The impact of social media on the overall creditability and performance of hospitality industry in UK

This study investigates the impact of social media on the creditability and performance of the hospitality industry in the UK, with a focus on the Intercontinental hotel group. It explores the concept of social media, its impact on productivity, and the challenges faced by organizations. The research aims to analyze the role of social media in the hospitality industry and provide insights for strategic decision-making.

An investigation into the
changes and trends in
hospitality industry in UK over
the past 20 years

Table of Contents
TITLE..........................................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
THEORITICAL BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH FOCUS.................................................................3
JUSTIFICATION AND CONTEXTUALIZATION...................................................................................7
METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................................................8
BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................................................12

TITLE
The impact of social media on the overall creditability and performance of hospitality industry in
UK.
INTRODUCTION
The main purpose of conducting this study is to examine the impact of social media on
the overall creditability and performance of hospitality industry in UK. Social media is an
emerging trend that helps business organization to done the changes for gaining competitive
advantage within the marketplace. Social media is a term that transformed the business landscape
and considered as an essential factor of digital marketing that provides millions of benefits to the
people for researching the customers all under the globe. To complete the research effectively
intercontinental hotel group are to be undertaking that is a leading hospitality industry in UK. In
this hotel there are around 350000 employees are working in all over the globe who offers
services to customers for generating high profitable results. IHG was founded on 2003 that
marketed their hotels and resorts in all over the globe. To complete this project report several
dimensions are to be elaborated that are theoretical background aspects and research focus that
helps researcher to understand the theoretical background of research objectives using literature
reviews that provides valid information related to particular topic (Bhattacharya, 2021). It also
inculcates the justification and conceptualization that provides the importance of conducting the
research. Further research methodology is to be used to select the best way for conducting and
completing the whole research efficiently and efficiently. Research methodology is the crucial
chapter of conducting the research in effective and viable manner. While completing the whole
research it is very essential for researcher to highly focus on using ethical principles and work on
reducing the limitation that are present while conducting the whole research.
THEORITICAL BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH FOCUS
Review key publications and themes
Theme 1: Concept behind social media

As per the viewpoint of “Wigmore, (2021)” social media refers to a means of
communicating, interacting with large number of people that creates, share, exchange ideas and
information using virtual network. In today’s world where people are move towards the use of
digital marketing social media is a boom to everyone as it helps businesses to sustain long time
and it also helps businesses to attracts large base of customers using Facebook, instagram etc.
Social media is denoted as a interactive technology that allows the people to create, share,
exchange of information ideas and interest. In UK Hospitality industry is a booming industry
under which companies face more competition and pressure to make their profits high. In current
environment social media is very vital for businesses and very crucial for hospitality industry
because it provides the chance to organization to build the strong relationship with their guest,
strengthen the reputation etc. Social media is a term that support in taking decision making and
booking process using search engine optimization. It is a visual content that provides the taste to
guest what they want to experienced. Social media is considered as one of the amazing digital
marketing platform that boosts the brand visibility among the customers along with targeted the
customers by reaching them effectively and innovate. Social media helps in developing the brand
recognition that is quite effectively in hospitality industry. In present scenario, customer chooses
social media as a main source to interact with brand and get immediate attention off customers.
The concept of social media measures the efforts of social activity using external tools. Social
media is a fact that offers the help to get the word out about the business due to which new and
unique communities are to be shaped. Social media marketing concept are basically related to the
several aspects that are:
 For maximizing the sales and profits
 Enhances the brand awareness of services and products
 Monitor and evaluate brand reputation
 Educate and inform customers about the services and products of organization
Theme 2: Impact of Social Media on productivity of IHG
As per the viewpoint of “Shalini., (2021)”There is an impact of social media on
productivity of any company. In today's time almost everyone is on social media and are
addicted to it so they end up checking on their phones frequently. The use of social media at
work place affects and hampers the productivity of company. To level up the workplace

productivity many organizations have implemented the policies to prohibit the use of social
media at work place. Employees are so used to Social media that it becomes a vital aspect of
everyday workplace routine. There is reason why social media can be so distracting and
addictive, the need for attention and recognition is so huge that people forgets they have work to
do. This leads to unproductive, distracted atmosphere which has a huge adverse impact on
productivity of work. In result of this the completion rate of task gets affected and deadlines are
missed. Meaning most workers do not work and are unproductive while using social media.
Many companies have applied various social media policies to deal with this peril, one of these
include adding firewall to desktop systems. Employers are now tracking internet and social
media use in their office premises and can act strictly with employees with rules and policies.
Adding to this company can employ a social media manager to check internet usage at work
place. Implementing these can help curb the excessive internet usage and it will help employees
focus on work which will increase the productivity of company.
Theme 3: Challenges faced by an organization while using social media
According to the viewpoint of “Herhold. K., (2021)” As we have listen many success
stories of social media, there is still so many challenges faced by companies and organizations
that need to figure out.
Developing a social media strategy
This is on the top of the list of challenges. Making a social media strategy could be
intimidating, it is a summary of everything one plan to do and aim to achieve as a business goal
through the use of social media. One need to be very specific with the objectives of what he want
to accomplish through the use of social media. This can be done by making a specific list and
making marketing strategy. Look beyond number of followers, focus on things that lead, link
clicks and impressions.
Not enough human and financial resources
The other challenge is Not enough human and financial resources. This is the problem
faced by many companies. More than one quarter of social media marketers says that this is
company’s biggest challenges, for this they have leadership team who needs to understand the

importance of social media marketing. The one who understand impact of social media and
invest in long term success can turn lack of resources into enough to get what company started
with social media marketing.
Partner with social media influencers
The way to overcome the money problem and to maintain social media presence is to
partner with influencers who can help promote the brand for organization. There are many
ecommerce fashion brands selling their products face this problem and had overcome it by
working with influencers who convey the message about company in very effective way.
Sharing social media responsibilities with colleagues
This is another way to overcome the lack of human and financial crises. One can divide
the responsibility among the coworkers like many companies has done. Sharing of social media
responsibilities can prevents any one person from becoming overwhelmed with strategies and
there implementation. People working on social media accounts ensures that only one person do
not get the attention.
Hyphothesis
This research is considered as a null hyphothesis that means:
H0: This research shows the significant impact of social media on the performance creditability
of company within Intercontinental hotel group.
Research aim
To analyse the impact of social media over performance creditability of company. A case study
of Intercontinental hotel group.
Research objectives
 To identify the concept behind social media.
 To measure the significant impact of social media on productivity of IHG.
 To examine the challenges face by organization while using social media.

Research questions
 Explain the concept behind social media?
 What is the significant impact of social media on productivity of IHG?
 What are the challenges faced by organization while using social media?
JUSTIFICATION AND CONTEXTUALIZATION
The Research Topic which has been selected is the impact of Social Media. It is an
important topic to research o for IHG Company. This is so because it is quite necessary to assess
the way social media is able to impact the people and therefore for the management of the
company it is crucial that this research can be carried out in a proper manner (Dedeoglu, 2019).
The research is important because by making its use the assessment of the way in which the
social media tends to make an impact on the people can be found out and the conclusions and
recommendations can be drawn in a proper manner. Thus, this makes the research topic quite
important for IHG Company so that it is able to carry out its research in a proper manner.
It is important to find out what the company is trying to find because the company has to
make sure that the various types of conclusions and recommendations from the research can be
used appropriately. It is crucial to conduct this research because nowadays social media is
extremely important and thus it is quite necessary that the research on the use of social media can
be done which will be helpful in identifying the ways in which the processes and the functioning
of the social media can be made better. Therefore, this research topic is very crucial for IHG
because by conducting research on it the way in which social media can be used can be found out
and thus the overall level of efficiency and effectiveness in the research can be enhanced. The
ways in which social media can be used to attain a strategic and competitive edge over the
competitors has to be identified so that the appropriate strategic and tactical decisions can be
taken.
There is an existing body of evidence of use of social media within IHG. This is so
because the company makes the use of social media in the form of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
etc. and therefore connects effectively with its different types of customers in the market (Bigne
and et. al., 2018). Thus, in this way it is very crucial that through using social media in a proper
manner the wide range of customers can be targeted and thus the overall level of efficiency and

effectiveness of the company can be raised. Thus, in this way the company seeks to research on
this topic by using the already available evidence properly.
The research which is being conducted by IHG is timely because it will help in getting
the results within a stipulated period of time. It responds to an existing need because it is
necessary to assess the impact created by social media on the organizations. It is so because the
existing needs and requirements of the company are required to be assessed as a part of this
research and it will aim to find out the ways in which the conclusions and recommendations can
be used appropriately in an effective manner.
METHODOLOGY
Research methodology refers to a prominent activity that is used by investigator to select,
process, gathers, identifies and analyses the information related to the specific topic on which a
particular research is to be done. There are various factors which are implementing by researcher
to investigate and collect the authentic data for getting appropriate results at the end of the
dissertation. These factors are research paradigm, approach, methods, techniques, sampling etc.
Integration of these factors is known as research onion that is presented below:
 Research paradigm- At the time of conducting research it is very important to
understand the knowledge based on particular topic or area. These factors consider the
way of analyzing, collecting, interpretation the data so that authentic conclusion would be
drawn at the end of research (Wong, Lai and Tao, 2020). The research paradigm is based
on two methods that are positivism and interpretivism research paradigm. In this
positivism research paradigm is adopted because it provides the valid and factual
information by using quantitative data.
 Methodological approach- It refers to the aspect that is used to make plan for collecting,
analyzing the information and data of particular research. It is bifurcated into two
approach that is inductive approach and deductive approach. Inductive approach defines
emergence of theoretical aspects whereas deductive approach refers to developing
hypothesis by transferring observation test into accepted results. To conduct this
investigation researcher used deductive approach to test the validity of particular research

by fulfilling its objectives. Using this research is prominent because this gathered the
quantitative data to make authentic decisions while implementing research activities.
 Research methods- At the time of conducting the research, it is very crucial for
investigator to select the best methods to fulfill the research topic so that valid conclusion
is to be drawn at the end of dissertation. It represents the two methods that are
quantitative research method and qualitative research method both is appropriate to
gather and collect the information in appropriate manner (Al-Qaysi, Mohamad-Nordin
and Al-Emran, 2020). For completing this research, researcher adopts the use of
quantitative data that represents the results in numerical manner so that objectives of
research are to be fulfilled on time and in proficient manner. Using quantitative method
provides valid outcome in the end.
 Research technique- This is a type of technique for collecting and analyzing the data
within the research. It includes the various techniques for conducting the investigation
such as survey, questionnaire, experiments and many more. For this particular research,
researcher used the questionnaire technique for collecting the data for fulfilling research
objectives. This technique provides effective and measurable information that helps in
drawing valid conclusion at the end.
 Sample size- This is an essential factor in research onion as it helps researcher to select
the respondents from the large number of audience for collecting the information on
specific topic. There are two methods of collecting samples that are probability sampling
method and non-probability sampling methods. To conduct this research, researcher
adopts the sample by using probability sampling methods because it does not creates
biasness in the people. For conducting this research, researcher selects the sample size of
30 and the sample of respondents is selected from the organization that is manager,
customers, employees. This helps in representing the valid conclusion so that researcher
gets successful results at the end of dissertation.
 Data analysis- Data analysis is a crucial factor that is used to inspect, model and
transforming the data to presents valid information for the particular research. By taking
the help of data analysis, researcher effectively complete the particular research that also
helps in draws the valid conclusion that helps other people to understand the research
effectively and efficiently (Bailey, Bonifield and Arias, 2018). In order to analyze the

data that are collected by researcher, thematic analysis would be used by researcher so
that information is to be evaluated prominently. Therefore, to analyze the data statistical
graphs and charts are also used by investigator by using MS Excel so that information is
to be interpreted successfully that provides effective knowledge on particular research.
 Accessibility and ethics- Ethics and accessibility both are very essential term to conduct
the particular research in ethical and successful manner so that proper and authentic
outcome is to be drawn at the end. While conducting this research using secondary
sources, investigator has the right to access the company websites and publications so
that authentic information is to be collected regarding the Intercontinental hotel group.
On the other hand while collecting information using primary sources investigator has
whole right to collect the information from respondents to fulfills the questionnaire form
so that research objectives are attained successfully and efficiently. All these factors
shows that the whole research is fulfilled in ethical manner due to these authentic and
valid outcomes are represented at the end. Therefore, it is very essential for investigator
to adopt all the code of conducts that does not heart the moral values of another person
because of getting positive response in completion of whole research. To maintain the
code of conduct several aspects are very useful that are honesty, trust, confidentiality of
data so that personal information of every person are to be secured that represents the
positive response in completing the whole research.
 Research Limitation- At the time of conducting the research, it is very essential for
researcher to work effectively so that the work is done in smooth manner. To undertake
this research several issues and problems are to be faced that negatively impact the end
outcomes of particular research. While doing the questionnaire survey , investigator face
various limitations at the time of planning questions that fulfills the demands of research
objectives, lack of communication with people because of mismanagement of time,
sometimes respondents are hidden the data that is useful and important to complete the
questionnaire form, unethical response of people etc. all these negatively impact on
completing the research properly. It is crucial for researcher to focus on overcoming the
limitations using proper ethical principles (Hosain, 2020). In this researcher also allow
and convince respondents to share their thoughts related to topic so that authentic

information is to be collected and helps investigator to enjoy the positive results at the
end of research.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books and journal
Dedeoglu, B.B., 2019. Are information quality and source credibility really important for shared
content on social media?. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management.
Bigne, E. and et. al., 2018. The impact of social media and offline influences on consumer
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pp.1014-1032.
Wong, J.W.C., Lai, I.K.W. and Tao, Z., 2020. Sharing memorable tourism experiences on
mobile social media and how it influences further travel decisions. Current Issues in
Tourism. 23(14). pp.1773-1787.
Al-Qaysi, N., Mohamad-Nordin, N. and Al-Emran, M., 2020. A systematic review of social
media acceptance from the perspective of educational and information systems theories
and models. Journal of Educational Computing Research. 57(8). pp.2085-2109.
Bailey, A.A., Bonifield, C.M. and Arias, A., 2018. Social media use by young Latin American
consumers: An exploration. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 43. pp.10-19.
Hosain, S., 2020. The impact of social media recruitment on job candidates’ perceptions:
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selection and assessment. Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y de las
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