Role of Social Media in Consumer Relations

Research Project

ABSTRACT
In this research, there is discussion about, role of social media platform in building
consumer relations. There is discussion about different social media platforms which helps to
consider customer feedback an helps managers of hospitality organisation to take corrective
actions. This research is based on Hotel Hilton which is big brand in hospitality sector. At last
there is discussion about some recommendations which helps to get positive impact on growth
and development of association.

SUMMARY
With conducting this research, it is easy to understand about role of social media sites in
maintain customer relations. There is positive as well as negative impact of social media sites on
growth and development of association. Hence with this research it is easy to analyse changes
which has to be made in organisation to get positive impact. As per this research feedback on
social media sites plays important role in growth and development of association. Social media is
the platform which helps to bridge gap between consumers and organisation. At last there are
some recommendations which helps to get positive impact in maintaining consumer relations.

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................2
SUMMARY.....................................................................................................................................3
TITLE: ............................................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................................6
Establishing Powerful Relationship with Customers by Using Digital Technology.............6
Use of Social Media Platform for taking Feedback for Improving Quality...........................7
Enhancing Customer Relation and Support by Making use of Concept of Popularity and
Status......................................................................................................................................8
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..............................................................................8
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ...............................................................................12
CHAPTER 5: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL, RECOMMENDATIONS & SUGGESTIONS FOR
FURTHER WORK........................................................................................................................22
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................................24
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................25

TITLE:
“To analyze role of social media in building strong customer relation.” A case study on
hospitality sector.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Digital technology refers to the use of technical prospects which transfers manual work in
technical aspects. With the help of digital technology, analog technology of various
telecommunication techniques which helps to make changes telephone and cable system. This
helps to perform business operations in positive and negative manner. Digital technology helps
in performing business activities in more effective and relevant manner. There are different
prospectives which covers in digital technology. This includes social media, internet connection,
cloud computing, etc. So digital technology is major concept which helps to perform business
operations in positive and relevant manner (Bark, Kragt and Robson, 2016). In current scenario,
there are many technological changes taking place so it is responsibility of managers to
implement it to get better outcome. In this research, there is discussion about role of social media
in building customer relation. This research is based on Hotel Hilton which is one of the largest
organisation providing hospitality services.
There is important role of social media techniques in current market trends. This is the
platform which is used to collect information from different sources to analyse market trends,
demand of customers. Hence managers of Hilton can make changes in their working policies
which is effective and significant to growth and development of organisation. With this research,
it is easy to analyse role of social media in getting positive impact on customer satisfaction and
retention. This is the base which is used by organisation in order to collect information about
change in plans and policies. In hospitality industry. There is much competition because
consumer has choice to select best source of availing services. Hence it is responsibility of
managers of Hilton to collect appropriate and relevant information to make alterations in
business operations. This helps to make Hotel Hilton competent to other organisations in
industry.
Research aim:
“To analyze role of social media in building strong customer relation.” A case study on
hospitality sector.

Objective:
 To establish a powerful relationship with customers by implementing the use of digital
technology in organization.
 To use support of social media platform in taking the feedback of consumer that help in
improving the various field that help in improving the services.
 To use concept of popularity and status for increasing the customer relations and support.
In this research, there is use of different techniques which is significant and relevant for
getting positive outcome as appropriate research technique and methodology (McKenney and
Reeves, 2018). Research is time consuming process, so there are different aspects which has to
be followed, so this includes: deductive approaches, pragmatist philosophy, etc. Hence this is the
way which helps to perform research activities in ethical and reliable manner.
Time scale is one of the important technique which is used to define time which is
required to be define activities. There are many activities such introduction, farming aims and
objectives, etc. which are distributed in different time slot with time scale. This research is
completed within …..
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Establishing Powerful Relationship with Customers by Using Digital Technology
According to Karel Dörner and David Edelman, Digital Technology can be defined as the
use of digital or computerised devices for various processes in an organisation or for any
personal purpose. The use of Digital Technology in an organisation can help the company in
making good relationship with their customers. It helps in communicating clearly with the
customers of the Hilton Hotel as with the help of digital technology, the company can reach
easily to their customers (Burke, 2016). This communication is an important part in establishing
good relationships with the customers of an organisation as they can be made aware about the
new upcoming products of the company, further their reviews regarding the existing products of
the company can also known which will help the company in making changes in their product
according to the taste and preference of customers. With the help of digital technology, company
can make its online presence such as by making their own page on social media sites like
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. This will help the customers to get back to company easily

and it will also become easy for the Hilton Hotel to consider more easily what their customers
wants.
The suggestions and problems they are facing from the products made by the company
can be directly addressed to their online pages available. This will save the time of both the
company and customers. The company can easily take into account about what the customers are
saying and what they want.
Another way by which the technology can be used for making better the relationship with
customers using technology is making easier to to facilitate the customers with the purchase of
goods and services of the company (Eriksson and Kovalainen, 2015). As contactless payments
are trending very much now, so this had made possible only with the help of digital technology.
Hilton Hotel can provide their customers with different types of payment options as every
customers does not use only a single mode of payment so it will be easy for them to purchase the
products and services and this will help in enhancing the relationship between the company and
their customers.
Use of Social Media Platform for taking Feedback for Improving Quality
According to Heidi Cohen, Social Media can be defined as internet based platform for
sharing, discussing and knowing information related to various topics, human beings. The use of
social media can also be done in order to enhance the quality of products they are providing to
their customers. In today's world, it is right to say that social media is a platform that helps in the
success of Hilton Hotel. The quality of products can be improved with the help of taking
feedback continuously from the online presence of the company. The company can make use of
different social media apps for making their online presence. The company can invite the
suggestions of customers by making use of this platform. The customers can put their comments
regarding the quality of the products and services of the company whether they are good or bad
and also provide suggestions to the company about what changes they can make in their products
for future growth in customer base (Padalkar and Gopinath, 2016).
Further, the company can provide their social media followers with discount codes for
providing their important feedbacks regarding the improvement to be made in the products and
services of the company. Hilton Hotel can ask their customers and followers about the product
that did they like or not. This will help in knowing the status of the product in the market and
more information about the needs and preferences of the customers will be clear to company.

The company can also make use of social media platform for informing the people about their
new arrivals in the market so that they become aware about the products.
Enhancing Customer Relation and Support by Making use of Concept of Popularity and Status
According to David Kirkpatrick, Customer Relations can be defined as the relation in
between Hilton Hotel and their customers. The relation in between these must be good so that the
needs of both can be fulfilled. In order to get success by making use of social media as a
platform for making improvement in the quality of the products provided by the company, it is
necessary to answer continuously to the feedbacks provided by the customers (Fellows and Liu,
2015). The relationship in between customers and Hilton Hotel can be improved by providing
them with the best quality possible products which will fulfil their needs and make them loyal
towards the company. Customers do not like bad products but finds chances of improvement in
the good products. So this improvement in products and services of the company will not only
enhance the quality of product but also their relation.
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research is the technique which is used to enhance and analyse complete and in- depth
knowledge about topic. Hence with the help of research methodology, it is easy to understand
techniques which are required to be considered by researcher. There are different activities such
as introduction, setting aims and objectives, literature review, research methodology, etc. which
are performed to get appropriate outcome. In research methodology, there are different
techniques which is relevant for conducting research in ethical and reliable manner.
Research Philosophy: Research Philosophy is a vast topic and it deals with the source,
development and nature of knowledge. There are different types of research philosophy which
are pragmatism, positivism, realism and interpretivism. The use of type of philosophy depends
upon the research that what type of data it is focusing upon. In the following research,
pragmatism type of research philosophy is used (Pollack and Adler, 2015). It is because by using
this, an in depth analysis of research can be done by covering all the aspects of the topic.
Research Approach: In the next layer of research methodology, research approach is
chosen. It is the techniques which is used for doing the in depth analysis of the research topic.
There are three types of approach which are used while conducting research. These are
pragmatist, inductive and deductive. In the following research, deductive approach is used as it is

the best way by which information can be acquired related to the topic (Forsman and et. al.,
2015).
Research Design: Conducting a research is a very long process, so it is also required to
prepare properly the design of the research so that it becomes easy to interpret and understand by
the reader what the research wants to say. This is why research design plays an important role in
doing the research in a good and appropriate manner. There are three types of research design
which are exploratory, descriptive and experimental (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016). For conducting
the following research, the design used in descriptive. It is used because proper description about
every chapter of research can be acquired through this research design. Further it will also
enhance the knowledge of readers.
Research Method: It is the way in which the research is conducted. Mainly the research
method is of two types which are qualitative and quantitative. In this research, qualitative
research method is used. The reason behind using this method is that it is based upon the use of
various theories and concepts which help in acquiring the full knowledge and justification about
the view presented in the research. Further it is also used as it is easy to understand and the
complexity is avoided by making use of this research method as in case of quantitative method.
This method also makes the collection of data from respondents by asking from them with the
help of questionnaire, etc.
Data Source: The information covered in the research is collected from various sources
which make the research more reliable and authenticate. There are two methods of collecting
data for completing the research. These are primary source and secondary source of data.
Primary source of data can be defined as the first hand collection of data which has not been
presented yet by anyone. Secondary Data is the data which is acquired by making use of already
published articles or journals or books or many material (Takey and de Carvalho, 2015). For the
completion of this research, the use of primary source and secondary source of data is done. In
primary source of data the use of questionnaire, personal interviews of respondents, etc. are
included for completing the research. In secondary source of data, online sources, books and
journals are used for completing the research.
Data Analysis: Data Analysis can be defined as the process by which the information
collected from the respondents is used for converting it into some conclusion or recommendation
to be provided to the readers of the research. For analysing the data, thematic approach is used. It

is qualitative type of analysis which emphasizes on examining and recording the patterns of data
collected to complete the research.
Sampling: Sampling can be defined as the process by which the selection of respondents
is done out of the whole population in order to complete the research (Venable, Pries-Heje and
Baskerville, 2016). In this research, it is not possible to cover the views of whole population as it
will be time consuming and also effect the cost of doing research. There are two methods by
which the respondents of the research can be chosen which are random sampling and non
random sampling. Random Sampling can be defined as the process by which the respondents for
the research are chosen randomly. The reason behind choosing this method of sampling is that it
is bias free and the research outcomes become more reliable. The number of respondents used in
this research are 100.
Ethical Consideration: It means to say that the completion of the research must be done
in an ethical way. The research done must be done for an ethical purpose not for any unethical
one (Franklin and et. al., 2015). In addition to this, the collection of data should also be done in
an ethical manner which provides right information to the readers and enhance the validity and
reliability of the research. Overall, this point clearly indicates that research should be conducted
in an ethical and good way such as choosing the respondents for completing research must be
done in bias free manner.
Time Horizon: Time Horizon defines the time which the researcher will take in order to
complete the research. There are different activities which are included in completing the
research and for this, Time Scale is used which helps in dividing the tasks and and also dividing
the time which it will take in order to complete the different tasks. It helps in both the timely
completion of different tasks of research and the research. This research will completed within
approximately 9 weeks.

CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
Data analysis refers to the process under which there is analysis of data which is collected
from respondents. Data analysis is important because this is the base through which changes can
be implemented in research activities. Thematic approach is used in this research to collect and
interprete information. As per this approach, there is brief discussion about questions. This helps
to provide brief knowledge to reader. In this research, data is collected from 100 consumers
which helps to get knowledge about social media platform of Hotel Hilton and key
improvements.
Questionnaire
Q1. Do you understand the concept of social media?
Yes
No
Q2. Do you have social media account?
Yes
No
Q3. Which social media technique you prefer to use?
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Pinterest
Others
Q4. For which purpose do you use social media techniques?
Examine latest trends
Grabbing knowledge about best service providers

Cost Analysis
To give feedbacks regarding products and services
Q5. In what frequency do you visit official page/ website of hotel Hilton?
Once a day
Twice a day
In lunch times
While commuting work
Q6. Did social media platform affects your decisions while availing services from Hotels?
Yes
No
Q7. Did you give feedbacks on quality of services of Hotel Hilton through social media
platform?
Sometimes
Never
Always
Q8. Do you think social media platform plays important role in growth and development of
Hotel Hilton?
Yes
No
Q9. Do you think there is requirement of changes in social media platform of hotel Hilton?
Yes
No
Q10. Recommend some ways through which positive impact on maintaining strong band
image of Hotel Hilton?
DATA FINDING
Theme 1: Concept of social media
Q1. Do you understand the concept of social media? Frequency
Yes 65

No 35
Interpretation: From the above discussed diagram, it is clear that majority of consumers
are aware about concept of social media. Out of 100 employees, 65 consumers have knowledge
about it while remaining 35 have no idea about. Hence it is important for Hotel Hilton to make
up-gradations in their social media platform.
Theme 2: Social media account
Q2. Do you have social media account? Frequency
Yes 80
No 20
Yes No
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70 65
35
Frequency

Interpretation: As per above diagram, it is clear that many consumers use social media
platform for different purpose. Out of 100 respondents, 80 have knowledge about social media
accounts on different platform. While 20 does not. Hence it is interpreted that social media
application plays important role in growth and development of organisation.
Theme 3: Preference to use social media technique
Q3. Which social media technique you prefer to use? Frequency
Facebook 45
Instagram 20
Twitter 17
Pinterest 13
Others 5
Yes No
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
80
20
Frequency

Interpretation: As per above mentioned graph, it is identified that 45 consumers have
account on Facebook, 20 respondents use Instagram, 17 respondents have Twitter profile, 13
individuals use Pinterest for different purpose while remaining 5 use other platforms. Hence it is
clear that majority of consumers use Facebook account to analyse different activities happening
in society.
Theme 4: Purpose of using social media technology
Q4. For which purpose do you use social media techniques? Frequency
Examine latest trends 25
Grabbing knowledge about best service providers 10
Cost Analysis 27
To give feedbacks regarding products and services 38
Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest Others
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
45
20
17
13
5
Frequency

Interpretation: As per above mentioned graph, it is clear that there are different purpose
to use social media techniques. Out of 25 respondents use social media to examine latest trends,
10 consumers uses this platform to grab knowledge about best service provider. 27 consumers
wants to analyse cost, while remaining 38 respondents use it for providing feedbacks to
consumers. Hence it is concluded that social media platform is used by consumers in order to
collect information from respondents and taking actions as per trends. Hence managers of Hotel
Hilton has to work in order to provide good consumer base.
Theme 5: Frequency of using social media platform
Q5. In what frequency do you visit official page/ website of
Hotel Hilton?
Frequency
Once a day 10
Twice a day 12
Randomly 37
0
10
20
30
40 25
10
27
38
Frequency

In lunch times 21
While commuting work 20
Interpretation: From the above discussion, it is clear that people use social media
platform many times in a day. According to 10 consumers, they use once a day, 12 use twice a
day, 37 use it randomly, 21 respondents use it in lunch times or when they are free, while
remaining 20 consumers use it while computing work. Hence it is concluded that many people
use social media platform randomly, so this factor must be kept in mind by managers of Hotel
Hilton and improve product and services accordingly.
Theme 6: Impact on decisions of consumers
Q6. Did social media platform affects your decisions while
availing services from Hotels?
Frequency
Yes 85
No 15
Once a day
Twice a day
Randomly
In lunch times
While commuting work
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
10 12
37
21 20
Frequency

Interpretation: From the above discussion, it is clear that social media platform affects
decision of consumers. Majority of consumers alter their decisions as per comment and feedback
of social media technique. While remaining 15 does not consider social media platform relevant.
Hence it is interpreted that information which is on social media is relevant and authentic. This
helps to give authentic information to consumers and improves brand loyalty among them.
Theme 7: Feedbacks regarding quality of services
Q7. Did you give feedbacks on quality of services of Hotel
Hilton through social media platform?
Frequency
Sometimes 44
Never 26
Always 30
Yes No
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90 85
15
Frequency

Interpretation: From the above discussion, these days people use social media platform
for providing feedback on the quality of product and services of consumers. Out of 100
respondents, 44 consumers give reviews sometimes, 26 respondents never use social media for
giving views, while remaining 30 respondents always post comments on social media whether
negative or positive. Hence it is concluded that social media gives impact on image of
association. Hence in case any negative comment is posted on social media then it affects brand
image of hotel Hilton. So there must be corrective measures which helps to gain consumer
loyalty and maintain long term relations with them.
Theme 8: Role of social media in growth and development
Q8. Do you think social media platform plays important role in
growth and development of Hotel Hilton?
Frequency
Yes 75
No 25
Sometimes Never Always
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
44
26
30
Frequency

Interpretation: As per above picture, it is clear that as per view of 75 respondents, it is
clear that social media plays important role in growth and development of organisation. While 25
consumers are against of affecting growth and development of organisation. So it is clear atht it
is important to make social media platform up to date and in case of any negative comment or
change in competitors policies managers of Hotel Hilton has to analyse and update their system.
Theme 9: Requirement of changes in social media platform
Q9. Do you think there is requirement of changes in social
media platform of hotel Hilton?
Frequency
Yes 63
No 27
Yes No
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80 75
25
Frequency

Interpretation: From the above picture, it is clear there is requirement of alterations in
social media sites or Hotel Hilton as per view of 63 consumers. While 27 says there is no
requirement of change. Hence it is interpreted that there must be change in visual presentation,
up to date information, etc. This is significant for providing appropriate information to
consumers in terms of types of product and services.
From the above discussion, it is concluded that role of social media is increasing in
business context. These days consumer prefer to use social media platform in order to collect
information about organisation. Hence in this case managers of Hotel Hilton has to make
changes in operations which is significant and assist in growth and development of association.
Majority of people are using social media sites for collecting information brand, hence there is
brand awareness among society. Hence it is concluded that managers of Hotel Hilton has to
improve their social media platform with appropriate and relevant information to maintain long
term relations with consumers and creating brand awareness.
Yes No
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70 63
27 Frequency

CHAPTER 5: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL, RECOMMENDATIONS &
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER WORK
From the above discussion, it is clear that social media plays crucial for growth and
development of organisation. Above primary and secondary data shows that managers of Hotel
Hilton has to consider social media as this platform to reach more and more consumers. This is
the technology which helps to get positive impact in terms of change in plans and policies which
is relevant and crucial for getting changes in effective and relevant manner. Social media
platform is used by consumers to analyse changes which are taking place in current market
trends, price analysis, etc. Hence managers of Hotel Hilton must take corrective actions to
provide satisfaction to consumers (Hugues-Salas and et. al., 2015). Consumers post feedback on
social media sites, hence this motivates Hotel Hilton to give best, so more and more consumers
prefer to avail services from them. This helps to improve services according to demand of
consumers and competitor's policies. This also helps to retain consumers because there are many
offers, discounts which are available by tagging organisation at social media sites. This approach
is beneficial for hotel Hilton and consumers in the form of brand promotion and concessional
rates respectively.
There are some recommendations which has to be considered by managers at hotel Hilton
to get positive outcome as consumer awareness, brand conscious, analyse market trends, etc. as
there is much competition in hospitality industry, so in this case it is responsibility of managers
to analyse competitors policies through social media platform and update their organisational
system as well (Laursen and Svejvig, 2016). Some recommendation for social media technology
are discussed as under-
 There must be advertisements on social media platform according to services and
targeted consumers. This helps to motivate them to avail services from particular hotels.
 Social media platform must be updated with regular analyse regarding change in services,
price, etc. this helps to get positive impact on check of consumers.
 In case of any negative feedback, corrective actions must be considered frequently and
when issue is resolved, there must be updations at social media platform. This helps to
create awareness about people and gives positive impression.
 Social media sites must carry authentic and reliable information. This helps to reduce
possibilities of false and misconduct from organisation's point of view.

With conducting this research, I am aware about research tools and techniques. This
helps me conduct research in future in more reliable and authentic manner. Aims and objectives
of this research are achieved within specified time because of proper guidance and leadership. It
feel that there is more requirement of more money so I can collect data from more sources. Aims
and objectives of this research is achieved and I am able to enhance knowledge about role of
social media in maintaining consumer satisfaction (Kornbluh 2015).
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS
From the above discussion, it is easy to understand role of social media in building strong
customer relations. These days, there is more use of social media to analyse external market. It is
easy to identify rating of hotel, quality of services offered, varieties of services, etc. Hence social
media is beneficial for organisation as well as consumers which helps to deal with changes
taking place in external environment. Organisation has to take actions according to external
market. This is crucial and significant for analysing competitors policies and then alter services.
With the help of social media, it is easy to take views and feedbacks on consumers which is
relevant for making hem comfortable with brand. In this research, there is use of primary and
secondary sources of data to collect information hence it is easy to collect information from more
sources in authentic am reliable manner. Questionnaire is used to collect information from
respondents in authentic and reliable manner. Hence aims and objectives of this research is
achieved within specified time.

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