4. The German Hotel Market
Abstract
As this paper is investigating the information process of hotel guests, the framework is embedded in the hotel industry. Therefore, the following explanations present the German hotel market in order to create an understanding for the specific structure of it as well as to integrate the study into the right context.
Nadine Chehimi
5. Methodology
Abstract
The empirical research was conducted in cooperation with a hotel chain in Germany. The portfolio of the hotel chain includes business hotels in Germany’s biggest cities as well as spa resorts in popular holiday destinations. The hotels mostly belong to the three- and four-star category. The surveyed guests – both leisure and business guests – meet the following requirements:
  • at least one hotel stay at a German hotel
  • German-speaking and residence in Germany
  • email address available.
Nadine Chehimi
6. Results of the Survey
Abstract
The questionnaire was sent out on Friday, 20th January 2012 as a part of a monthly hotel newsletter. The link leading to the questionnaire registered 1,293 unique clicks. In total, 940 participants completed the questionnaire. Since the participants could skip questions at their convenience, not every question received a response rate of 100%. The possibility of a double participation was not technically inhibited, however is considered to be small.
Nadine Chehimi
7. Concluding Remarks
Abstract
The focus of this paper was to determine to what extent the social web influences the information search of hotel guests. In order to do so, five research hypotheses were defined. Their findings are briefly summarized in the following paragraphs.
Nadine Chehimi
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
The Social Web in the Hotel Industry
verfasst von
Nadine Chehimi
Copyright-Jahr
2014
Electronic ISBN
978-3-658-04544-9
Print ISBN
978-3-658-04543-2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-04544-9