Business Research Method : Novotel Assessment Answer

The purpose of the study is to find out the impact of social media in increasing the customer satisfaction of the hotel industry in Sydney.

Research Objective

The objectives of this study are –

• To evaluate the impact of social media on the hotel industry of Sydney
• To examine the influence of social media to increase the customer satisfaction

Methodological Review

In this section, the methodological review of the research has helped to analyse the research method of the empirical studies. It has reviewed the methodological approach of the empirical studies whether it is qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. Then the nature of research has been evaluated which could be exploratory, explanatory or descriptive. The research strategy is also analysed in the final section of the three empirical studies whether the research follows the strategy of experiment, survey, ethnography or archival research.

Empirical Study 1 – Guest satisfaction and Guest loyalty Study in Hotel Industries (Works, R.S., 2008. Guest satisfaction and guest loyalty study for hotel Industry)

Empirical Study 1 is focussing on the relationship of customers’ satisfaction and customer loyalty in the context of hotel and hospitality management. The research has conducted in the hotel industries of Croatia to implement a method that can improve the customer satisfaction in the hotels and can identify the attributes to increase the customer loyalty (Works 2008). In this study, the deterioration of the customer satisfaction in last five years has been discussed to recommend proper solution to improve the situation.

Methodological Approach

According to Works (2008), the research has followed the “Secondary Data Collection” procedure to conduct the research. In this study, the “qualitative study” has helped to gather the required information regarding the customer satisfaction in the hotel of Croatia. This method includes the interview process and the research has used the photo-elicitation process to collecting the data. Almost 15 participants were asked about the customer satisfaction and customer loyalty of the Hotel Bristol in Opatija, Croatia from June 2007 to May 2008. As the Secondary analysis process has been chosen for this research purpose therefore, the data were collected from various secondary sources like journals, articles etc. In the article, it is not clearly mentioned that the research method has followed the secondary study process but the implication of using previous interview information explained this.

Nature of Research

The research has conducted in a different process than others and an interview along with a photo-elicitation has been done to gain the required information. The article stated that the participants were approached in the front desk of the hotel when they were arriving in the hotel to avail the service. They were asked for participating in the research method and were handed a digital camera for this purpose. Additionally, they were given a sheet of information to complete, a written instruction and a gift token. The interview procedure was little different in this case and it has been proved to be successful to meet the objectives of this research. The research has analysed the customer satisfaction in the Hotel Bristol of Croatia with using the customers’ direct opinions. The customers were told to capture images of the places and services of the hotel that they would liked or disliked. After this they would have been asked a few questions about five photos among those to detailed knowledge. This has helped to analyse their satisfaction about the service of the hotel as well as their loyalty towards it to returning in the hotel in future. Therefore, it can be said that the research strategy was followed the explanatory data analysis process.

In order to analyse the data gathered from various journals and previous interviews, the questionnaire items were based on the existed marketing and social psychological studies. These are very much related to the hotel environment and have helped to analyse the guest loyalty and guest satisfaction. Moreover, the satisfaction and the loyalty of the customers have been measured by using the Likert-type scale, which was ranging from 1 to 5, stated in the Appendix B of the article. The elements, which has been analysed to understand the satisfaction level of the customers were food, beverages, reception, guestroom, behaviours of the employees and the hotel price. The research was conducted based on the measuring scales and then analysed the data to know the level of guests’ satisfaction.

Research Strategy

The research has followed “interview” as the research strategy. Although interview is not a part of secondary research study but in this case the photo-elicitation and interview has played a crucial role to analyse the customers’ view points.

Empirical Study 2 - Understanding the impact of Online Reviews on Hotel Performance: An Empirical Analysis (Phillips, P., Barnes, S., Zigan, K. and Schegg, R., 2016. Understanding the Impact of Online Reviews on Hotel Performance An Empirical Analysis.Journal of Travel Research, p.0047287516636481)

The Empirical Study 2 is focussing on the impact of the social media on the hotel industry of the country. The study has emphasised on the impact of the online reviews for the companies to analyse the consumer perceptions and decision-making processes. Additionally, the study has also examined the present business performance of the hotel industries that is helping to increase the customer satisfaction. Phillips et al. (2016), has mainly conducted the research on the Swiss based hotels to discuss the three distinctive areas of hotels such as, quality of food and drink, physical aspects and human aspects of service provision. The study has analysed almost 68 online review systems to examine 22 hotel attributes.

Methodological Approach

Phillips et al. (2016), has selected the qualitative study for this research purpose. They have selected this qualitative study for their research as to establish the relation between online reviews of the customers about their satisfaction level while staying in the hotels. The three perspectives have been analysed using the previous research data to meet the research objectives of the study. Therefore, the study has examined 442 hotels that were operating in the Switzerland in the year of 2010. The analysis of the tourism industry also has been explained in the research to evaluate the impact of social media on this.

In this research, this secondary study is appropriate, as the study has tried to find out the relationship between the impacts of online reviews to increase the customer satisfaction. The selection of this method has helped to reduce the time of collecting data from the field. It has also increased the authenticity level of the collected data as all the information has acquired from the previous researches of different researchers.

Nature of Research

The nature of this research is descriptive, as this is not mentioned clearly in the research paper. However, after analysing the study it can be said that the study has focussed on getting the explanation of the research topic. It has also emphasised to evaluate the relationship of the customer relationship and hotel industry. Therefore, the study has explained the impact of the online reviews that the customers have left after visiting the 442 hotels.  The descriptive design refers to the process where the research topic has to be explanted and analysed for accumulating the actual purpose of the research. In the data analysis part “descriptive statistics” has mentioned, which is indicating that the research has followed the descriptive design.  Therefore, the researcher has discussed the research topic to evaluate the research in a descriptive way. Therefore, it can be said that the nature of this study has followed the descriptive design.  

Research Strategy

The research process is the development of the experiment, which was done in the online reviews. As the study has followed the secondary research study, therefore, the previous researches has been availed to gather the data from that research papers. Therefore, the strategy has been followed in the study is experiment. The experiments have been done on the online reviews of the 68 online platforms to evaluate the performances of the hotels. The customers’ satisfaction in these hotel industries has also been analysed with the process.

Empirical Study 3 - Selling Rooms Online: The Use of Social Media and Online Travel Agents (Inversini, A. and Masiero, L., 2014. Selling rooms online: the use of social media and online travel agents. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26(2), pp.272-292)

In the third empirical study, Inversini and Masiero (2014) has conducted the research to find out the reason behind the transformation of the hoteliers from the offline promotion to the online promotion. The hoteliers are now using the technological advantages and social media to get promoted before the customers. Therefore, the study is focussing on the impact of the special media and technological inventions to increase the number of customers as well as the customer satisfaction. This research has shed light on the exploring activities of Swiss hoteliers and the tourism industry to analyse their increasing use of this platform.

Methodological Approach

In this research, Inversini and Masiero (2014) has conducted the research with following both the quantitative and qualitative method that can be called as mixed method to gather the required data for further analysis of the project. The research has been conducted among the 511 hotel questionnaires. The questions were asked to the customers of the hotels to know their views on the satisfaction about the services of the hotels. This has enabled to evaluate the situation of the hotel industry that was supported by various journals, online articles and previous research papers. The mixed research approach has helped to collect the data and related information from the participants. Additionally, the data collected from the secondary sources would be more authentic and reliable. Therefore, the research approach that has followed in this research purpose is justified.

Nature of Research

The nature of the research was descriptive. Therefore, the research has reached its objective with the help of the evaluating process of the collected data. This research design has helped to understand the research topic the can be developed and analysed properly to attain the research objectives. Inversini and Masiero (2014) has not mentioned properly about using the descriptive design but has used the process to evaluate the research topic. Therefore, the selection of the nature of research can be said justified to meet the objectives of the research.

Research Strategy

The research has followed the strategy of survey questionnaire to collect the information about the customers’ satisfaction level of using the hotels and tourism spots for accommodation. The customers have been asked through various question sets in a survey procedure to express their views on it. Therefore, they have answered the questions based on which the research process has been progressed. The survey method has helped to analyse the views of the customers directly without facing the problem in the direct interview system. Therefore, the research strategy has been chosen justifiably.

Conclusion and Implication

While concluding the empirical study analysis, it can be said that the three studies has different methodological approaches. Additionally, the nature of research are also different in the three empirical studies along with this, the three studies has acquired the different strategies for their development of the research topic. In the first and second empirical study, the study has followed the qualitative study or secondary study process while the third empirical study has followed the primary approach or the quantitative study to analyse the research approach. The three empirical studies are analysed then with the nature of research. The first study was developed with the descriptive nature, which was followed in the second study too. However, in the third study the nature of the research is descriptive and explanatory. Moreover, in analysing the research strategy the first empirical study has followed the interview process to gather the data from the participants with a photo elicitation process. On the other hand, the second and third study has followed the survey procedure to gather the required data from the participants. 

Reference List

Inversini, A. and Masiero, L., 2014. Selling rooms online: the use of social media and online travel agents. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26(2), pp.272-292.

Phillips, P., Barnes, S., Zigan, K. and Schegg, R., 2016. Understanding the Impact of Online Reviews on Hotel Performance An Empirical Analysis.Journal of Travel Research, p.0047287516636481.

Works, R.S., 2008. Guest satisfaction and guest loyalty study for hotel Industry.