HRMT20024 T2 2018 Annotated Bibliography: Social Media in Hospitality

This annotated bibliography examines five articles related to the hospitality sector. The first article reviews the use of social media in tourism and hospitality, analyzing its impact from both consumer and supplier perspectives. The second article focuses on customer loyalty, reviewing existing research and proposing a dynamic framework for understanding customer engagement and its influencing factors. The third article investigates the effects of leadership styles, particularly transformational leadership, on employee well-being in the hospitality industry. The fourth article explores the principles and practices of Islamic hospitality, examining its developments, challenges, and opportunities. Finally, the fifth article discusses the use of smart technologies for personalized experiences in the hospitality domain, highlighting their potential for enhancing customer service and operational efficiency. The bibliography provides insights into various aspects of the hospitality industry, including social media, customer loyalty, leadership, Islamic hospitality, and smart technologies.

HRMT20024 T2 2018 Assessment 2 – Annotated bibliography
Introductio
n
I have selected the hospitality sector for my study. For this
Annotated Bibliography, I have read articles that speak about the use of
social media in the hospitality sector, the interrelation between customer
loyalty and employee engagement in the hospitality industry, how certain
leadership styles impact employee wellbeing in the hospitality sector, all
about Islamic hospitality and finally, on the use of smart technologies to
generate efficiency in the hospitality industry. All the articles that I have
chosen to read for this annotated bibliography have provided me with unique
insights on how the hospitality sector functions in every part of the globe.
Article 1 Leung, D., Law, R., Van Hoof, H., & Buhalis, D. (2013). Social media in
tourism and hospitality: A literature review. Journal of travel &
tourism marketing, 30(1-2), 3-22
Key words: social media, hospitality and tourism
Social media is undoubtedly a mega trend that has impacted the
whole tourism system of late. Consequently the use of social media and the
role that social media has to play in decision making for travellers as well as
in tourism management and operations as a whole, have been discussed very
extensively in research undertaken on hospitality and tourism. The purpose
of this article is to analyse and review all extant research articles related to
social media that have been published in academia in the last one decade
primarily in hospitality and tourism fields. The content of these articles is
analyzed by the authors from a suppliers perspective and a consumers

perspective. The results of the research reveal that all consumer centric
studies are those that are focused on the impact and application of social
media during the research phase in any travelers process of travel planning.
The supplier related studies that have been conducted in the recent past are
those that have focused closely on management, promotion as well as
research functions. Very few of these studies have engaged in any discussion
on product distribution. The findings of this research demonstrate very
thoroughly the strategic importance that social media platforms have for
tourism competitiveness. The article additionally makes a contribution to
academia as well as to the hospitality industry through the identification of
lacunae in extant research and also by drawing up an agenda for further
research on this subject.
I believe this article can prove to be very useful in helping me
gain a thorough understanding of how the use of social media influences the
operations of the tourism and hospitality industry. The strategic value that
social media tools and platforms have when it comes to impact the manner
in which the tourism industry works and its various levels of
competitiveness are clearly revealed in this article, reading about which can
help me quite a bit in my comprehension and analysis of the tourism
industry. Reading the review of the different articles that have been
evaluated by the researchers from a suppliers and consumers perspective
will give me knowledge about how consumers and suppliers individually
approach tourism and hospitality business.
Article 2
Kandampully, J., Zhang, T., & Bilgihan, A. (2015). Customer loyalty: a

review and future directions with a special focus on the hospitality
industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 27(3), 379-414
Key words: customer loyalty, hospitality management
This article aims at providing readers with a critical review of
existing knowledge regarding customer loyalty. It identifies many of the
emerging issues which have a vital role to play in shaping customer loyalty.
Owing to the dramatic changes which occur in a market place as well as the
connections that consumers have to the hospitality industry, practitioners
and researchers want to know more about all the factors that are responsible
for the underpinning of customer loyalty. The authors of this article
synthesize existing and extant literature on customer loyalty to arrive at an
understanding of what customer loyalty is all about and also offers a number
of priorities that need to be taken into consideration by all those engaged in
loyalty research at present. By making use of conceptual models, the authors
of the article end up conceiving a framework that is designed to extend
customer loyalty understanding as well as the impact that is felt due to the
continuously evolving role of all engaged customers. The authors conclude
that companies should envisage the creation of loyal and emotionally
engaged brand ambassadors through a focus on a number of emerging areas
like brand citizenship behaviour, customer engagement, employee
engagement, mass personalization, rapport and co consumption between
employees and customers, co-design and co-creation of value. The research
done in this article is one that is of great value as it creates a conceptual and
dynamic customer loyalty framework and identifies all the factors that are
responsible for influencing the development of this framework in the service

industry, with special emphasis being laid on the hospitality industry.
By reading and analysing the main takeaways of the article, I
believe that I will be well-positioned to understand the role that customer
loyalty has to play in the operations of the tourist industry. The article tells
me everything that I need to know about the rapport that is shared between
customers and employees in the hospitality and tourism industry and how a
good rapport ends up positively influencing the overall business productivity
in the hospitality industry. The article is written in comprehensive and lucid
English and makes many concepts pertaining to customer loyalty and
customer engagement in the hospitality industry something that is easy to
understand.
Article 3 Kara, D., Uysal, M., Sirgy, M. J., & Lee, G. (2013). The effects of
leadership style on employee well-being in hospitality. International
Journal of Hospitality Management, 34, 9-18
Key words: employee wellbeing, hospitality
The article aims to test the idea that that a transformational
leadership style tends to be something that is far more effective when
compared to transactional leadership style as it fosters employee wellbeing
and decreases worker burn out. Transformational leadership style enhances
the quality of an employees work life as well as life satisfaction and it
increases organizational commitment at the same given time. The research
was carried out by the authors of the article by interviewing as many as four
hundred and forty three employees working at five star hotels and resorts in
the country of Turkey. The results of the research support the positive effect

that the transformational leadership style is seen to have, in the hospitality
industry. The authors conclude that all hospitality managers need to be
trained using the transformational leadership style if they are to contribute to
employee well being and consequently increase productivity at the work
place, thus contributing to the creation of a harmonious workplace where
employees always feel valued for the work they do.
This article will I believe play a very vital role in helping me
understand how leadership roles are played out in the hospitality industry.
Leadership forms a crucial component of management in any sector,
hospitality included, and by reading about the type of effect that the
transformational leadership style can have on generating employee
wellbeing, I will gain an understanding of how leadership is executed in the
domain of hospitality, how a good leader can get his workers to feel
positively about the work that they do and consequently be as productive as
possible on the work front. Since I intend on carrying out in depth research
and analysis on the manner in which the hospitality industry works, knowing
about the effect that leaders can have on those who work under them will
influence my own assessment of the hospitality industry to a great extent. In
fact this will prove to be particularly useful for me when comparing
leadership styles in the hospitality sector. The transformational leadership
style is one that stands out quite poignantly from other types of leadership
styles and roles because of the beneficial impact that it has on employee
health and mental wellbeing in the hospitality industry.
Article 4
Stephenson, M. L. (2014). Deciphering ‘Islamic hospitality’: Developments,

challenges and opportunities. Tourism Management, 40, 155-164
Key words: Islamic hospitality, challenges and developments
The purpose of this article is to undertake an examination of
the practices and the principles of Islamic hospitality, thereby outlining all
the different ways in which hospitality intersects with Islam as does the
hospitality industry. What the author particularly engages in, in this article,
are the intangible elements that are so intrinsic to Islamic hospitality
especially the importance that host guest relationships have in Islam as well
as differing cultural interpretations. Islamic hospitality’s tangible aspects are
then evaluated by the author through the identification of developments,
challenges and trends within the hotel sector, events and festivals sector and
food production and food service sector. A global perspective is adopted by
the author in carrying out this research which entails the examination of
Islamic hospitality with special reference to non OIC and OIC countries. The
research also considers opportunities in new sectors and acknowledges all
the social difficulties that are associated with Islamic hospitality
development in the Western countries, especially the problem of
Islamophobia. The research finally indicates all the possible steps that can be
undertaken to carry out future research in this area.
This article will turn out to be very useful for me in my study
and research on hospitality as it gives me a unique perspective on what
Islamic hospitality is all about. Islamic hospitality has its own dimensions
and interpretations and gives me a new and different outlook on what
hospitality as an industry entails. By reading about how Islamic hospitality
is practiced in OIC and non OIC countries, the article gives me a firm

understanding on the practice of Islamic hospitality in different parts of the
globe and also puts me in a position to compare Islamic hospitality with
western hospitality and to assess the pros and cons of each form of
hospitality. By reading the arguments that have been stated so explicitly in
the article it becomes easy for me to understand the intricate process by
which Islamic hospitality is carried out, especially in the OIC countries
where Islamic culture is the stronghold. The nature and the different
dimensions of the Islamic hospitality have been well revealed in the course
of the article.
Article 5 Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D., & Ladkin, A. (2015). Smart technologies for
personalized experiences: a case study in the hospitality
domain. Electronic Markets, 25(3), 243-254.
Key words: smart technology, hospitality management
Advancements made in the world of technology have resulted in the
birth of many innovative and technological smart solutions that provide
plenty of opportunities that can be applied in the hospitality and tourism
industry. Due to the intensified competition that exists in the tourism market,
it has now become mandatory for any business or enterprise to explore the
potential that technology brings not only for the optimization of existing
processes but also for facilitating the conception of personalized and
meaningful experiences and services. The purpose of this research is to
bridge the knowledge gaps that are seen to exist between experience
personalization and smart technologies where the hospitality industry is
concerned. The research makes use of a qualitative case study method to

identify smart technology requirements for the creation of experience, that
includes information aggregation, real time synchronization, ubiquitous
mobile connectedness. It also highlights that the integration of smart
technology can result in two different types of very personalized tourism
experience. The authors conclude by proposing the development of a
particular model that successfully depicts the very dynamic process known
as experience personalization while also discussing strategic implications for
hospitality and tourism.
The use of smart technology is something that is being practiced in
all possible domains and since I am a researcher on the hospitality and
tourism industry, the article gives me a number of interesting and valuable
perspectives on how the operations of the hospitality industry are shaped
through the use of smart technology. I learn about how experience
personalization has a strategic implication for business outcomes when it
comes to the hospitality and tourism industry, thus learning something
entirely new and different about the industry as a whole, and which in turn
will help me to make a number of constructive arguments when doing
research on the tourism industry. Undoubtedly the use of smart technology
is something that is very vital for the proper functioning of the hospitality
industry. It helps the whole process of rendering operations in the hospitality
industry in becoming far more efficient than what it is without the use of
smart technology and particularly facilitates communication with customers.