How hotel industry can gain competitive advantage trough social media

How hotel industry can gain
competitive advantage through social
media

Abstract
This study will show importance of social media in taking competitive advantages by
hotels. It also shows some negative impacts and barriers which occur due to social media like
attracting all age group of people, measuring effectiveness, threats of privacy and security.
Further, it will show some strategies to increase effectiveness of marketing strategy and solve
all negative impacts of social media.

Table of Contents
Abstract........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................4
Background.........................................................................................................................5
Aims and objective.............................................................................................................6
Rationale.............................................................................................................................6
Significance........................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 2................................................................................................................................7
Literature Review.........................................................................................................................7
Importance of social media................................................................................................7
Impacts of social media on hotel industry..........................................................................9
Strategies to gain competitive advantage via social media platforms..............................11
Chapter 3....................................................................................................................................13
Research Methodologies............................................................................................................13
Key Findings and Results..........................................................................................................19
RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................................................28
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................28
REFLECTION...........................................................................................................................30
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................32
APPENDIX................................................................................................................................34
Tame Table.......................................................................................................................34
Questionnaire....................................................................................................................35

INTRODUCTION
For the promotion of business of hospitality, social media plays a very vital role as
large number of online customers are been influenced by the social media. The impact of
social media on hotel business as well as on tourism is very huge. For the selling of the
business as well as for the marketing, various web links as well as websites are been used by
most of the hotels. Therefore, for accessing the guests reach as well as for the advertising for
the business, hotel industry tends to use the social media directly or indirectly in many ways.
Social media does not only promote products and services of an organization but it also helps
them out in increasing customers loyalty and improving relation with them. This increased
relation have direct impact on their brand image which makes them able to take competitive
advantages and making a strong position in the market (Fuchs, 2017). There are several social
media platforms which are being mainly used by businesses and specially by hotels for
promoting their services and attracting wider range of customers such as Instagram, Facebook
and Twitter.
Advertisement of hotel as well as their products is been done through various social
networking sites such as Trip Advisor, Twitter, Facebook and through several other platforms,
thus specially the industry of hospitality has received the positive effect due to the large
platform of social media. Blogs and comments on social media, positive reviews of the
internet user regarding the good reputation of the hotel has helped the hotel in gaining and
developing the trusts with regular clients (Shareef and et.al., 2019). Moreover, reaching new
customers is the great opportunity that has been developed by the social media for the hotel
industry. Additionally, guests or clients are been facilitated by various options to check the
rates, do comparison of the provided services by the hotel as well as for choosing the best
hotel depending on the preference of the location with the direct accessibility which has been
created by the social media. Therefore, fast and easy access to hotels for the purpose of direct
booking is been facilitated by social media. As social media has became the very much part of
the everybody's every day life, so the customers of the hotel industry started preferring as well
as making their selections depending on the reviews they get on the social media sites. Thus, it
could be considered that social media is the tool which could be used as medium for
broadcasting of the business (Raab and et.al, 2016).

Background
Over the past few years, not only the interactions of people but also the interaction of
business with customers is been revolutionized by the social media sites such as Twitter or
Facebook (Larsson, 2018) In order to compete as well as to survive in the current business
environment it is very much necessary to deliver the clear message as well as the keen
understanding to the consumers of the services and products that are been produced by the
industry of hospitality. Therefore, the current statistics shows that, around fifty percent of the
Facebook users are been influenced by their friends preference of choosing the hotel in their
travel plans (Allcott, Gentzkow and Yu, 2019). This study also shows strategies of increasing
sales, attarcting wider range of customers as well as taking competitive advantages with the
help of social media platforms. Providing rewards, discounts and others things for increasing
awareness about digital marketing or using social media which plays an imporatnt role and it
is the main strategy which this study will show.
Additionally, the type of accommodations that has been offered by the hotel company
regarding the information of current situations could be understood through the social media
as most of the people tends to post pictures and videos on these platforms depending their
experience with the hotel. Furthermore, social media helps in promoting the hotel by making
their customer gain knowledge regarding the nearby walkable landmarks or tourists attraction
points through their hotel as now a days guests are not only concerned about the staying in the
hotel but also cares about the fact that what could be done around the hotel. Thus, in this way
the hotel could gain competitive advantage over the other hotels of the industry through social
media. Therefore, these useful tools helps in improving the services provided to the guests as
well as helps in improving the business of the hotel (He and et.al., 2017). Furthermore, before
making decisions regarding the travel needs consumers tends to do online researches for the
purpose to get the best value for money, for this they use these social media tools.
Additionally, in the traditional media, the communication was one way, but social media has
helped the business of hospitality with two way communication by making the consumers to
exchange their views regarding their experience as well as social media facilitated their clients
to have direct conversation with the company of the hotel (Keller, Möhring and Schmidt,
2017). This study is going to show imporatnce of social media in the context of business and
its products promotion with the differebnt views of authors. It will also discuss critical imapcts

of social media platforms on the performance and effectiveness of employees performance of
hotels. Businesses take competitive advantages by communicating with customers, providing
them satisfactory services and making them feel valued by solving their queries. On the other
hand, social media platforms sometimes become the reason of decreased sales of companies as
people visit company's website and reviews all comments and negatuve comments change
their mind. Both impacts is being discussed in this study.
Aims and objective
Aim – “To investigate how hotel industry can gain competitive advantage through social
media” a case study on Holiday inn Sloguh hotel.
Objective
To analyze the importance of social media.
To examine critical impact of social media on hotel industry.
To recommend strategies of how competitive advantage can be gained with the help of social
media.
Research questions
What is the importance of social media?
How social media impact on hotel industry?
What strategies can be followed to gain competitive advantage?
Rationale
The purpose of this research is to know the how the hotel industries had gained
competitive advantages through social media. As through this research the hotel companies
could gain the knowledge regarding the taste and preferences of the guests or clients of the
hotel. What consumers preferred to be serviced by the various offering that has been provided
by the company of the hotel. Moreover, this research will help in making the hotels going of
understanding regarding the impact that social media has created in their business. Moreover,
this has encouraged the hotel company to facilitate their customers with the best possible
services as for the perspective of long term success. It is an interetsing topic as well because
social media is not only being used in business for promoting their products but also is being
used in daily lives and day to day activities. By knowing more about social media, hotel can
take several advantages of it as it can increase its sales. It can also be beneficial at academic
level as well. By getting relevant informations and knowing importance of social media,

researcher can help differently hotels in accomplishing their goals and making effective
marketing strategy by making an effective use of social media. It is an interesting topic and it
is other main reason of selecting this topic as in which area an individual has interest then they
put extra efforts in making the project successful. Additionally, consumers need recognition by
engaging them to share their experience in dialogue with the usage of social media, ultimately
in order to improve the business is been gained through this research (Lee, 2018).
Significance
The significance of this research is to determine how this internet enabled technologies
such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Trip Advisor or etc. has influenced the business of hotel
industry. As social media helps in going the brand awareness among the various other
competitors of the industry. Awareness about Social media and internet is increasing in rapid
manner as most of teh people and businesses are making an effective use of social media for
connecting with customesr and promoting their products. It is rising day by day and choosing
this topic can help students on their academic level as well as business man to commercial
level. By knowing importance and critical impacts of social media they can make better
decisions. Converting potential consumers to the loyal consumers is very much essential for
the company in order to have long term awareness as well as for the brand recognition, thus,
social media is the platform for the same. Therefore, this internet enabled technologies has
been implemented for the enhancement of business (Tajvidi and Karami, 2017).
CHAPTER 2
Literature Review
Importance of social media
In the context of social media, it can be said that it is an essential piece of business
marketing strategy. Technology is increasing day by day and rising importance of social media
is one of the main example of technology which are being used by most of the people. It
allows people to connect and reach others at local, national and international level. In the
context of business, it is stated by Yahia, Al-Neama and Kerbache, (2018) social media is
becoming the main key of the success of many businesses as with its help, businesses are
promoting their goods and services to the national level. Hospitality is one of the main
industry who has made itself beneficial and developed by making an effective use of social
media platforms. Hotels or hospitality industry does not only promote its products and

services to the national level but also get skilled workforces which helps it out in
accomplishing its goals. In addition, it is also stated that social media is supporting in
improving their brand loyalty because with the help of social media platforms, they engage
with customers and provide them satisfactory services. Satisfied and valued customers are
more likely to retain with the company for the long run and if customers retain for the long run
than it has direct impact on improved brand loyalty.
Source: 2019 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report, 2019
In the context of Instagram which is becoming popular as many people use it to the
great extent. It is being used in education, health and care, and other businesses. It is stated
that instagram is mainly being used for advertisement as there are several companies who
upload pictures of their services and products and give all details about it and attract customesr
to visit their website and purchase them.
In addition, in the context of importance of social media for businesses Sajid, (2016)
said that social media help hotels and hospitality industry in increasing traffic and attracting
wider range of customers, Nowadays, people prefer online shopping and want to get all their
products online. There are several hotels which give each detail of their products and
characteristic of services on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and others.
People can make effective decision by reviewing them and having all informations about

products and services of hotels. Many hotels and businesses allow people to give their
feedbacks and share their views regarding products and services. By reviewing these views,
customers can measure effectiveness of products of businesses and hotels. One of teh main
reason of online shopping and making an effective use of social media platform is it saves
time and cost of both, customers and businesses. Company can even identify needs of
customers who have visited their Website, they can also identify that which type of products
and services they want to get. By making changes in their services and products as per the
analysis, hotels or businesses can take competitive advantages as well as increase sales. It
becomes easy engagement with customers. It is one of the main key of the success of
marketing, Nowadays, any businesses prefer digital marketing rather traditional marketing
because it helps them in communicating with wider range of customers in an efficient manner.
It can also be said that, Guesalaga, (2016) social media is not beneficial for businesses
or hotels but also useful and effective for customers. For example, if customers face any
problem or challenges in operating their electronic products or others then it can connect with
customer care of that company. There are several hotels and businesses who allow 24*7
customer services facilities to people by which they can solve their problems anytime
anywhere. People do not require visiting shops or hotels directly only because of these social
media platforms.
Impacts of social media on hotel industry
In the context of impacts of social media, it is stated Stone, (2017) that with the help of
social media platforms hospitality industry and hotels is increasing number of booking as
people prefer direct booking through company's website. So, it can be said that Holiday inn
Sloguh hotel can increase its sales by providing this facility to customers. This online booking
facility help customers to choose the best location, reviewing services and compare them with
others. Customers can share products of hotels with their relatives and friends, which are being
presented or shown on social media platforms. It can help Holiday inn Sloguh hotel in
promoting their products by words of mouth or mouth publicity. Company can engage with
customers by sharing their user generated content. For example, if an individual talk about
products of an organization public ally on Twitter then company can retweet as what they said
and use that for increasing brand authority and trust. It can also be said that with the help of
social media platform, Holiday inn Sloguh hotel can take competitive advantages by providing

effective services to customers which can satisfy their needs. By solving their problems and
giving all informations on social media platform, company can engage with them efficiently.
Source: 2019 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report, 2019
From the above it can be said that social media is one of the best way of promoting
products and services of companies. It is mainly used for Sports and teams, advertisement and
influencer. By making an effective use of media, companies promote their product by giving
video and content advertisement.
Verma and Verma, (2017) argued and said that social media does not only have
positive impacts as it has several negative impacts as well. Many businesses or hotels has
option by which people can share their views which may be positive and negative. When other
people who have not visited hotel before they review all comments of existing customers.
When they see negative comments then it changes their mind and influence them by which
they shift to other hotels. So, it can be said that several options of social media can decrease
sales of Holiday inn Sloguh hotel. In addition, it can also be said that there are several people
specially with the age group of 45-60 who do not prefer online booking or shopping which
shows that with the help of social media, hotel can not target all age group of people. People
have trust issues if once they get poor quality of service or different products than shown on

social media platforms, have negative impacts on them. They even share their views with their
relatives and friends which decreases brand image of the company. Sometimes consumers
give false statement by sharing a testimonial experience on their personal impression towards
the hotel. It can have negative impact on those who check company's site for the first time as
they cannot trust sources.
Figure 1Source: 2019 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report, 2019
From the above shown diagram, it can be said that, engagement rate in increasing with
Facebook posts. There are several companies who make an effective use of social media and
mainly Facebook. They upload some pictures having all details of products and services. So, it
can be said that Facebook is one of the main effective social media platform which are being
used by many companies.
Strategies to gain competitive advantage via social media platforms
It is stated that competition is increasing rapidly in hotel industry due to advanced
technology as hotels are making use of social media platform for marketing like Facebook,
Instagram by updating pictures and attract customers (Gil-Soto and et.al., 2019). It is
important for Holiday inn Sloguh hotel to adopt some effective strategies in order to attract
customers to the great extent and make an effective position in the market for competing with
rivals. As per the Candi and et.al., (2018) resolving customers problems by employing an

effective employee who can provide customer services, hotel can incraese customers loyalty
towards the brand. By solving customers queries at any time, Holiday inn Sloguh hotel can
take competitive advantages by making customers feel valued. Valued and satisfied customers
stay with the company for the long run, and they also help hotel in promoting their goods by
sharing their views with others. In addition, it can also be said that by providing discount and
other benefits to customers who prefer online booking, Holiday inn Sloguh hotel can increase
its total number of booking and can take competitive advantages. For example, company can
give discount offer to its potential customers such as “ Book online and get 25% off” “Get
vouchers by booking online” like this. These offers attract customers so, by providing them
qualitative services at affordable prices, Holiday inn Sloguh hotel can make a strong position
in the market and increase sales as well. So, it can be said that by updating social media with
coupons and sales, sales can be increased.
Raj and Alexander, (2018) also stated and said that Customers of hotels make booking
by making use of official website and other platform by getting number of hotels. By
becoming active and interesting on social media, Holiday inn Sloguh hotel can increase
loyalty and customers trust. By responding to all customers' concerns and being innovative in
the way company communicate with customers, can take competitive advantages. By
reviewing competitors list and seeing that which types of services and offers they are
providing, Holiday inn Sloguh hotel can make changes in its own products and services and
make them more attractive. Holiday inn Sloguh hotel should make an effective use of
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and inform to their customers about what they can truly and
effective do as well as provide with their brand. It is also important for this hotel to make its
customers aware and believe that all activities are being done by them only for satisfying their
needs by becoming honest and caring towards them.
Analysing and measuring effectiveness of traffic and performance of own Website
company can identify that whether it is performing effectively or not. The main aim of
analysing own website and measuring traffic is to make adequate changes accordingly and
attracting customers to the great extent. This hotel has not been doing this but now but for
taking competitive advantages it is focusing on taking reviews of customers for knowing their
needs and providing services accordingly. In addition is also found that for more
improvements and satisfying customers Hotel can take inspiration from its competitors by

making an effective use of social media as it can see that what contents are being used and
shared by competitors. By knowing this, it can improve its tactics to reach out to potential
customers. Creating a social media calendar, Holiday inn Sloguh hotel can taike competitive
advantage as it is an effective strategy. This calendar include the day and time on which
company want to post and share their products and services on social media platforms. It can
help this hotel in making its social media planning in an efficient manner.
Chapter 3
Research Methodologies
Research methodology is an important part of the whole research. It refers technique or
process in which researcher select, identify as well as analyse relevant informations about the
topic. In this context, it can be said that this step or research methodologies allow viewers as
well as scholar to evaluate the whole study in both positive and in a negative manner. The
main aim of evaluating study in critic manner is to identify validity and reliability as well as
identify that researcher have knowledge about the topic. It consists of several steps such as:
research types, approaches, philosophy, design, data collection and data analysis. There are
several importance and benefits of using research and the main importance and reason of using
this step is to solve main research problem which is being discussed and for which this whole
research is being conducted by scholar. It gives a work plan to rehearser are help them in
gathering as well as analysing data relevant to the topic which is vital and key for the success
of the project (Quinlan and et.al., 2019). By following all steps of research methodologies in a
sequence, researcher can accomplish its goals as well as solve the problem. Systematically
execution of all steps considered as the main key of the success of the project. By which,
scholar can identify impacts of social media as well as its importance in taking competitive
advantages by hotels. Some steps of research methodologies are being discussed as below:
Research types: Research types refers a process in which researcher investigate a
situation with the main aim of generating or developing new knowledge by collecting data in
different form. On a broader way and as per the nature of the topic, research types are being
divided into 2 parts such as qualitative and quantitative. Both types shows the form in which
data are being gathered as it may be numerical form and non-numerical form. Qualitative type
of research deals with phenomenon that are difficult for researcher to quantify mathematically.

For example: Believes, attributes or symbols. The main aim of using this type is to gather in
depth understanding of human behaviour by collecting informations in non-numerical form.
The main focus on researcher in this type is to identify the main reason as how and why of
decision-making and not on when, what and where. The main difficult function which
researcher needs to perform i selecting the best type for conducting the research because all
further steps depend upon this type. It is stated that selection of the type mainly depend upon
the nature as well as purpose of the study. The main topic of this research is to identify
impacts as well as importance of social media by which hotel can take competitive advantages
(Abdalla and et.al., 2018). It is a broad and interesting topic for which researcher will require
to identify human behaviours in depth as what they prefer analyse etc. So, researcher will
select qualitative research type for developing this project. Advantage of using this type is it
makes able to more complex aspects of an individual experience which need to be studied.
On the other hand, quantitative type of research refers a systematic empirical
investigation of any phenomenon with the help of using statistics or mathematical techniques.
So, it can be said that this type of data are being collected in the form of numbers. It can be
made successful by making an effective use of scientific methods such as: generation of
models, development of methods for measuring effectiveness, analysis of data etc.
Research philosophies: Research philosophy is an important step which needs to be
followed by researcher by which they analyse the way in which data about a phenomenon
should be collected as well as analysed by them. It can also be said that it is all about
assumptions about the development of knowledge. There are mainly 2 approaches of research
which is known as positivism and interpretivism. Positivism research philosophy mainly
focuses on physical phenomena. With the help of observations as like a natural scientist,
researcher collects data which cannot be influenced by human interpretation. This philosophy
mainly suggests researcher. There are several advantages of this philosophy which put
pressure on scholar to prefer this approach such as: in this approach, researcher follows a well-
defined structure which helps them in accomplishing its goals in an efficient manner. It can
also be said that this philosophy is concerned with quantitative research type. Limitation of
this philosophy is it is inflexible and has lack of ability to accept changes.
Whereas, Interpretivism philosophy believes that study of social science is different
from natural science and also believes that only individual can create effective meanings. So,

it can be said that in this philosophy scholar perform as a social actor. The main aim of this
approach is to understand people and it is the reason that researcher focuses on meanings that
people attach to norms as well as values. It also identify differences between developing a
research among people rather than objects. It is concerned with qualitative type of researcher
so, for developing research on the topic of social media and its impacts on hotels, scholar will
make an effective use of interpretivism research philosophy. Advantage and benefit of using
this philosophy is to take care of people's believes by understanding their actions in an
efficient manner and make them feel respected.
Research approaches: Research approaches refers theories by which researcher
increase their knowledge and skills about the main topic and identify some ways of solving the
main research problem. Inductive approach refers a theory which starts with observations and
final outcome is theory. On the other hand, deductive approach begins with the proposition of
hypothesis and final outcome is may be rejection or confirmation. Inductive approach is
considered with qualitative type of research as like interpretivism philosophy. In this
approach, researcher develop a new theory related to the topic in order to increase their
knowledge for making the project successful (Fischer and et.al., 2017). By generating new
theory emerging from the data, researcher also measure its effectiveness as how its knowledge
can help them in developing the research. Type of research of this study which is being
conducted on the topic of social media and its impacts, is qualitative so, scholar will use
inductive research approach. By using this approach, researcher can get depth as well as
structured data about the main topic. While developing research and using this approach,
scholar assumes that they have enough or abundance of time so, they can analyse informations
in a systematic way.
On the other hand deductive approach is all about testing an existing or old theory
which is developed already. This approach mainly focuses on causality whose main aim is to
explore new phenomena or sometimes looking at previously researched phenomena by using
different methods. This approach believes that there is a shortage of time so, depth analysis of
informations is not possible. Advantage or reason of using this approach is it makes researcher
able to identify casual relationship between variables and concepts. Limitation of this
approach is researcher find problems in influencing people to take participation in data
collection process and sometimes younger readers cannot understand the main concept.

Research design: Research design is not limited to one method as it is a set of
processes which are being used by scholar in gathering as well as analysing measures of
variables which are being discussed in the problem research statement. Experimental,
descriptive and correlation al are 3 main research designs. In the descriptive research design,
researcher mainly focuses on describing situations in its research (Leavy, 2017). It helps
researcher in identifying answers of how and why. In experimental research design, researcher
identify relationship between effects and reasons of the situation by observing impacts caused
by independent variables on dependent variables. Correlation al is known as non-experimental
research design in which scholar tries to identify a strong relationship between 2 closely
connected variables. It is based on true facts and not on assumptions. For this, there is a
requirement of using statistical analysis techniques. It is concerned with quantitative research
type, so researcher will use descriptive research design.
Data collection: Data collection is one of the important step of research methodology
because by following this step only, researcher collect informations relevant to the topic and
make the research successful. Data collection plays an important role as it makes scholar able
to store as well as analyse important informations which can meet needs of the topic or can
solve the main research problem. There are 2 types by which researcher collect data as per
their requirements such as: primary and secondary. Primary data collection is concerned with
collection of brand-new data which are not being used or analysed before. The main aim of
using this type is to make reliable project and make readers influence that project is being
developed ethically and researcher has depth knowledge about the main topic. For getting
primary informations, researcher can make effective use of some sources such as
Questionnaire, survey, observations etc. So, it can be said that by making an effective use of
this data collection, researcher can increase accuracy of the project.
On the other hand, secondary data analysis is all about getting old or existing data
which are being used before for the same topic of research by others (Yeakley and Caballero,
2016). There are chances of plagiarism and other problems and it is the reason that scholar
focuses on primary data analysis. On the other hand, secondary data collection has some
advantages such as: it saves time and cost of researcher because scholar does not have to pay
attention or observe. Some sources of getting secondary data include: internet which is being
majorly used by people, books and journals, articles etc. The main topic of this research is

to identify impacts and importance of social media for Holiday inn Sloguh hotel by which it
can take competitive advantages. For accomplishing the main goal of this research, scholar
will use both types of collecting data but mainly focus on primary data collection in order to
get new informations.
Data analysis: Data analysis is also considered the key of the success of the research
project. Researcher believes that collecting data relevant to the topic is not enough for making
the project successful as they need to mould and analyse it as per the needs and requirements.
They also believe that all informations which they collect either from primary sources or from
secondary do not has accuracy at all so, they require to analyse it. So, it can also be said that
after collecting informations, data analysis is an important step which need to be followed by
scholar. There are 2 types of analysing, collected informations or data such as qualitative and
quantitative. Qualitative data analysis are non-statistical as it consists of range of procedures in
which researcher analysis those data which are being collected in the form of explanation,
human behaviour or non-numerical form. Selection of the type of data analysis is also depend
upon the main research type, For this study, researcher selected qualitative type so, qualitative
data analysis will be suitable for analysing non-numerical data.
On the other hand, quantitative data analysis is being analysed deductively. With the
help of this type, researcher analyse numerical data which are being collected in quantitative
research type. By knowing mean, median and mode of that data, researcher measures central
tendency. It can also be said that, with the help of quantitative data analysis and using
descriptive statistics, scholar measure relationship between variables. So, it can be said that
this type of data analysis is being used for analysing numerical data in quantitative research
type.
Sampling: Sampling refers a process of selecting target people for completing data
collection process or supporting researcher in getting relevant information. In the process of
sampling target people are known as sample which are selected by 2 methods such as random
and non-random. Methods of sampling which are being used by researcher depends upon the
type of analysis which are being performed. In random sampling, researcher select sample
randomly with the main aim to increase their morale because it decreases situation of biasness.
When researcher select sample randomly then it makes people feel valued and respected.
There are several factors are being considered while selecting the type of sampling such as:

Availability of time, cost, resources, means of communication, ethics etc. 30 employees of
Holiday inn Sloguh hotel are being selected for data collection process as a sample.
On the other hand, in non-random method of sampling, researcher select people on the
basis of some factors such as experience of people, their age, gender etc. Disadvantage of this
method is it can create situation of Biasness which can decrease morale of people who are not
being selected in the process of data collection (Wu and et.al., 2017). In this type, people are
not being given equal chance to take participate because sample are being selected on some
basis. On the other hand, it has some advantages as with the help of this method, researcher
can increase effectiveness of the project because there are some type of research in which
there is requirement to analyse some factors. For example: if researcher wants to identify
impacts of social media on the performance of business then it can get effective answers by
employees of organization who has more experience. For this study researcher will select
random because all people are being given equal chance of giving answer and taking active
participation.
Ethical consideration: Ethics refers moral principles which shows behaviour of an
individual. This moral principles make an individual able in identifying difference between the
right and wrong. It plays an important role in any stage or field and specially in research for
making the project reliable and successful. There are several barriers occur while conducting
research which can affect effectiveness of the performance of researcher such as
environmental factors, changes in needs of people, resistance of target people in sampling
process (Minaya, 2016). So, it is important for researcher to be calm and follow codes of
ethics for removing all these factors and influence people. When an individual or researcher
follows codes of ethics and behave in an effective manner then people believe on them and
support them in providing in formations relevant to the topic. There are some codes of ethics
which is important to be followed by scholar in developing research (Ryen, 2016):
 To maintain honesty or completing the project with loyalty.
 To show care towards participants and make them feel valued.
 To not force any participant to take participation in sampling and data collection
process.
 To keep participants' personal and sensitive informations safe and secure.
 To not disclose company's informations with others.

 To use effective means of communication.
 To not hurt anyone by any means or remove biasness.
So, from the above, it can be said that by following all discussed codes of ethics, researcher
not only make its project successful but also can increase its image in the eyes of people or
readers.
Key Findings and Results
Theme 1: Most used social media platform?
Interpretation: From the above question, the most effective and valuable social media
platforms is being identified by gathering answers from random employees of hotel. It can be
said that Face book is the most used and effective because it is mainly or majorly being used
by people nowadays. On the other hand, it can also be said that in this context that Instagram
helps many of businesses in attracting customers. Whereas and in addition, it can also be
interpreted that Twitter is the main effective platform which helps hotels in promoting their
services and engage with customers.
Theme 2: Importance of social media for business growth?
Interpretation: On the basis of above question, it can be said that business advertising or
promoting business services is one of the benefit of using social media as many of the
businesses are using social media for promoting their products. In addition, it can also be said
that business advertising is the main key of the success of business because it is important for
customers’ to have proper knowledge about products before buying it. On the other hand, that
social media helps businesses and make them able to engage with customers and increase
loyalty. Social media increases brand awareness of their company. It helps them out in taking
competitive advantages.
Theme 3: Problems faced by company in using social media platforms?
Interpretation: On the above question, it can be said that social media creates several
problems. One of the major problem of social media is it is increasing competition in

hospitality sector because companies in this industry who has financial stability invest more in
social media marketing and advanced technology for attracting customers and those who does
not have financial stability lack behind. The main reason of this is people are making
increasing use of internet and social media is one of the main reason of increased competition
which can decrease sales of businesses. On the other hand, it can also be said that it is time-
consuming as it requires 24*7 active involvement. Users are also allowed to give feedbacks
and negative feedbacks give negative impacts on the brand image of company.
Theme 4: Effective marketing strategy for business expansion?
Interpretation: From the above, it can be said that that social media marketing is an
effective and beneficial marketing strategy. There are several companies who are making
effective use of social media and people also use this to the great extent so, with its help
hospitality sectors or hotels can improve their business activities. In addition, advertising
campaign is other effective marketing strategy which can attract customers in a better way. E-
mail marketing or meeting directly to customers is an effective marketing strategy which are
being used by several businesses.
Theme 5: Social media helps hotels in promoting services
Interpretation: It can be said that social media is supporting several companies in
promoting their services and business. One of the main reason is, social media has several
attractive platforms which allow both customers and businesses to connect with each others
and know about products in depth. On the other hand, it can also be said that social media is
not helping some hotels as it is increasing competition which is not good for it because due to
this resaon they become bind and pressurized to invest more in technology.

Theme 6: Controlling methods of brand online via social media?
Interpretation: On the basis of above question, it can easily be said that making an
active participation in conversation of customers by businesses, they can control their brand
online. It can also be said that in this context that by using this method businesses can have
great positive impacts on their performance. On the other hand, solving customers query and
keep in touch with them by customer service, businesses can control their brand and influence
customers. So, overall, it can be said that, there are several ways of controlling brand online.
Theme 7: Ways of increasing followers or subscribers?
Interpretation: From the above question, it can be said that by providing offers and
discounts to customers, companies can increase total number of followers and subscribers. The
main reason of providing offers and incresaing number of followers is to improve brand image
and having a strong position in the market. It can also be said that discounts attract customers
the most as it grabs their attention. Customers Nowadays seek qualitative services at
affordable prices and it is the better way of increasing followers.
Theme 8: Editorial calendar helps in creating quality content?
Interpretation: It can be said in the context of auditoria calendar that editorial
calendar plays an important role as it helps businesses in controlling publication of contents
across media. Editorial plan is important for their company because with it, hotel can create
quality content as well as control it in an efficient manner. In addition and in the regards to
importance of editorial plan in social media, can be said that editorial calendar make
businesses aware about time and importance of posting pictures. On the other hand, it does not
only have positive impacts because, because it consumes their time.

Theme 9: The main barrier in social media marketing?
Interpretation: It can be said that there are several factors which create barriers in the
path of the success of digital or social media marketing. One of the main barrier and problem
which many companies are facing is ineffective HR and financial resources. It is the main
problem for many hotels as it creates problem for them in attracting all age group of people. It
can also be said that ineffective marketing strategies is main disadvantage or weakness of
many companies which create barriers for them. On the other hand, some of companies
believe that building a community of followers is the main problem as there are several
competitors in the market and it becomes difficult for them to increase numbers of followers.
Theme 10: Consumers engaging factors with social media?
Interpretation: On the basis of above question, it can be said that there are several
factors which can attract and engage customers. One of the main engaging factor is written
articles which are the most used and effective factor. It can also be said that in this context that
videos catch attention of customers and attract them. In addition, and in the context of
engaging factor it can be said that discounts and other offers can catch customers attention
towards company's services. Overall, it can be said that, there are several factors are available
by which companies can attract customers to the great extent with the help of social media.
Theme 11: The most preferable source of booking by customers?
Interpretation: On the basis of above question, it is analysed that most of the
customers prefer online website for booking hotels. Online website has considered one of the
main preferable sources by which many hotels analysed the total number of booking as
compare to the last year and it has made it able to increase its brand. On the other hand, rather,
online website, official website of the hotel also is being majorly used by customers for
booking hotels as customers can analyse features and all informations and compare them with
other hotels, so they prefer official website. In addition, it can also be said that many

customers book their services and hotel from travel agency as they do not rely on social media
platforms due to some reasons.
Theme 12: Social media give competitive advantage opportunity?
Interpretation: It can be said that social media allow companies to take competitive
advantages as there are several features are available by which they can take this advantage
and can attract wider range of customers. By making an effective use it can give several
opportunities to companies and hotels and competitive advantage is one of the main
opportunity. They also said that social media allow companies to identify their competitors,
services and as per the analysis they can make changes in their strategies accordingly. By
making changes in strategies as per the analysis via social media, companies make a strong
position in the market and makes their products differ then their competitors.
Theme 13: Leadership and effective management play an important role in supporting
company to take competitive advantage via social media?
Interpretation: In this context, it can be said that leadership and management play an
important role in taking competitive advantages by companies. Leadership and management
plays a vital role as they support company and employees in accomplishing their goals. An
effective leadership style and management activities guide employees of their organization
and tell them new ways of attracting customers. On the other hand, it can also be said that in
some situations, these both do not play an effective role because there is a requirement of
having technical skills and knowledge of operating social media.
Theme 14: The main success achieved by companies with the help of social media?
Interpretation: Above question is all about knowing importance of social media. In
this context, it is identified that companies can increase its overall sales which is generally the
main goal of marketing strategy or social media marketing. It is also known that social media
supports companies to the great extent and somehow it also makes them able in accomplishing
their overall business goals. With the help of social media and making effective use of its
platforms, they can engage more customers which can directly impact on its sales and revenue.
It can also be said in the context of importance of social media that social media makes many

companies able to expand their business in other new markets and aware their people about its
services and products.
Theme 15: Use of social media in employing people?
Interpretation: In the regards to question of uses of social media, it can be said that
many companies make use of social media only for brand awareness and not for employing
people for the organization. All those companies who do not make an effective use of social
media for employing people can face some problems. It can also be said that lack of skilled
workforce is one of the main problem of the failure of the business. For operating social
media, there is requirement of talent workforce because lack of knowledge can create several
problems like loss of data, cyber attacks etc. On the other hand, it can be said that several
companies employ some employees with the help of social media which help them out in
getting or attracting skilled workforce of different cultures and make their working
environment innovative. So, it can be said that from this that, hotel needs to make use of social
media for other activities for taking competitive advantages.
Theme 16: Social media of company fallen victim to the hackers?
Interpretation: It can be said that, internet or social media increase risk of loss of
information’s and other privacy related issues. There are several companies who have become
victim to the hackers. Company provides some information’s to customers via Website and
these information’s are being analysed by their competitors by which they take undue
advantage. On the other hand, there are some companies who have not faced the problem of
loss of data, hack of the accounts yet as they have developed or used some privacy tools. So, it
can also be said that there is a requirement or companies to use effective privacy and security
tools from preventing itself against loss of data and privacy related issues.
Theme 17: Different cultures of people affect performance via social media?
Interpretation: It can be said that people from different cultures and countries affect
the performance of the company which they perform via social media. With the help of social
media, companies can contact to different cultures of people which has different types of

needs and tastes. Different cultures of customers seek services as per their needs and tastes and
it becomes difficult for the company to provide services as per different types of needs of
people. If customers do not get services as per their tastes and requirements then they give
negative comments on company's website which impact on the brand of the company. So, it
can be said that companies require focusing on sustainability and it is the main factor which
can help them in having positive impacts of different cultures of people.
Theme 18: Using tools to schedule and automate posts, can be beneficial for company?
Interpretation: It can be said that importance automation posts tools plays an
important role. By making an effective use of tools who can post and schedule automatically
once in a week can help companies in attracting customers or give other benefits. They also
said that by making an effective use of these tools, their company can save time. On the other
hand, it can also be said that these tools sometimes can create some problems because these
tools do not have ability to think as like human.
Theme 19: The best tool to automate posts & schedule for the company?
Interpretation: It can be said that tools which automate posts and schedule plays an
important role and there are several tools are available for this. Hoot suite is an effective and
the best tool to automate posts. Hoot suite social media management platform has several
characteristics which allow companies to track as well as manage their social network
channels. Company can also monitor that what customers are saying about their products and
services. In addition, It can be said that Buffer is one of the important tool to automate posts &
schedule. MeetEdgar is other effective and the best tool because with it, company can post
some pictures and other things on a specific time whenever they want by setting schedule.
Theme 20: Social media marketing goals integrated with the main goal of the company?

Interpretation: It can be said that social media marketing goals have direct connection
with the overall goals of the company. By accomplishing social media marketing goals,
companies can accomplish overall business vision and objectives. It can also be said that the
main social media business goal of many companies is to attract wider range of customers and
taking competitive advantages. The overall aim of the business of many companies is to
increase brand image and increase sales and by attracting customers to the great extent,
company can increase sales as well. On the other hand, many companies believe that there is
no connection of social media goals with the overall business goals as they both are different.
So, company needs to focus on accomplishing its overall business goals separately.
Theme 21: Main targets for social media marketing?
Interpretation: It can be said that social media is not beneficial for all age group of
people. The main target of many hotels is 25-40 age group of people. It can also be said that in
this context that, this age group of people use social media to the great extent, and they also
prefer online shopping and online booking. By analysing followers list and the increasing
number of online booking, many hotels are identifying that most of the people who booked
online services and were from this age group.
Theme 22: Recommendations to company regarding strategies to improve social media
marketing strategy?
Interpretation: In this open-ended question, several effective strategies are being
identified by which company can take competitive advantages and solve all barriers or
challenges which occur in the path of its success. It can be said that company should focus on
attracting skilled workforces as it is one of the main and key element of the success of the
company. Skilled workforce have knowledge about how to operate social media, how to create
compelling contents etc. It can also be said that by managing SEO, they can critical evaluate
its performance. By evaluating all factors and its performance, it can make changes in its
others strategies which can help it out in accomplishing marketing and overall business goals.

Theme 23: Ways by which your company can take competitive advantages with the help of
social media?
Interpretation: There are several ways by which companies can take competitive
advantages by making an effective use of social media. In this open-ended question, It can be
said that by identifying needs of different types and age group of people, company can
increase number of followers and engage them. For this, company requires measuring traffic
on its website and try to understand that what customers want in this regard. By providing
attractive rewards to customers, company can grab their attention and influence them to buy
products from their company only. It can also be said that company should keep themselves in
contact with customers by providing post sale services. When customers get post sale services
and if they feel that company is making efforts in engaging them then it increases their morale
and make them feel valued. They are also more likely to retain with the company and support
them in accomplishing their goals.
Theme 24: What offers can help the company in attracting customers on social media for
attracting them?
Interpretation: In this open-ended question, it is identified that by providing products
informations and increasing their knowledge regarding products and services, company can
attract customers to the great extent. It can also be said that when customers have knowledge
of products then they can take better buying decision otherwise it can decrease their morale.
By providing discounts and other offers like vouchers, companies can attract customers. In
this regards to, It can be said that discounts and other offers influence people to visit at-least
once to company's website and other social media platforms which can increase traffic. People
visit at-least once to companies website then they make buying decision if companies have
attractive qualitative products. Overall, it can be said that there are several offers are available
by which, companies or specially hotels can attract customers and can take competitive
advantages.

RECOMMENDATIONS
On the basis of above study it can be said that social media is having some negative
impacts on the performance of hotels and creating some barriers in the path of the success. On
the basis of above study, it can be recommended to the company that it should make an
effective use of its human resources who has knowledge that how to operate social media
platforms and solve customers queries quickly. It has also been known that hotels do not give
products and services information in detail by which customers face problems in identifying
effectiveness of their services. It influences their buying decisions. So, it can be suggested to
the company and hotels, that it requires focusing on posting attractive images and written
articles about its products and services from which, customers can get all informations. It is
also analysed that customers seek qualitative products at affordable prices while buying
service via social media. They also consider some factors such as brand image of the
company, prices of products, quality, reliability and in depth products knowledge. So, in this
regards, it can be suggested that company should focus on all these factors and try to increase
its brand image by following codes of ethics and becoming honest towards their customers.
In addition, from the data analysis part, it is analysed that most of the employees of the
company and people believe that editorial calendar plays an important role as with the help of
this businesses or marketing manager control publication of contents. They also make an
effective use of that data and make them publicly available in order to attract advertisers or
customers. So, it can also be suggested that company should make an effective use of this
calendar and create quality content which is the main key of the success. It is also analysed
that, company do not have attractive and effective marketing strategy as well as financial
sources which creates some problems in taking competitive advantages. So, it can be
recommended to the company that it should focus on making an effective strategy and employ
people with the help of social media.
CONCLUSION
From the above study, it has been summarized that, social media played a vital role
because it helped companies specially hotels in promoting their goods and services. By
making an effective use of social media or analysing positive and negative impacts of all

social media platforms, hotels has made themselves able to select the best one and attract
customers to the great extent. From the above study, it has also been concluded that social
media has some negative impacts as it is not beneficial for all age group of people because 45-
60 age group of people do not give importance to social media as well as online shopping. It
has become the main reason of increased competition which puts pressure on companies to
invest more in digital marketing. Small scale companies or hotels cannot make an effective
use of social media due to lack of finance and human resources For expanding business with
the help of social media, skilled staff also played a vital role as they have knowledge that how
to operate all social media platforms, the way of measuring effectiveness, the way of
controlling brand online, how to response customers' query immediately and in an efficient
manner. Further, it this research study has also discussed importance of providing offers and
discounts to customers as it helped companies in taking competitive advantages as well as
making a strong position in the market. Customers consider several factors or elements while
making plan of buying online products such as pricing, quality, reliability, brand image and all
these factors helped an organization in attracting customers to the great extent (Lange and
et.al., 2016). So, it has been analysed that by considering all these factors, hotels are taking
competitive advantages and engaging with new and potential customers.
In addition, it has also been summarized from the above study that, social media has
several negative impacts on the performance of companies because companies do not meet
customers directly or face to face, so, they find some difficulties in analysing or identifying
human behaviours as what they want, their queries etc. There are several ways of solving all
these problems and reducing negative impacts which social media has such as becoming
active on social media 24*7 and responding customers' queries immediately. Providing
discounts and offers to them, post sale services in order to make them feel valued and
respected. Respected and valued customers are more likely to stay with the company and
become more loyal which has direct impacts on the brand image. It has also been summarized
that data collection and analysis process is the main key of the success of the research as it
helped researcher or company in collecting relevant informations to the topic. All these
informations which they gathered from sample, played a vital role as it has made them able to
accomplish their main goal and solve the main research problem which is how to resolve
negative impacts of social media in order to take competitive advantages. Some strategies and

ways of solving negative impacts which has been shown in this study include: providing
vouchers, offers and discounts to customers, having skilled workforce who can solve
customers' queries, having enough sources of finance for investing in social media marketing
for attracting customers and taking competitive advantages. It has also been summarized that
literature review played a critic role in research development as it helped scholar in getting
informations and analysing a topic in a critic manner in order to make the final decision
efficiently. Literature review also give all answers of research questions which helped them
out in solving the main research problem.
REFLECTION
From the above study, I learned so many things which increased my overall knowledge
and I can say that this knowledge will help me out in my further research on the same topic as
well as other topics as I came to know that how to conduct research by following steps in a
sequence. From the above study I also came to know the importance of social media in all
field. Social media is good for business purpose because with the help of social media and its
platforms, companies contact with customers and promote their products as well as services.
Social media does not only help them in connecting with customers but also support them in
increasing their brand image. On the other hand, I also came to know that each coin has 2
sides as just like this social media also has some negative aspects which give several negative
impacts on the performance and effectiveness of the company. By making use of social media
for business expansion and other purpose, company forget to contact or engage with them face
to face. Most of the people, specially the older do not prefer social media as they believe that
social media does nor satisfy their needs to the great extent. They have some trust issues. I
also learned the way of collecting data from sample or target people as sampling is an
effective and critical task. There are different types of people who so not prefer to involve in
the data collection process, they do not prefer to share their informations. But by conducting
this research, I learned that how to influence people and how to make them able to take
participate in the process of data collection. For making them influence and aware, ethics also
plays an important role as it shows readers or reviewers about the loyalty and behaviour of
researcher (Zu and et.al., 2017). Research methodology also plays an important role because it

consists of several steps on which basis or by following those steps, researcher complete and
make the project successful. I also came to know that there are several platforms of social
media which are being used by several sectors of organizations and one of the most used
platform which is mainly being used by hospitality sector or hotels is Facebook and Twitter. It
helps them out in attracting wider range of customers because with its help, companies do not
only provide products and services but also solve their queries or give post sale services. By
conducting research on the topic of social media, I also learned that how discounts, offers,
written articles play a vital role because it is the main thing which attract and grab attention of
customers towards company's website and its products. Social media is one of the main factor
which is increasing competition and also is the one by which companies can take competitive
advantages. So, I can say that social media has critic impacts on the performance and business
growth of hotels.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Abdalla, M.M. and et.al., 2018. Quality in qualitative organizational research: Types of
triangulation as a methodological alternative. Administração: Ensino e Pesquisa.
19(1).
Allcott, H., Gentzkow, M. and Yu, C., 2019. Trends in the diffusion of misinformation on
social media. Research & Politics. 6(2). p.2053168019848554.
Candi, M. and et.al., 2018. Social strategy to gain knowledge for innovation. British Journal
of Management. 29(4). pp.731-749.
Dinçer, M.Z. and Alrawadieh, Z., 2017. Negative word of mouse in the hotel industry: A
content analysis of online reviews on luxury hotels in Jordan. Journal of Hospitality
Marketing & Management. 26(8). pp.785-804.
Fischer, D. and et.al., 2017. Mindfulness and sustainable consumption: A systematic literature
review of research approaches and findings. Journal of Cleaner Production. 162.
pp.544-558.
Fuchs, C., 2017. Social media: A critical introduction. Sage.
Guesalaga, R., 2016. The use of social media in sales: Individual and organizational
antecedents, and the role of customer engagement in social media. Industrial
Marketing Management. 54. pp.71-79.
Leavy, P., 2017. Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and
community-based participatory research approaches. Guilford Publications.
Minaya, G., 2016. Relevant ethical consideration in research with indigenous people in Peru.
Journal of community genetics. 7(2). pp.175-176.
Quinlan, C. and et.al., 2019. Business research methods. South Western Cengage.
Raj, D. and Alexander, P., 2018. How social media can be marketed effectively by Sustain
Energy Solutions to gain a competitive advantage.
Sajid, S.I., 2016. Social media and its role in marketing.
Stone, H., 2017. THE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE HOTEL INDUSTRY: A

COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE PARK PLAZA CARDIFF AND THE VALE
RESORT(Doctoral dissertation, Cardiff Metropolitan University).
Verma, M. and Verma, K., 2017. Social Media a Promotional Tool: Hotel Industry. Journal of
Advances In Humanities. 5(1). pp.221-223.
Wu, C.Y. and et.al., 2017. Sampling matters in deep embedding learning. In Proceedings of
the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (pp. 2840-2848).
Yahia, I.B., Al-Neama, N. and Kerbache, L., 2018. Investigating the drivers for social
commerce in social media platforms: Importance of trust, social support and the
platform perceived usage. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 41. pp.11-19.
Yeakley, D.D. and Caballero, A.M., Hand Held Products Inc, 2016. Data collection system
having reconfigurable data collection terminal. U.S. Patent 9,256,772.
Lange, D.B. and et.al., Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC, 2016. Social media impact
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Zu, N. and et.al., 2017. A review of social media in education: effects and
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Shareef, M.A. and et.al., 2019. Social media marketing: Comparative effect of advertisement
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Larsson, A.O., 2018. “I Shared the News Today, oh Boy” News provision and interaction on
Facebook. Journalism studies, 19(1), pp.43-61.
He, W. and et.al., 2017. Application of social media analytics: a case of analyzing online hotel
reviews. Online Information Review.
Gil-Soto, E. and et.al., 2019. Hotel guests’ perceptions of environmental friendly practices in
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Online
2019 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report. 2019. [Online]. Available through <
https://www.rivaliq.com/blog/2019-social-media-benchmark-report/>
Environments. 5(3). pp.191-200

APPENDIX
Tame Table
Activity 2
days
5.
days
3
day
s
2
day
s
2
day
s
3
day
s
3
day
s
8
day
s
7
day
s
2 days
Identify
research
topic
Review of
Literature
Drafting
Methodologi
es
Complete
Proposal
Designing
questionnair
e
Collection of
data
Analyzing
data and
interpretatio
n

Discussion
and
Conclusion
Submission
Questionnaire
1. Which social media platform is mainly used by your hotel for promoting services?
2. What are some importance of social media for your business?
3. What are some problems you face in using social media platforms for business?
4. According to you what is the most effective marketing strategy for your business
expansion?
5. Do you agree that social media helps hotels in promoting services?
6. How does your company control of brand online via social media?
7. How do your company increase followers or subscribers?
8. Does editorial calendar help you in creating quality content?
9. What is the main factor which create barriers in social media marketing?
10. Which is the most important factor which engage consumers the most?
11. What is the most used and preferable source of booking by customers?

12. Do you think that social media can allow your company to take competitive advantages?
13. Do you believe that leadership and effective management play an important role in
supporting company to take competitive advantage via social media?
14. What is the main success which your company made with the help of social media?
15. Did your company make an effective use of social media in employing people?
16. Has your company fallen victim to the hackers?
17. Does different cultures and people from different countries affect your company's
performance via social media?
18. Do you agree that by using tools to schedule and automate posts, your company can make
itself beneficial?
19. According to you, which tool to automate posts will be beneficial for your company?
20. Are your social media marketing goals integrated with the main or overall goal of the
company?
21. Who is your main target for social media marketing and business growth?
22. What will you recommend to company regarding strategies to improve social media
marketing strategy?
….......
23. According to you how your company can take competitive advantages with the help of
social media?
..............

24. According to you what offers you want to offer to customers on social media for attracting
them?