Impact of social media on customer satisfaction Case Study 2022

Running head: AIRBNB
The impact of social media on customer satisfaction: The case of Airbnb
STUDENT NAME
Project submitted in part fulfilment of the Master of Business Administration
Bolton Business School
The University of Bolton – 31/12/2019

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Executive Summary
The paper is based on finding the influence of the social media marketing strategy on the
customer satisfaction. The case study of Airbnb has been selected for this. The study follows a
comprehensive format whereby the paper has been divided into various sections with each
section focusing on a different part of the chapter. The paper begins with an introduction which
sets down the objectives of the study and also provides a considerate background of the
enterprise which has been selected for the research. In consideration with this, the second chapter
is the Literature review chapter focuses on the different theories related to the Customer
satisfaction theories and related Social media marketing strategies. The study has also built a
conceptual framework with the help of which the study can be carried out. The Research
methodology chapter focuses on the various research methods which have been adopted for the
study. This research methodology has recommended that, the study will be using the Primary
Quantitative technique of research. In consideration with this, the fourth chapter thereby focuses
on the Findings, Results as well as the Discussion of the outcomes of the study and the survey.
The last chapter has concluded the study and certain recommendations have been provided with
respect to the same. It was found that the social media marketing strategy and presence of Airbnb
has a strong effect on the customer satisfaction.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................6
Overview......................................................................................................................................6
Background..................................................................................................................................6
About Airbnb...............................................................................................................................7
Problem statement.......................................................................................................................8
Research aim................................................................................................................................8
Research Objectives.....................................................................................................................8
Research Questions......................................................................................................................9
Hypothesis...................................................................................................................................9
Research rationale........................................................................................................................9
Structure of the Paper................................................................................................................10
Chapter 2: Literature review..........................................................................................................11
Introduction....................................................................................................................................11
Social media marketing.................................................................................................................12
Social media in the hospitality industry.........................................................................................13
Online reviews and Hotel services................................................................................................15
Consumer satisfaction....................................................................................................................17
Impact of social media marketing on consumer satisfaction.........................................................21
Conceptual Framework..................................................................................................................22

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Literature gap.................................................................................................................................22
Summary........................................................................................................................................23
Chapter 3: Methodology................................................................................................................25
Overview....................................................................................................................................25
Research Philosophy..................................................................................................................25
Research Approach....................................................................................................................26
Research Design........................................................................................................................26
Data collection procedure..........................................................................................................26
Data analysis..............................................................................................................................27
Research strategy.......................................................................................................................27
Sampling technique...................................................................................................................28
Ethical considerations................................................................................................................29
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................29
Chapter 4: Findings, Analysis and Discussion..............................................................................31
Overview....................................................................................................................................31
Descriptive Statistics.................................................................................................................31
Inferential Statistics...................................................................................................................41
Reliability and Validity..............................................................................................................41
Correlation.................................................................................................................................42
Correlation between aspects of the Dependent Variable- Customer Satisfaction.....................43

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Correlation between aspects of the Independent Variable- Social Media.................................44
Regression..................................................................................................................................45
Hypothesis testing......................................................................................................................48
Findings.....................................................................................................................................48
Discussion..................................................................................................................................49
Summary....................................................................................................................................51
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations..............................................................................51
Overview....................................................................................................................................51
Linking to Objectives................................................................................................................52
Limitations of the study.............................................................................................................53
Future scope...............................................................................................................................54
Recommendations......................................................................................................................54
References......................................................................................................................................58
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework..................................................................................................23
Figure 2..........................................................................................................................................33
Figure 3..........................................................................................................................................34
Figure 4..........................................................................................................................................36
Figure 5..........................................................................................................................................37
Figure 6..........................................................................................................................................38
Figure 7..........................................................................................................................................40
Figure 8..........................................................................................................................................42

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List of Tables
Table 1...........................................................................................................................................32
Table 2...........................................................................................................................................33
Table 3...........................................................................................................................................34
Table 4...........................................................................................................................................36
Table 5...........................................................................................................................................37
Table 6...........................................................................................................................................39
Table 7...........................................................................................................................................40
Table 8...........................................................................................................................................42
Table 9...........................................................................................................................................42
Table 10.........................................................................................................................................44
Table 11.........................................................................................................................................45
Table 12.........................................................................................................................................46
Table 13.........................................................................................................................................47
Table 14.........................................................................................................................................48

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Chapter 1: Introduction
Overview
The social media platforms have become a popular choice for the different enterprises
who want to carry out their operations in a manner such that they will be able to improve the
sales of the firm (Aijing, Terui and Kannan 2016). Additionally, they will also be able to satisfy
the different customers by meeting with their queries and other related needs. Customer
satisfaction can be described as how the various customers in an organization will be able to
fulfill all their requirements and additionally will also be able to see to it that they can engage in
a fruitful relationship with the organization. Previously, the various methods of service delivery,
the pricing, the location of the firm and other such parameters were considered to be of utmost
importance and had a significant role to play in determining the manner in which a customer
needs could be met with but currently, that spot has been taken up by the social media capability
of the firm (Alalwan et al. 2017). These days the social media is being categorized as the best
medium of communication with the customers and the method through which the firm will be
able to put up promotional plans and other deals which would thereby satisfy these customers to
a greater extent. Hence, in this study, the case of Airbnb is being adopted to assess how social
media generally influences customer satisfaction.
Background
The social media is a computer-mediated technology that tends to facilitate the overall
creation as well as the sharing of ideas, career interests and other expression formats that take
place via the networks and related virtual communities. Additionally, certain features of social
media make it unique. This comprises of the fact that it is a web 2.0 based Internet-based
applications, focusing mostly on the user-generated content and tends to rely on how the users
tend to create the service-specific profile as well as identities for the website or the applications.
This then focuses on the connectivity and communication aims of the users with those of the
other groups which are present.

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The various users generally tend to interact using these platforms. Examples of these
comprise of the Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, the different enterprises have
been using these means to target the different potential customers and to interact with them
effectively to certify that they will be able to meet with their needs and engage in user interaction
with them. An excellent social media presence of any company is often used as a medium, with
the help of which an enterprise will be necessarily able to satisfy the customers (Ali and Raza
2017).
Customer satisfaction can be mentioned to be a degree or a metric that is usually made
use of to determine whether a particular customer is substantially satisfied with a product or a
service. It needs to be the aim of the firm to ensure that the organization will be able to satisfy
the different customers who are present. The knowledge about customer satisfaction helps in
understanding the extent to which a particular customer is happy with the different brand
offerings and the kind of feelings which the customer generally possesses about the organization
and its performance (Amin 2016). It is essential that the various enterprises can meet with the
needs of the different customers and that they are necessarily able to engage in an interaction
with them, which will ensure organizational success. Hence, concerning this, the study will focus
on the capability of Airbnb and how its presence on social media will influence the customer
satisfaction to a great extent.
About Airbnb
Airbnb was found in the year 2008, and it has aimed to create a society where the
different people can engage in an excellent travel opportunity that is authentic, local and diverse.
It also needs to be inclusive as well as sustainable in nature. The organization makes use of
various technical aspects with the help of which it can empower the different individuals around
the globe and allow them to monetize as well as unlock their spaces. Additionally, the
accommodation of Airbnb will also provide access to the varied customers who will then be
exposed to stay in more than 100000 cities as present in 191 countries around the globe. It is
with this experience that the firm is essentially able to offer unprecedented access to local
communities and thereby improve the travel experience. The organization functions on a people
to people platform based on which it comprises various hosts, guests, employees and the

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different communities in which the different individuals tend to operate in and are being able to
carry out their operations. Therefore, this company is being used to examine the services of the
firm concerning the different customer satisfaction aspects.
Problem statement
Although it has been studied that the social media has a crucial role to play in the
different business enterprises and they are often used as a medium to see to it that the firm is
being able to ace its game and will be able to engage in the overall success. The theme of this
study will be primarily based on the fact that social media has a role to play in customer
satisfaction as well. The business model of Airbnb can be undertaken to be an aspect whereby
the social media has been able to play a very critical role in determining the manner in which the
firm can satisfy the customers and hence, the focus of this study lies on seeing to it that the
examples of the Airbnb can be taken to determine how social media is being used to satisfy the
customer needs and how customer satisfaction can be achieved.
Research aim
The main aim of the research can be taken to be to find the impact of social media on
overall customer satisfaction. This assists in determining that the study will adopt an analysis of
how social media can be used as an effective means to satisfy the different customers present.
This can also be used to assess how the use of social media can be enhanced to improve the
satisfaction level of the various customers.
Research Objectives
The objectives which have been set out for the research can be identified as follows:
 To understand the concept of customer satisfaction and the idea of social media as a
means for communication with different customers.
 To analyze how Airbnb has been using social media to increase customer satisfaction.
 To identify the association between social media and customer satisfaction
 To provide recommendations based on which, the customer satisfaction of the
organizations can be improved using the different means of social media.

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Research Questions
The different research questions which this paper will be answering are as follows:
 What is the concept of customer satisfaction and the idea of social media as a means for
communication with different customers?
 How has Airbnb has been using social media to increase customer satisfaction?
 What is the association between social media and customer satisfaction?
 What recommendations can be given to the firms based on which, the customer
satisfaction of the organizations can be improved using the different means of social
media?
Hypothesis
The hypothesis can be referred to as testing statements, which are generally examined to
prove a particular set of hypotheses. The different hypothesis which has been used for the study
can be taken as follows:
Independent variable: Social media
Dependent variable: Customer satisfaction
Alternate Hypothesis: Social media has a strong influence on customer satisfaction.
Null hypothesis: Social media does not have any influence on customer satisfaction.
The Regression analysis will be made use of to determine the impact of the Independent
variable on the dependent variable.
Research rationale
The primary reason why this research is being carried out can be primarily described to
be the fact that social media has become the key to success for the various enterprises (Anderson
et al. 2020). The organizations often make use of social media as a medium to communicate with
the different customers and use it to determine how the different customers provide their
feedback to the firms and whether the firms are being able to utilize this feedback for their

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overall welfare. Hence, in association with this, the reason why this research is being carried out
is to examine how the organization is making use of social media to attract the customers and,
more importantly, satisfy them. The study will not only identify the relationship which takes
between the independent and the dependent variable but will mainly mention how social media
can be considered as a means to perform well and gain a competitive advantage in the industry.
Structure of the Paper
The paper will be following g the given study:
Chapter 1: The Introduction chapter will throw light on the background of the study, the
research rationale, the problem statement and other sections that would contribute to
understanding how Airbnb has been making use of the various tools to attract a broader
audience.
Chapter 2: The Review of Literature will throw light on how the different theoretical concepts
and frameworks support this view and additionally try to find the structure of the theory linking
customer satisfaction with social media.
Chapter 3: The section throws light on the research methods being used for the study and will
ensure that the firm will be able to find and derive the relationship between the different
variables.
Chapter 4: The Data results, findings and the discussion chapter will necessarily focus on how
the outcomes of the results will be presented and will also throw light on the statistical analysis
conducted on the data.
Chapter 5: The last section on the Recommendations and Concussions chapter will be
discussing the recommendation s which can be provided to the study to gain assistance
concerning how social media can be used to improve the customer satisfaction.

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Chapter 2: Literature review
Introduction
There have been significant changes in the way people in the global community
communicate with each other and social media has been the major driving factor to it. However,
the concept of social networking is not new, but it has evolved significantly with the
advancement of technology. It implies that innovation and technological prowess have improved
the quality of networking in the modern era. Armstrong, Delia and Giardina (2016), states that it
is important to understand the concept of social networking at first to understand the concept of
social media marketing.
Social media can be stated as a device for electronic communication which is used to
share information through, audio, video, picture and texts. Social networking has come a long in
the past two centuries where it initially started with telegram and now through continuous
development, sharing of links, videos, messages, comments and links have been possible. Ashley
and Tuten (2015) stated that social media is the social networking of the 21st century where web
has been used as the medium for transmission. The accessibility and reach of social media are
relatively higher which makes it an effective tool for business where customer engagement can
be enhanced. It implies that a brand name can be generated by prompt communication and social
presence is the key to improving the quality of communication with the consumers.
It is one of the most inexpensive tools that allows two communication between the
consumers and the businesses. It provides highest degree of freedom to the consumers which has
been not been experienced any other medium. Consumers have been able to freely express and
react their views on the public domain which makes more than tool for marketing. Bowen, and
Chen McCain (2015) states that social media marketing has enabled interaction between
companies and consumers which provides the marketers with the opportunity to address the
concerns and issues raised by the customers . It is one of the most way of developing a brand.
The present global economy shows that majority of the hotels in the global marketing are
shifting towards social media from traditional marketing in order to communicate with the
consumers. It also helps them to develop brands and higher return on investment from their

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expenditure (Black 2019). Moreover, it is possible to collect updated real-life data on the
business by evaluating the different platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and
Instagram. These platforms show the current data in form of views, likes and comments received
which is a proper reflection of customer feedback. It helps the hotels in tracking the responses on
the products and services and respond to comments, feedbacks and reviews. Bresler and Stake
(2017) states that majority of the businesses in the hotel industry are trying to integrate social
with traditional form of marketing to gain competitive advantage in the market.
Social media marketing
According to Chang, Yu and Lu (2015), social media can be defined as the platform
where technology has been used as a means of developing collaboration, interactive information
and user-generated content. The examples of social media networks are Facebook, YouTube,
Wikipedia and TripAdvisor. On the other hand, peer to peer network can be defined as the
network where consumers share a portion of their content and resources which can be accessed
by other peer groups directly. Chavez et al. (2016) defined social as the cluster of tools on the
internet that facilitates the users in continuous generation, exchange and modification of content.
In the past decade, social media has experienced significant increase in online users with more
than half of them accessing internet from their smart phones. Moreover, remarkable number of
videos are uploaded on YouTube per minute and the number of people on the microblogging
sites have increased significantly. Cheng and Foley (2018) opined that social media has not only
been embraced by the teenagers but also the other generations in the society which shows the
importance of social media in the current era. Globalisation has improved the economic
conditions in various developing countries and development of web 2.0 has increased the number
of users on social media platforms. It shows that technological development is the key to the
increase in traffic on the social media platform.
According to Choi et al. (2016), the growth of the smartphone owners in the modern era
has contributed significantly the growth of social media platforms where easy and instantaneous
access to these platforms are a major factor. It implies that businesses in the global market
cannot ignore the potential of social media and how it has provided sustainable competitive
advantage to various companies and it is not limited to only one industry. In the past decades,

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consumers have been heavily dependent on the information provided by organisations and the
public relations team of each organisation. Moreover, the companies used to publicise the things
they wanted to which resulted in selected display of information but with the advent of
TripAdvisor, Yelp and Urban spoon consumers are gaining information on all the aspect of
business. Dahl (2018) analysed social media websites to state that reliability of online reviews
and other information have increased significantly in the past few years. Consumers are beings
influenced the information available on the social media platforms. The level of trust of user
generated content has increased as they are free of bias and provide genuine feedback on
companies and products available. De Oña et al. (2016) analysed the differences between social
media and traditional media to state that user participation is the major difference between both
platforms. Social media is like traditional media in terms of providing relevant information to the
consumers, but it also allows the consumers to participate and state their views. Moreover,
majority of the people working on online platforms access social networking for business and
personal purposes. Social media is a rich source of information which can be used to understand
the current trends in the market and possible future trends. Duffett (2017) states that the use of
data mining software by different companies have increased significantly and business analytics
has been considered as one of the major wings in modern business.
Social media in the hospitality industry
As stated by Dwivedi, Kapoor and Chen (2015), social media and networking has major
unique implications for the companies in the hospitality industry along with the management,
staff and guests. These sites have been used as a form of rating system which are used to monitor
and examine the image and reputation of the business. Ert, Fleischer and Magen (2016) argued
that the credibility of user generated content is higher or is perceived as higher by the consumers
and it impacts hotels as their business attributes are reviewed on social media platforms.
Moreover, the companies in the hospitality industry consider social networking as a cost-
effective means of engaging and interacting with the consumers. Hospitality businesses
participate in these websites provide them access to active users without the need of including
any software or hardware. Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch (2017) stated that hospitality
businesses have proactively interacted with consumers to identify and developing solutions that
are innovative and customised. It provides prompt services to the consumers.

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Seo and Park (2018) states that the increase in social networking websites has provided
the consumers with the potential of gathering authentic information from consumer reviews so it
has changed the way information is being perceived by the consumers. On the contrary, Ert,
Fleischer and Magen (2016) argued that the option of developing a unique social media website
helps the organisations to develop a profile where they can share photos, reviews and opinions
can backfire. It implies that negative reviews and opinions is expected to have negative influence
on other consumers and vice versa. Therefore, both the positive and negative reviews from the
consumers have significant impact on other consumers. However, this website are mainly
company websites which can still be controlled and moderated by the users, but blogging has
become another popular tool where consumer post reviews on various experiences. It shows that
the consumers are not dependent only on industry related websites but also on the blog posts. De
Oña et al. (2016) states that blogs and reviews have both positive and negative consequences for
companies in the hospitality industry which makes it essential for achieving highest level of
satisfaction for the consumers.
Ert, Fleischer and Magen (2016) states that the main characteristics of modern
networking is that all the user can upload relevant content which allows others to respond to it. It
implies that web 2.0 is responsible for giving popularity to user generated content where
information is available on numerous websites. Humphries (2017) claimed that relevance of
social media is more appropriate in the international market as traditional marketing mediums
face geographical barriers and cultural barriers. In majority of the instances, the key information
is lost while translating the value proportion for the companies. Therefore, direct marketing by
using online platforms and social media is the one of the most cost-effective way of resolving the
cross-cultural gap in the industry.
Ert, Fleischer and Magen (2016) stated that social media is the instantaneous doorway
for reaching potential consumers where instead of sending personal message to everyone, social
media allows consumers and companies to engage on a personal level. It also engages group of
potential on a common topic of interest allowing two communication with the brand.
Keegan and Rowley (2017) have noted that various hotels in the global market have used
social media has an extensive tool for marketing for promoting their products and services
through discounts and other special offers. Responding to client complains and reviews is

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another important aspect which can be easily executed using social media marketing. Humphries
(2017) states that TripAdvisor and Flickr are major social media websites used by the
businesses in the hotel industry. Flickr has been used by many companies to display the interior
and the amenities provided by each of the consumers. Moreover, more than 50% of the
companies respond to the queries and customer reviews on the social media platforms.
On the contrary, Humphries (2017) performed a study to examine the negative impact of
social media on businesses which showed blogging can have negative impact on the brand image
and reputation. The importance and power of user generated content have increased significantly
within the past few years as consumers consider these data has credible. Therefore, blogs have
gained significant importance in the current market where the increase in technological power
significantly impacts communities. Keegan and Rowley (2017) opined that impact of
institution on the communities are decreasing significantly and word of mouth on the digital
platform are the significant source of negative publicity.
Online reviews and Hotel services
Hotel and tourism industry are one of the largest industries in the global market
contributing to the more than 12% of the global GDP. Humphries (2017) states that information
on the internet play a significant role in choosing travel destinations and hotels where consumer
reviews are deciding factors. Numerous websites provide customers options to provide both
quantitative and qualitative review on the travel experiences and hotels. This information is used
to generate quality and satisfaction scores of the consumers which implies that the growth of user
generated content on travel websites are key contributors to electronic word of mouth in the
market. Keegan and Rowley (2017) performed a study to examine that travel websites and other
social media reviews have significant influence on the purchase behaviour of the consumers. The
study also shows that consumer consider electronic word of mouth as less biased when compared
to other professional reviews available on different websites.
Humphries (2017) states that initially, the process and power of rating and ranking the
tourist spots and hotels were limited only to official administration services such as travel
communities, travel guides and national tourists’ boards. However, there is high level of
uncertainty among the managers in responding to online reviews and complaints. Kim, Vogt and

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Knutson (2015) claimed that hotel organisations are losing their control over online content and
the hotel businesses are concerned about the way consumer interpret reviews from other
consumers. It means that one negative review may change the view of other consumer visiting
the website and may not visit the hotel but is it same for all the consumers or not is known.
Therefore, online media has led to the development of uncertainty in the minds of the marketers
where they are unable to determine how reviews impact the behaviour of the consumers. Kim,
Vogt and Knutson (2015) states that businesses are directly impacted by online reviews where
some of the hotels are experiencing profit where some are experiencing loss. The author also
stated that marketers cannot ignore the importance of online reviews even though they cannot do
anything about it.
According to Minazzi (2015), social media has provided the consumers with the platform
for interaction where they can use the platform to make their voices heard. Social media is a tool
for empowering the consumers which is reducing the influence of marketers on consumer
behaviour. Humphries (2017) analysed recent literature to understand that online reviews have
gained importance as a form of digital word of mouth which showed that online reviews have
been considered as one of the most important factors influencing the behaviour of the consumers.
The evaluation of the past literature shows that online reviews are considered a critical factor for
success in the industry as travellers consider it one of the most relevant information for choosing
their hotels and destinations. Oskam and Boswijk (2016) states that there is significant increase
in hotel bookings through online channels which is influenced by the increase in focus on online
reviews. It implies that hotels in the global market must accept the concept of user generated
content and social networking for managing reviews and reputation of the brand. Rahimi and
Kozak (2017) states that brand image and presence on the social media platforms are key to
success of the organisations. In context to the past literary sources, various authors have stated
that unknown reviewers are taking the role of leaders in terms of travel opinions which is a major
change in the modern business environment. Minazzi (2015) analysed the concept of social
media and online review websites to see that the management of various organisations have
given less importance to social media marketing until the last five years.

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Consumer satisfaction
As stated by Minazzi (2015), consumer satisfaction has been defined as fulfilling the
needs and wants of the consumers. It is an important concept in the hotel industry as customer
retention is the key to achieving profit and sustainability. Rahimi and Kozak (2017) stated that
consumer satisfaction is the only way that a business entity can retain their existing consumers.
Consumer loyalty depends on the service quality provided by the hotel and how the expectation
of the consumers is fulfilled. As argued by Schulze, Schöler and Skiera (2015) different
consumers have diverse expectations and they evaluate the actual service with the service
provided which determines the satisfaction achieved. It implies that the perceived value of the
product and the service depends on the authentic portrayal of the service provided and difference
in value perceived results in dissatisfaction. Sajid (2016) defined customer satisfaction as the
amount of benefit derived by the consumers in respect to the cost incurred. Therefore, consumers
expect to derive the maximum value form the amount spent on the service.
Ren et al. (2016) confirmed that the theory and concept of consumer satisfaction hold
true when the expectation of the consumers are positive. Expectation is the reference point for
the consumers which is used to make a judgement on the service or the product. Therefore, it is
essential for the hotel companies to address the change in needs and wants of the consumers to
remain competitive in the market. Moreover, seasonal changed does not have any significant
changes to the satisfaction expectations of the consumers which means that consistency of
service quality is key to gaining higher profit margin. Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott
(2017) states that to measure the satisfaction level of the consumers, technology has a crucial
role to play in the market. Technological growth in the global market has been exponential in
nature which has helped the management of hotel organisation to evaluate statistics regarding
satisfaction of the consumers. For instance, the satisfaction of the consumers is evaluated using
online surveys which have significant popularity in the past few years. These tools are essential
for continuous improvement of the service quality at the hotel by understanding the needs and
expectations of the consumers based on the comments and expressions.
Rahimi and Kozak (2017) stated that the hotel industry consists of consumer bound
services which means that for hotel organisations to promote themselves as a brand, they need to
be customer centric so that the consumers receive maximum value possible. The managers in the

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hospitality industry ensure that the consumers are satisfied constantly which means that every
aspect of service is top quality starting from being courteous and welcoming to being in clean,
secured and safe environment with best quality product at reasonable prices. Quattrone et al.
(2016) has stated that consumer satisfaction is the philosophy which aims to provide maximum
value to the consumers by meeting their expectations and demonstrating the ability to meet the
needs of the consumers. Pizam, Shapoval and Ellis (2016) performed a study to highlight that
consumer satisfaction and service quality are the two most critical factors for success in the hotel
industry. The author also stated that the pricing, employee training and development and
adequate security are also relevant factors contributing to the consumer satisfaction in the
industry.
On the contrary, Oskam and Boswijk (2016) states that benchmarking is a key strategy
used by the companies in the hotel industry to enhance the satisfaction level of the consumers. It
helps the hotel organisations to learn from other organisations in the industry to understand the
critical factors that make them competitive in the market. However, in some of the instances it is
difficult to the get hold of the core strategy and business secrets of organisation as it consists of
elements providing them with competitive advantage in the market. In this context, Oh and Kim
(2017) stated that innovativeness and use of technology has been a deciding factor for majority
of the hotel organisations gaining competitive advantage in the market. Innovation in the hotel
industry facilitates the hotels in developing strategies to improve their competitive advantage in
the market in respect to other rival companies. Benchmarking is more applicable for chain of
hotels where they use standardised practices irrespective of the geographical location of each
chain. For instance, Lake Kivu Serena Hotel has used the strategies implemented by the Serena
chain to develop an environment like the rivals. It helps in offering similar services and goods
throughout all the chain operating under the brand.
Mouwen (2015) states that in order to achieve a higher level of consumers satisfaction,
the management of the organisation must be willing to adapt to the frequent changes in the
consumer needs. Hotel organisations put significant effort in understanding the needs and wants
of the consumers which help them in learning important aspects contributing toe service quality
and satisfaction level of the consumers. Minazzi (2015) states that it is easier for the consumer to
retain the existing consumer than gaining new consumers in the market as gaining new

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consumers increases the overall cost of marketing. The author also states that consumer loyalty
in the hotel industry is attained by combining the efforts of all the stakeholders. It implies that
hotel companies must incorporate all the important stakeholders to improve the service quality to
improve the value for the consumers. Leung, Bai and Stahura (2015) analysed the significance
of hotel traits for the consumers in choosing a hotel shows that quality of service and perceived
value are significant factors contributing to hotel choice. However, it is not enough to be aware
of the end goal to gain new consumers in the market and management requires repeated
execution of the successful past endeavours to attain loyalty. IT implies that standardisation of
services is critical to the development of business and customer satisfaction.
Manthiou et al/ (2016) states that consumer loyalty is a critical part of business as it
determines the dependability of the client and distinguish clients that can add to the profits and
income of the organisations. It is important for organisations to identify target clients due to the
aggressiveness in business situations. Consumer loyalty is the only means which determines the
ability of the organisation to keep their consumers satisfied. Companies require additional effort
to acquire a new client where continuous persuasion and value needs to be provided. Kumar and
Bezawada (2016), states that consumer loyalty and nature of management determines the success
level of any organisation in the market. It means that hotel organisations need to consistent about
the quality of service they provide to the consumers so that they do not fail to reach the level of
offerings promised by them. Leung, Bai and Stahura (2015) stated a contradiction which showed
that consumer loyalty has been centre for analysis for companies as it is leading contributor
consumer certainty. Moreover, customer charm is essential contributor to steadfastness of
consumers than satisfaction. Kim, Vogt and Knutson (2015) analysed the cost of acquiring new
consumers and compared to the cost of retaining existing consumers which showed that former
takes three times the cost. This has increased the seriousness of consumer experiences where
there have been significant changes in the way’s managements operate in the market. Therefore,
developing favourable connections and long haul has become essential for developing a positive
relationship among the general satisfaction levels of consumers. Keinänen and Kuivalainen
(2015) states that the end goal of the marketers to increase the quality of products and services as
it results in higher level of consumer satisfaction and loyalty among consumers.

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Keegan and Rowley (2017) states that guest connections are one of the vital sources for
improving the network of the consumers where consumer loyalty plays a significant part.
Moreover, convenience provided by the companies to their consumers also contribute to their
level of satisfaction in the market. It means that organisations always must concentrate on their
consumers. Izogo and Ogba (2015) states that modern business environment has become stricter
as managers faced challenges in providing the level of satisfaction, they desire which is the
reason that consumer fail to come back. Hotel innovation and quality of service determines the
ability of the organisations to maintain sustainability in the market. Kaura, Durga Prasad and
Sharma (2015) identified various new points and defects which needs to be addressed to achieve
flawless satisfaction for the consumers where innovation in technology and business process are
key to achieving success in the market. As stated by Hussain, Al Nasser and Hussai (2015),
consumer satisfaction and service quality are considered as two core theories in managing
organisations. In modern competitive business environment, higher service quality of service
results in higher satisfaction level among the consumers.
Past empirical studies have shown that there is no doubt regarding the importance of
consumer satisfaction and service quality in improving the profit margins of businesses.
Moreover, the social media image of the brand builds a level of expectation within the minds of
the consumers which can result in negative satisfaction if the organisations does not meet the
expectations. Hur, Moon and Jung (2015) highlights that expectation of the consumers are key to
achieving higher service quality and satisfaction for the consumers. It implies that an effective
analysis of the target consumers is required to understand the needs and wants of the consumers.
Consumer satisfaction has been examined in various companies by identifying whether the
services have met their expectations or not. Humphries (2017) examined the expectation of the
consumers towards a budget motel and luxury property where consumers often experience lower
level of satisfaction in case of luxury apartments than budget motels. It is due to the difference in
expectation from both these properties and even though the luxury property provides superior
quality of services, it has not been able to achieve the desired satisfaction level of the consumers.
Hult et al. (2019) agreed to this fact by stating that customer expectation sets the bar for
consumer satisfaction in the hotel industry which also determines the repeat purchase and visit of
consumers.

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Impact of social media marketing on consumer satisfaction
Guttentag (2015) performed a study to reveal that satisfaction level of the consumers are
highly correlated with loyalty of the consumers and negatively associated with the intention of
the customers to switch. Hapsari, Clemes and Dean (2016). found that online shopping and
bookings through social media provide higher level of satisfaction among the consumer in
comparison with the traditional medium. On the contrary, Harb et al. (2019) showed that there is
significant relationship between consumer satisfaction and services in the hotel industry. Hassan
(2015) insisted that modern hotel organisations should identify factors contributing the
satisfaction level of the consumers from their loyalty. Hill and Brierley (2017) states that
consumer acceptance and knowledge is dependent on the relationship between social media and
company websites. Hollensen, Kotler and Opresnik (2017) states that hotel organisations carry
out operations in business by using social media in order to be highly responsive and having
better experience towards the organisations. Tuten and Solomon (2017) opined that searching
for hotels and travel destinations on social media is a common phenomenon in the modern era
where most of the consumers are dependent of user generated content and consumer reviews.
According to Stephen (2016) social media is an important tool for acquiring new consumers in
the hotel industry and it also helps the management to identify the profitable ways of identifying
social media. As stated by Shareef et al. (2019) smaller hotels and business have become
competitive in the market by using social media as a key tool for gaining new consumers and
manage existing ones.
Wang, So and Sparks (2017) emphasises one of the factors affecting customer
satisfaction which improves the quality of service in the hotel industry. Godey et al (2016) states
that the quality of the service depends on factor such as assurance, empathy and reliability.
Travel booking on social media websites by evaluating user reviews are critical trends in the
current market. Wang and Kim (2017)used factor such as reliability, responsiveness, assurance
and empathy as the factors for measuring the satisfaction level of the consumers. Gunelius
(2017) stated that hotels need to use effective tools of communication for creating higher quality
of services for the consumers. Social media helps in developing a user-friendly system which
address to the special needs of the consumers and provides an effective platform for interaction.
Zervas, Proserpio and Byers (2015) states that there exists a deep relationship between the
quality of service provided on the social media websites with the satisfaction level of the

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Word of
Mouth
User
Generated
Content
Customer
Loyalty
Consumer
expectation
Customer
Satisfaction
Ease of
Accessibility
Online
Visibility
Social media
consumers. It is an essential aspect of the consumer experience and journey which needs to be
addressed for better quality of services. Zervas, Proserpio and Byers (2017) confirmed that there
are various organisations that still does not give enough importance to the contribution of social
media to the satisfaction level of the customers. A study performed by Zhu and Chen (2015) also
showed that something where the management of various hotel organisations are unable to
manage their social media accounts effectively resulting in negative reviews and lower
satisfaction among the consumers. Zimmerman and Ng (2015) examined the importance of
social media marketing in improving the consumer satisfaction in the hotel industry which
showed that majority of the consumers look for convenience and reliability of the social media
websites to get a better experience.
Conceptual Framework
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework
Source: (As created by author)
Literature gap
This study has critically examined the past literature to evaluate the opinions of the all the
authors. The arguments presented by the different authors showed that there is contradicting

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opinions regarding the use of social media in improving the satisfaction level of the consumers.
It showed that there is lack of study is examining the impact of social media in improving the
consumer satisfaction in the hotel industry where most of the study has focused on the use of
consumer expectation and consumer loyalty (Gainsbury et al. 2016). However, it is essential to
take all these factors in contribution while evaluating the role of social media and how it can be
used by the companies to improve the quality of services in the market. Moreover, various
authors have provided contradicting opinions where the negative impact of social media is
considered more influential in affecting consumer perceptions. Therefore, this aims to examine
the dilemma and contradiction opinions to identify the perspective that holds true in case of
Airbnb.
Summary
This chapter has examined past literary sources to examine the impact of social media on
the consumer satisfaction in the hotel industry. There have been significant changes in the way
people in the global community communicate with each other and social media has been the
major driving factor to it. However, the concept of social networking is not new, but it has
evolved significantly with the advancement of technology (Fornell, Morgeson III and Hult
2016). The study showed that consumer satisfaction has been defined differently by different
authors, but the concept of consumer expectation and loyalty has been used in majority of the
cases to understand the way higher level of consumer satisfaction can be achieved. In the past
decade, social media has experienced significant increase in online users with more than half of
them accessing internet from their smart phones. Moreover, remarkable number of videos are
uploaded on YouTube per minute and the number of people on the microblogging sites have
increased significantly.
The analysis of the online reviews and social media in the hotel industry showed major
concerns for the organisations as hotel organisation have lost control over the online websites
due to the increase in user generated content in the market. It also shows that one negative
review may change the view of other consumer visiting the website and may not visit the hotel
but is it same for all the consumers or not is known. Therefore, the study aims to examine the

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way social media can be used to improve the quality of services and satisfaction level of the
consumers.

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Chapter 3: Methodology
Overview
The research methodology forms a relevant section of the research paper which is
developed with the intention of finding the various research systems which can be made use of in
order to find the ways in which the research can be supported and also assists in finding the ways
in which the study can be used to prove the different hypothesis which have been set for the
paper ( Silverman 2016). The aim of the given chapter is to focus on the research methodology
and discuss the various ways in which the research design will be formulated. The chapter will
define the research design, the research philosophy, the research tactic and the overall research
strategy which can be essentially utilized by the author in order to proceed with the study
accordingly. Therefore, the choice of the correct method which is being applied will be provided
along with the analysis of the choice and its appropriateness for the study.
Research Philosophy
The research philosophy can be essentially described as the set of assumptions along with
the beliefs which are generally undertaken in regard to the various ways in which the data about
an enterprise or a particular issue is gathered. The research philosophy describes the various
ways in which the data for the research will be accumulated and the study objective can be
undertaken in the right way. The most commonly used research philosophies can be stated to be
the positivist research philosophy and the interpretivist philosophy (Fletcher 2017). The
positivist research philosophy is generally focused towards the quantitative research whereas the
interpretivist research philosophy is focused on the on the qualitative research. In consideration
with this, it becomes relevant to understand and verify that for the purpose of this study, the
research philosophy which has been implemented can be mentioned to be the positivist research
philosophy. In the positivist research philosophy, the researchers which are usually made use of
tend to make manipulation of the reality with variations and the positivist research philosophy
also involves empirical studies. Hence, in regard to this, as the aim of the research is to find the
influence of social media on customer satisfaction, the use of positivist research philosophy will

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be largely appropriate for the purpose of the study(Saunders, Thornhill and Lewis 2012). Hence,
using this type of research the influence of the social media and its related use can be found
successfully on the customer satisfaction. The study will be essentially based on the customers of
the Airbnb.
Research Approach
The research approach can be mentioned to be the plan and procedure which thereby
comprises of the beliefs made use of to gather and handle the data as per the requirement. The
research approach is largely focused on the research problem and this tends to be focused on the
intentions of the study. Hence, the research approach which is available for the study can be
stated to be the Deductive research approach. In this kind of a research approach, the information
is deduced from the data which is usually collected from the research and meaningful
interpretations are made from the collected data (Quinlan et al. 2019). This research approach is
largely applicable for the study as it assists in fulfilling the research objectives which have been
set down for the study.
Research Design
The research design can be stated to be the overall research format which will be
essential followed for the purpose of the research and it is based on this research design that, the
study will follow a focused approach and the format will be aligned in a manner such that the
research hypothesis, the research objectives and other aims will be attained successfully. The
research design which is being followed for the research can be stated to be the descriptive
research design. In this type of a research design, the hypothesis when accepted will be explained
and explored critically and in consideration with this, the basic reasoning and related
phenomenon will be adopted accordingly (Wiek and Lang 2016). Hence, by choosing the
descriptive research design, the influence of the social media and related websites on the
customer satisfaction in the case of the Airbnb can be found easily.
Data collection procedure

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The data collection can be essentially described as the procedure of collection of the data
and examining the data which has been collected based on the focus of the study. The process of
the data collection needs to be commenced in a style such that, the relevant queries for the
research can be followed consistently and in line of this, the overall data for the research
hypothesis can be collected accordingly. For any research to be carried out successfully, the data
collection procedure needs to be such that all the research queries and related questions can be
resolved consistently. Usually the data for the research is collected using Primary as well as
secondary method but primary data is usually collected when a research hypothesis needs to be
proved accordingly (Mackey and Gass 2015). However, as the study aims to find the influence
of the social media on the customer satisfaction, the study will adopt the primary method of data
collection and based on this, the main sources from whom the data will be collected can be stated
to be the various customers who are regular visitors at various Airbnb home stays and related
facilities. In line with this, the primary method will be useful in proving the hypothesis
accordingly. The data collection will be carried out through the medium of a research
questionnaire which will comprises of close ended questions based on the Likert scale.
Data analysis
After the data has been collected, a specific medium has to be adopted in order to analyze
the data which has been collected. The data analysis and the interpretation form an integral part
of the study and hence, based on this, there are various ways to analyze the data which has been
collected for the paper. Additionally, the data analysis method should be such that, it is able to
prove the hypothesis in the right manner (Wiek and Lang 2016). Usually there are qualitative
analysis and quantitative analysis techniques applied for the author in the research study. In the
given research, the means of data analysis which is being applied can be mentioned to be the
quantitative data analysis technique. In the quantitative data analysis technique, the use of the
Statistical tools is usually made use of for the purpose of the data analysis. In regards to this, the
software’s of the Excel and the SPSS tools are used in order to find the relationship which exists
between the social media as a tool and the overall satisfaction which the customers receive from
using the facilities of the enterprise and the availability on the social media as well. The
regression and the correlation analysis as a tool will be made use of in order to determine the
manner in which the social media impacts the overall satisfaction.

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Research strategy
The research strategy can be essentially mentioned to be the main components of any
research project which is largely focused towards determining the manner in which the reach is
carried out. Hence, a research strategy needs to be such that the overall objectives of the research
can be met with and additionally the study outcomes can be attained (Ledford and Gast 2018). In
this kind of a research strategy, the data collection will be undertaken using the Primary method
whereby the data to be analyzed will be collected from a group of respondents who have been
chosen as the customers visiting Air Bnb. In line with this, the data analysis will be undertaken
using the Quantitative analysis with the help of which the research question will be answered and
proved using the Regression and Correlation analysis as a tool.
Sampling technique
The sampling technique can be essentially defined as the process with the help of which
the data collection will be undertaken and the sampling technique describes the population size
and the sample characteristics which will be made use of in order to carry out the research
reasonably. The sampling can be essentially described as the procedure which is undertaken by
the enterprise to prove the hypothesis. In this technique, the sample population can be stated to
be chosen on a random basis and in consideration of this, the sample which has been selected for
this study can be mentioned to be the customers who have visited the various Airbnb. A total of
150 customers have been selected. The prior permission of the different customers has been
undertaken and based on this; the analysis will be undertaken accordingly. The reason why the
selection of the sampling technique has been adopted is to determine whether the customer
satisfaction is influenced by the social media marketing and other such networking websites.
The data collection procedure will be undertaken with the help of the research instrument
which in this case has been chosen as the questionnaire. The right kind of the research instrument
is crucial as it assists in figuring out the research hypothesis which has been set down for the
paper and additionally, it serves the objective of the paper. The questionnaire will be essentially
divided into three sections whereby the first section will comprise of the General information
which will be then followed by the section comprising of questions on the Customer satisfaction
and the Social Media marketing. The questions will be designed accordingly using the Likert

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scale and they will be designed in a manner such that the overall perspective of the various
customers can be collected accordingly.
Ethical considerations
The ethical considerations can be essentially described as the ethical issues which tend to
arise while the research is being undertaken. Hence, any author who is involved in the study
needs to ensure that they will successfully be able to examine the research and undertake the
study in a manner such that all the ethical aspects are being maintained accordingly. One classic
example of the ethical consideration which needs to be made while carrying out the research can
be mentioned to be the issue of verifying data from the original sources. While conducting the
literature review, it becomes critical for the author to verify the source of the data from which the
data is being taken. Additionally, the authenticity and verification of the authors has to be made.
Secondly all information which should be present in the paper must be original and
devoid of any plagiarism. Hence, when the plagiarism will not be undertaken as an act then in
such a scenario, it becomes critical to understand that, the author has presented his own work and
hence the objective of the research can be attained accordingly (Kumar 2019). Another aspect
which has to be catered by the researcher can be referred to as the aspect related to the primary
research. When the primary research has to be undertaken, the identity of the different
participants needs to be authentic and in consideration of this, their privacy needs to be
maintained accordingly. In case this is not the scenario then, it will lead to unethical work.
Hence, the work needs to pass all the criteria of the ethical committee which needs to be set by
the research committee of the University.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be rightfully mentioned that, the research methodology is a rather
critical chapter which outlines the different research methods and techniques which are usually
applied for the research. The given section of the report throws light on the various research
philosophies, research design and the research approach which has been adopted for the research.
In line with this, the data collection as well as the data analysis method has been discussed. The
ethical considerations and related research instruments have also been discussed.

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Chapter 4: Findings, Analysis and Discussion
Overview
The findings, discussion and the overall analysis forms a crucial part of the study and in
consideration to this, the main focus of the study lies on highlighting and understanding how the
methodology has been applied adequately in the study and the manner in which the data can be
assessed by making use of various analysis methods. In consideration of this, the section will
examine the responses of the different individuals who have been surveyed for the study, in
addition to this, the statistical methods of Regression as well as the Correlation will be made use
of in order to see to it that, the different hypothesis which have been set in the beginning of the
study can be proved and the influence of the Social media on the Customer satisfaction can be
determined distinctly. The use of the Dependent variable and Independent variable entails the
use of the Regression analysis and the Correlation analysis.
Descriptive Statistics
The descriptive statistics can be stated to be a section in the study which assists in
understanding and underlying the overall demographic details of the various individuals who
have undertaken the survey for the study. In line with this, it becomes effective to ensure that the
overall background of this group is examined so that the responses can be assessed based on
these descriptive statistics aspects.
Gender
Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Female 68 45.3 45.3 45.3
Male 82 54.7 54.7 100.0

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Total 150 100.0 100.0
Table 1
Figure 2
From the given graph, it can be effectively mentioned that, the study has followed a
systematic distribution of the responses of the various entities. In line of this, it can be essentially
mentioned that the study has undertaken the survey of 45% female respondents and 54% male
respondents. This means that, more than the number of females, the male responses have been
selected. For the purpose of the study, the opinions of both the genders had been taken so as to
see to it that the opinions of the entire customer group can be incorporated accordingly.
Age Groups
Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid 18-29 17 11.3 11.3 11.3

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30-39 20 13.3 13.3 24.7
40-49 83 55.3 55.3 80.0
50+ 30 20.0 20.0 100.0
Total 150 100.0 100.0
Table 2
Figure 3
The above graph reflects the information on the Age group of the different respondents
who have been selected for the purpose of the study. It can be reflected from the chart that 55%
of the respondents who have participated in the particular survey, belong to the age group 40 to
49. In line with this, only 20% of the respondents can be mentioned to be above 50 years of age.
In line with this, 11% of the respondents belong to the age group 18 to 29 and lastly, 13.33% of
the respondents belong to the age group 30 to 39. In consideration of this, the study survey can
be mentioned to be divided equally amongst various age groups.

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Education
Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Bachelor’s
degree
2 1.3 1.3 1.3
Diploma 59 39.3 39.3 40.7
Master 30 20.0 20.0 60.7
Up to High
school
59 39.3 39.3 100.0
Total 150 100.0 100.0
Table 3

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Figure 4
The above graph mentions the various educational levels of the different respondents
whose survey had been collected by the enterprise. In line with this, it can be observed that 39%
of the respondents have taken an education just up to the High school and the rest 20% have
undertaken a study in master’s as well. With respect to this, another 39.33% of the respondents
have a Diploma degree. Hence, in line with this, it can be essentially mentioned that, the
educational level of the population can be mentioned to be rather distributed in nature and the
opinions of individuals from all the backgrounds have been collected accordingly.
How often do you travel and stay at an Airbnb
Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Once a year 16 10.7 10.7 10.7
Once every two years 56 37.3 37.3 48.0
Once in more than two
years
13 8.7 8.7 56.7
Once in two years to
five years
65 43.3 43.3 100.0
Total 150 100.0 100.0

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Table 4
Figure 5
This was another query which was asked directly to the different respondents in regard to
the stay at an Airbnb. In consideration to this, the different participants mentioned that, around
43% of them hardly travelled and stayed at the Airbnb hotel. These Individuals had been
associated with the Airbnb less than once in more than 5 years. In line with this, only 37% of the
respondents had remained with the firm which is Airbnb once in the two years. Only 10% of
them could be stated to be the regular travelers who stayed at the Airbnb once a year. Hence, a
good aspect about undertaking this survey can be essentially mentioned that al the respondents
had stayed at the Airbnb at least once in their lifetimes which makes them appropriate candidates
to answer the survey.
What Social Media tools are you aware of?
Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Facebook 46 30.7 30.7 30.7

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Instagram 27 18.0 18.0 48.7
Linkedin 28 18.7 18.7 67.3
Reddit 22 14.7 14.7 82.0
Twitter 27 18.0 18.0 100.0
Total 150 100.0 100.0
Table 5
Figure 6
From the given graph, it can be essentially mentioned that, a variety of social media tools
are generally made use of by the different respondents pertaining to the study. In case of this, it
can be mentioned that, 30% of the respondents are largely active on Facebook. These individuals
make use of the Facebook as a social networking tool and in consideration of this, it becomes
very critical to understand that, they often view ads and other related data from the social media
and networking website. In line with this, 18% of the respondents are essentially active on
Twitter. This means that, they often use tweets and other such information to make their

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decisions. Additionally, 18% of the respondents make use of the Linkedin as a social media
networking tool in order to effectively engage in a sound relationship with one another and to
view and build relationships with the different enterprises. Other popular tools which are made
use of by the enterprise can be mentioned to be the Instagram and Reddit. In consideration of
this, the Instagram is an essential social media and networking site where the different
respondents often share pictures pertaining to their travels and are being able to advertise on the
side of the firm.
Frequency of using Social Media websites
Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid 0 hour 35 23.3 23.3 23.3
1-3 hours 34 22.7 22.7 46.0
10 hours or
more
58 38.7 38.7 84.7
4-6 hours 22 14.7 14.7 99.3
7-9 hours 1 .7 .7 100.0
Total 150 100.0 100.0

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Table 6
Figure 7
From the given graph, it can be understood that as the study is pertaining to the use of the
Social Media websites and the frequency of their uses. In line with this, it can be essentially
mentioned that, most of the respondents are avid users of the social media as they make use of
the tool for more than 10 hours in a week. This means that, 38% of the respondents have
mentioned that, they use the social media for more than 10 hours a week which thereby makes it
a popular activity in their lives. 22.67% of the respondents mention that they make use of the
social media marketing for 1 to 3 hours in a week thereby making it a small part of their day. In a
manner similar to this, 14% of the respondents have mentioned that they make use of the social
media for just 4 to 6 hours in a day and hence, pertaining to this, it can be rightfully mentioned
that, all the respondents who are present in this domain make essential use of the social media
marketing and other networking sites.
Income level

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Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid $18-29k 27 18.0 18.0 18.0
$30-39k 22 14.7 14.7 32.7
$40-49k 25 16.7 16.7 49.3
Above
$50k
46 30.7 30.7 80.0
Below
$18k
30 20.0 20.0 100.0
Total 150 100.0 100.0
Table 7

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Figure 8
The participants were also asked about the Income level and other crucial data. Pertaining
to this, it can be essentially mentioned that, 30% of the respondents belong to the income group
above $50k. In consideration of this, 16.6% of the respondents mentioned that $40-49k was their
annual income. Other respondents mentioned that they belonged to varied income groups. In line
with this, the different respondents belong to different incomed level groups and the opinion of
all these employees have been collected adequately.
Inferential Statistics
The inferential statistics can be rightfully mentioned to be the random sampling of data
which is generally undertaken by the user to understand the inferences which have been attained
from the various respondents and helps in understanding whether the hypothesis have been
proved successfully or not. The different studies which are usually undertaken for the purpose of
the study can be referred as to the linear analysis, T distribution, Binomial theorem, Regression
analysis and other such Normal distribution Theorem tests. These tools are largely effective in
nature and assist in determining the influence of the Independent variable on the Dependent
variable in the right manner. For this study, the tools of Regression analysis, Correlation analysis
and the Reliability Test have been held in order to see to it that the analysis can take place in the
right manner.
Reliability and Validity
The reliability test can be rightfully mentioned to be the test which can essentially be
undertaken in order to comprehend the means in which the data which has been collected for the
research can be stated to be authentic in nature or not or can be utilized in a manner such that, it
will assist in determining whether the data set can be mentioned to be adequate or not. With this,
it becomes essential to understand that the tool which is being made use of can be stated to be the
Cronbach alpha test. In consideration with this, the Cronbach Alpha is a useful tool which assists
in measuring the consistency of the data which is used in the statistical analysis. The Cronbach
Alpha needs to have a minimum value of 0.6 which thereby reflects that the data set can be

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mentioned to be reliable to be used in the study. If the value of the Cronbach Alpha comes to a
value which is less than the designated 0.6 then the consistency of the data is considered to be
invalid in nature (Gupta and Gupta 2017). Additionally, an ideal value is considered to be
between 0.6 to 0.8 which thereby indicates a sound value of internal consistency.
Table 8
Case Processing Summary
N %
Cases Valid 150 100.0
Excludeda 0 .0
Total 150 100.0
a. Listwise deletion based on all
variables in the procedure.
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha N of Items
.753 2
Table 9
The above table represents the value of the Cronbach`s Alpha to be 0.753. This means
that the value of the Cronbach Alpha has come to the appropriate range and in consideration of
this, the data which has been used in the study can be taken to be reliable in nature.
Correlation
The correlation analysis can be largely described as the statistical tool which is made use
of to determine and analyze the relation which exists between the Dependent and the
Independent variable. The study helps in defining the way in which the Social media and the
Customer satisfaction aspect can be linked successfully. The value range for the Correlation can
be stated to be from -1 to 1. In case a negative correlation exists between the two variables, it can
be mentioned that their relationship is inverse in nature and when the value of one variable will

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increase then the value of the dependent variable will go down (Lee and Peters 2015). In case of
a positive correlation which exists between the dependent variable and the Independent variable,
then the increase in one variable will bring about an increase in the other variable as well. In
association with this, in the given study the correlation as a tool has been used to determine the
correlation which exists between the Customer satisfaction and the Social media pertaining to the
stay at Airbnb.
Correlation between aspects of the Dependent Variable- Customer Satisfaction
Correlations
Customer
Loyalty Customerexpectation ServiceQuality
CustomerLoyalty Pearson
Correlation
1 .193* .321**
Sig. (2-tailed) .018 .000
N 150 150 150
Customerexpectation Pearson
Correlation
.193* 1 .448**
Sig. (2-tailed) .018 .000
N 150 150 150
ServiceQuality Pearson
Correlation
.321** .448** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 150 150 150

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Qualityofstay Pearson
Correlation
.300** .376** .419**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000
N 150 150 150
Table 10
From the given table, it can be essentially mentioned that the correlation between the
customer satisfaction and the service quality can be stated to be the highest. Pertaining to this, it
becomes effective to note that the correlation which exists between them can be stated to be
0.448. In line with this, it can also be observed that the correlation between the quality of the
experience and the quality of the stay of the respondent also affects the Customer satisfaction of
the customers adequately. Other aspects such as the Customer expectation and the customer
loyalty can be understood to be very low at 0.193. Hence, it can be mentioned that the different
aspects of the Dependent variable which is the customer satisfaction can be mentioned to be
greatly correlated to one another.
Correlation between aspects of the Independent Variable- Social Media
Correlations
Onlinevisibili
ty Timesaving
Easeofaccessi
bility
Authenti
c
Onlinevisibility Pearson
Correlation
1 .357** .219** .421**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .007 .000
N 150 150 150 150
Timesaving Pearson
Correlation
.357** 1 .333** .321**

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Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000
N 150 150 150 150
Easeofaccessibilit
y
Pearson
Correlation
.219** .333** 1 .307**
Sig. (2-tailed) .007 .000 .000
N 150 150 150 150
Authentic Pearson
Correlation
.421** .321** .307** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000
N 150 150 150 150
Table 11
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
From the above table, it can be rightfully assessed that, the correlation which exists
between authenticity and the Online visibility can be stated to be very high at 0.421. This means
that when the online visibility of the Airbnb as a brand tends to increase, then in such a scenario,
the authenticity of the brand also increases considerably. Another correlation relationship which
can be stated to be essentially high can be stated to be the correlation which exists between the
online visibility and the time saving aspect. With respect to this, it can be essentially mentioned
that, when the customers are able to view online then in such a scenario, they save time by
getting directly in contact with the various Airbnb owners and other such aspects.
Regression
The Regression Analysis is generally described aa a tool which assists an author in
determining the extent to which the Dependent variable is greatly depended on the Independent

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variable present. This tool can be mentioned to be a comprehensive tool which goes a long way
in determining the manner in which the Dependent variable can change with respect to influence
from the Independent variable (Quinlan et al. 2019). With consideration to this, the Regression
analysis as a tool is very useful which helps in ensuring that that the influence of the Social
media as a tool can be effectively determined on the Customer Satisfaction which pertains to the
Airbnb.
Model Summary
Model R R Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of
the Estimate
1 .655a .429 .422 .44245
a. Predictors: (Constant), Do you think that the Social
Media Marketing affects the customer satisfaction of its
buyers? SocialMediaMarketing
Table 12
The table provides an overview of the correlation which tends to exist between the
Independent variable and the Dependent variable. For the study to be useful in nature, it is
necessary that the relationship between the different variables is identified in the right manner
and in consideration with this, the Correlation which exists between the variables can be stated to
be quite high at 0.655. In association with this, it also becomes essential to verify that, for an
enterprise to be successful, the customers are required to be satisfied with the services provided
by the enterprise. In this case, the value of the R square can be mentioned to be determinant
impact of Independent variable on the Dependent variable. Here the value of the R square is
42.9% which depicts that, the Independent variable has the capability to influence and determine
the value of the Dependent variable by 42%. Additionally, as the difference between the R
square and the Adjusted R square can be taken to be minimum, it depicts that the Regression
model which has been made use of is a sound model (Siegel 2016).

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ANOVAa
Model
Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 21.658 2 10.829 55.317 .000b
Residual 28.777 147 .196
Total 50.435 149
Table 13
a. Dependent Variable: Customer satisfaction
b. Predictors: (Constant), Do you think that the think that the Social Media
Marketing affects the customer satisfaction of its buyers? SocialMediaMarketing
The value of the Significant F can be taken out from this table. This table as an output is
essential as it helps in determining and establishing the relationship between the Dependent
variable and the Independent variable in the right way. The table depicts the association which
exists between the Social media and the Customer satisfaction. In case the p value is less than the
standard value of 0.05 than in such a scenario, the relationship and association which exists
between the Dependent variable and the Independent variable. In this scenario, it can be
mentioned that as the value of the Significant which is also known as the P value is less than
0.05, this means that the association between the Social media marketing and the Customer
satisfaction can be determined accordingly. This helps in the establishment of the null
hypothesis and the relationship between the variables can be termed as strong.
Coefficientsa
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) 1.346 .251 5.367 .000

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1 SocialMediaMarketing .498 .069 .491 7.204 .000
Do you think that the
CRM affects the
customer satisfaction of
its buyers?
.152 .037 .278 4.073 .000
a. Dependent Variable: Customersatisfaction
The table provides the overall value of the Regression Equation has been provided in this table.
Table 14
Hypothesis testing
The Hypothesis testing can be rightfully defined as the tool which is made use of by the
author of the study in order to determine the extent to which the Independent variable has an
influence on the Dependent variable. As the value of the Significant F in the previous section
was identified as less than 0.05, in such a scenario, the Null hypothesis has been rejected and the
Alternate has been accepted.
Independent variable: Social media marketing
Dependent variable: Customer satisfaction
Alternate Hypothesis (H1): The Social media marketing has a strong impact on the Customer
satisfaction.
Null Hypothesis(H0): The Social media marketing does not have a strong impact on the
Customer satisfaction.
Findings

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The findings of the paper can be stated to be as follows:
 From the descriptive analysis it can be correctly mentioned that, the respondents for the
survey have been selected from various backgrounds. This simply means that, the
individuals belonging to various demographics have been chosen for the purpose of the
survey. This assists in understanding that an ideal environment has been built which shall
contribute towards the survey and the perceived results adequately. In addition to this, it
also becomes essential to certify that the study is wholesome in nature.
 From the Reliability test, it could be rightfully reflected that, the data set which has been
adopted for the study is consistent in nature as the value of the Cronbach Alpha is more
than 0.7
 The Correlation analysis presented a positive association between the various variables
which are largely related to the Customer satisfaction and the Social Media Marketing.
In relation to this, it is essential to understand that the correlation between the variables
such as the customer loyalty, expectations and service quality can be stated to be quite
high.
 The regression analysis reflected that there occurs a strong association which exists
between the Independent variable and the Dependent variable. This simply means that,
the Social media marketing and the Customer satisfaction are strongly related to one
another.
 The Hypothesis Testing presented a positive view whereby the Null hypothesis was
rejected, and the Alternate Hypothesis was accepted. This means that, it was proved that
the Social media marketing has a positive influence on the Customer satisfaction in case
of the Airbnb.
Discussion
The findings of the study reflected that the learnings would have several crucial
implications for the real time business and other such Airbnb associations as well. In the given
study, the influence of the independent variable on the dependent variable was found adequately.
The results have indicated that the customers tend to be greatly affected by the authenticity of the
information which is usually present online. This simply means that, in a scenario where the

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information which is largely present on the social media is given by the user, then in such a
scenario, the other users are largely satisfied by this presence and since it is coming from the
users themselves, they deem it to be authentic in nature (Seo and Park 2018). Hence, one aspect
which is required to be trusted by the different Airbnb owners would be the fact that they would
be required to maintain their social presence in the right manner and ensue that additional
reviews are attained on the different websites and in consideration of this, they would be
successfully able to engage in a successful relationship with the different participants who are
present.
In addition to this, the Online presence of the website also acts as the motivate and aspect
of satisfaction for the different customers. In such a scenario, it can be rightfully mentioned that,
this serves as an indication to the different enterprises that they would be required to increase
their online presence (Ashley and Tuten 2015). The online presence of the Airbnb as a brand
online has helped in improving the overall confidence of the different customers. In addition to
this, with the help of this online presence, it becomes easier for the various customers to book
online easily and in consideration of this, they are essentially able to maintain a sufficient track
of the different activities which take place online. The different aspects which are particularly
alluring to the enterprise can be mentioned to be the aspects relating to the hotel reviews, stay at
home updates, the influence of the comments and others. Hence, the enterprise as a whole would
be essentially required to see to it that they are being able to maintain a sound relationship with
the help of which the customer satisfaction in this scenario can be improved to a great extent
(Seo and Park 2018). The findings and the results of the survey tend to depict managerial
implications for the different managers who would be required to understand the overall
importance of the online presence of a business and plan to align it with the various operations
which can be essentially undertaken to align the needs with that of the customers.
Hence, from these findings, the information can be essentially gathered for the hospitality
industry. Earlier, the service quality which was provided by the enterprise or the Airbnb in this
case was adequate to ensure that the customers can be satisfied easily, however, this is not
always the case and at present the presence on the social media can be considered to be essential
crucial to ensure enterprise success (Godey et al. 2016). In addition to being present online, it
also becomes relevant and crucial for the enterprise to see to it that they are being able to track

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their online review effectively and being able to understand the needs of the customers.
Therefore, the study has implied that as the study found the relationship between the customer
satisfaction and the social media presence and marketing undertaken accordingly, the managers
would be required to think of new ways to enhance the experience of the customers and in line of
this, they need to find rather effective ways with the help of which they will be essentially able to
review the simple motivations so that the customers will be willing to post online reviews (Seo
and Park 2018).
In regard to this, the management would also be required to maintain the quality of the
stay which would then limit the influence of the negative comments of the reviews on the
potential customers (Alalwan et al. 2017). Therefore, to improve the overall organizational
performance, Airbnb would be required to manage the customer expectations in a manner such
that the service performance can be managed accordingly, the dissatisfied customers can
communicate effectively to the enterprise about any concerns which are faced by them and to
ensure that the enterprise can manage the operations of the enterprise accordingly.
Summary
Therefore, it can be rightfully mentioned that in this chapter, the findings of the survey
were critically reviewed and surveyed. The study undertook the sample size of 150 participants
and took their responses in regard to the social media interaction and social media marketing of
the Airbnb. It was found by the author that; the Airbnb social media marketing has an adequate
influence on the satisfaction of their needs. The chapter followed a strict format whereby the
Overview was followed by the Descriptive analysis which was then followed by the Reliability
test, Correlational analysis and the Regression analysis. The Hypothesis was proved and the
findings and discussion pertaining to the results have been discussed critically.
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations
Overview
Therefore, from the study undertaken previously, it can be rightfully understood that the
particular study followed a comprehensive format whereby the study undertook an analysis of

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the social media marketing aspects and aimed to find its influence on the customer satisfaction.
The company which had been chosen for reference can be essentially mentioned to be the
Airbnb. Hence, the study aimed to find whether the social media marketing pertaining to the
Airbnb and the entire procedure of booking and related management was being able to influence
the customers or not and to what extent the needs of the customers were being met with in the
right manner. The study was divided into various chapters whereby each chapter aimed at
achieving the objective which the study was set out for. The Introduction as a chapter laid down
the different objectives which the study aimed to achieve along with the various research
questions and the Hypothesis. The Introduction as a chapter provided an overall background of
the study which was then followed by the introduction and a brief summary about the company
as well. The second chapter was the Literature review chapter which discusses various theories
relating to the concept of Customer satisfaction and the concept of Social Media Marketing and
presence as a whole. A conceptual framework was built, and the study was outlined accordingly.
The third chapter outlined the Research methodology which has been applied to the
paper. Pertaining to this, the study outlined the different research methods which the study made
use of and this was then followed by the justification of the different research methods which
were essentially applied for the purpose of the research. The fourth chapter presented the results,
findings and the analysis of the results. It was found that there exists a strong association
between the customer satisfaction and social media marketing and it is pertaining to this that, the
managers of the Airbnb and the related Social media team would be required to undertake crucial
initiatives in order to ensure that the firm would be required to see to it that, they are being able
to deal with the different customers in the right way and will be undertaking sound initiatives in
order to see to it that the customers can be satisfied accordingly and all their queries and other
related doubts can be met with in the right manner.
Linking to Objectives
The following objectives had been set down for the study:
 To understand the concept of customer satisfaction and the idea of social media as a
means for communication with different customers.

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The study fulfilled this objective by discussing the concept of the customer satisfaction and
the social media marketing in the right manner. Pertaining to this, it can be effectively mentioned
that, the Literature review section has highlighted all the different concepts and theories which
are largely related to the Customer satisfaction and the social media marketing as a concept as
well.
 To analyze how Airbnb has been using social media to increase customer satisfaction.
The discussion section highlighted the appropriate manner in which the Airbnb had made use
of the social media marketing. The social media marketing as a whole form a relevant part of the
study and pertaining to this, it becomes relevant that the study has been able to utilize the Airbnb
as a concept to increase the customer satisfaction of the enterprise.
 To identify the association between social media and customer satisfaction
The chapter 4 with the help of the regression analysis and the correlation analysis was
essentially able to highlight the social media and the customer satisfaction. The null hypothesis
was proven false and the alternate hypothesis was accepted which helped in finding the
relationship between the social media and customer satisfaction. It was found that the social
media marketing and the online presence as undertaken by the firm has a very strong influence
on the customer satisfaction in case of the Airbnb.
 To provide recommendations based on which, the customer satisfaction of the
organizations can be improved using the different means of social media.
The recommendations serve as an effective aspect of any study. The particular study will
provide certain recommendations based on which the customer satisfaction of the enterprise can
be improved by making use of the different means of the social media marketing. The next
section of the study will highlight the recommendations which can be effectively made use of in
the study.
Limitations of the study
The limitations of the study can be mentioned to be as follows:

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1. The study has undertaken the Primary method of data collection which can be considered
to be rather limited in nature. The use of the Secondary method of data collection has not
been made.
2. The study has adopted the Quantitative technique of data analysis with the help of which
the study has just made use of the Statistical analysis for the purpose of data analysis and
the hypothesis has been made use of. No other methods such as the Thematic analysis
under the Qualitative analysis technique has been made use of.
3. The study has undertaken research with respect to only the enterprise Airbnb. However,
any research pertaining to the other enterprises have not been undertaken.
Future scope
In the future, the author may intend to undertake an analysis in regard to the Qualitative
analysis of the study whereby the author may intend to analyze the influence of the social media
marketing on the Customer satisfaction by using various theories and concepts and by adopting
the Thematic analysis as the method of analysis. In addition to this, the different companies and
industries can also be targeted effectively in order to ensure that the study can be made more
comprehensive in nature.
Recommendations
The following recommendations can be given to the Airbnb in order to ensure that the goals
of the enterprise can be attained successfully:
1. Developing a multichannel approach:
The enterprise would be essentially required to develop a multi-channel approach with the
help of which it will be successfully required to approach the different customers in the right
manner. With relation to this, it becomes essential for the enterprise to see to it that, the firm will
be able to reach out to the users by making use of multiple channels and hence, respond to the
customer queries in an effective manner. Through the various channels, the enterprise will be
able to maintain effective and sound relationships with all the customers and thereby improve
their customer satisfaction accordingly.

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2. Invest in influencer marketing.
Another crucial step which may be adopted by the enterprise can be essentially
mentioned to be the Influencer marketing (Seo and Park 2018). Pertaining to the concept of the
Influencer marketing, the business will be successfully able to see to it that it is being able to
overcome the traditional ways of marketing and advertising and in turn adopt a rather nominal
way of marketing. By using the Influencer marketing, the enterprise will be successfully able to
ensure that it is effectively able to engage in a sound relationship with the different enterprises
with the help of which, they will be able to engage in a long term and effective relationship with
the different parties and will be able to engage in long term success.
3. Engage commenters as quickly as possible.
Another strategy which can be rightfully adopted by the enterprise can be stated to be to
engage the commenters of various posts as fast as possible and as quickly possible. In this way,
they will be successfully able to see to it that they are being able to engage in an effective
relationship with the different participants as this will assist them in performing well and will
allow them to engage in an effective relationship with the different parties (Ashley and Tuten
2015). Through the engagement, the firm can take an effective feedback from the different
parties with the help of which they will be able to perform well.
4. Amplify reach through look-alike audiences.
Another social media marketing strategy which can be adopted by the enterprise can be
mentioned to be to rely on customized contents and engage in amplified reach with the help of
which they will be able to develop a clear strategy (Alalwan et al. 2017). By engaging in this,
they will be successfully able to employ a list of email address and get into an association with
the best of the customers which would allow them to ensure effective operations and see to it
that, the demographic and psychographic groups can be targeted accordingly. The enterprise
would be required to run ads to drive the viewers to the website or the business page using which
they can develop a healthy social media following accordingly.
5. Measure strategy success through on-platform and on-site measurement

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Just implementing the different aspects would not be sufficient enough. The enterprise
would be required to monitor the performance as well so as to see to it that the enterprise is being
able to perform accordingly, and the goals are achieved (Godey et al. 2016). The performance of
the onsite as well as on platform is essential as it tends to assist the enterprise in achieving all its
goals successfully and with this, also allows them to engage in an effective relationship with the
customers. When the customers are under the feeling that the interaction with them is adequate in
nature, then in such a case, it is essential to ensure that, the goals and objectives of the enterprise
can be achieved successfully.
6. Create a clear and unique brand identity
The social media network as a whole assist in developing the brand identity of the
enterprise. In such a scenario, it can be essentially mentioned that, if an organization wants to
attain success in the long run, then in this scenario, it would be required to see to it that it is
successfully being able to develop a clear as well as compelling brand identity with the help of
which it will be able to engage in long term success and additionally, it will also be able to attain
its overall operations in the right manner. If the enterprise is able to create a successful brand
identity then in such a case, it becomes easier for them to reach out to the customers and the
different customers are also able to associate themselves with the operations of the firm and
thereby engage in success (Seo and Park 2018).
7. Find creative ways to delight people
The firms like Airbnb would also be required to see to it that the enterprise would be
required to find creative ways to delight the different participants. This means that, they would
be required to see to it that the customers are being able to engage in a positive experience with
other individuals as well. When the firm will find creative ways to delight the social media users,
then in this scenario, will be able to build an organic group of follows by finding creative ways
to perform well and additionally also be able to see to it that the enterprise will be able to engage
in success through the amplification and the word of mouth.
The landscape pertaining to the social media has been changing constantly and this
change has brought about a need to ensure that the strategy of the firm can be articulated in a
manner such that the firm is being able to use a mixture of ways and delight the followers

56AIRBNB
(Alalwan et al. 2017). Once the different customers are able to gain satisfaction using the social
media strategy, it serves as an indication of the overall strategy of the enterprise and also acts as
a mirror image of the overall effectiveness of the enterprise as a whole. In such a scenario, the
firm would essentially be able to fulfill customer needs in the right manner.

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