The Impact of Social Media in the Event Industry: Wonderland Event HR

This report examines the impact of social media on the event management industry, using Wonderland Event in the UK as a case study. It explores the role of social media in various HR functions, including recruitment, branding, and employee communication. The report delves into the advantages of social media in streamlining recruitment processes, reducing costs, and enhancing brand visibility. It also analyzes the use of social media for employee monitoring and internal communication, while acknowledging potential drawbacks such as security concerns and the impact on employee privacy. The literature review provides evidence from journals, books and online articles, followed by a discussion chapter and recommendations. The study aims to assess the significance of social media in the HR department of Wonderland Event, examine the different social media tools used, and offer alternatives for future growth.

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE
EVENT INDUSTRY: A CASE STUDY OF
Wonderland event, in context of HR
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................3
Aim of research................................................................................................................................4
Introduction to chapters...................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................5
CHAPTER 3:Research methodology..............................................................................................9
CHAPTER 4:Data analysis............................................................................................................11
DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................23
CHAPTER 5:CONCLUSION And RECOMMENDATION........................................................25
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................27
REFLECTION ..............................................................................................................................27
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................29
APPENDIX-QUESTIONNAIRE..................................................................................................30
2

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Marketing is the most important department of an organization which ensures long run
growth of the firm. The event management industry of UK is outperforming in the marketplace
because of series of events are performed each year. There are number of tools and techniques
which are applied by the corporation for marketing products and services. It proves to be
effective for increasing customer base which helps in increasing overall rate of return. The
current report is based upon Wonderland event of UK which offers quality services for clients. It
organizes several types’ of field festival in accordance with season and meet requirement of
clients effectively. It consists of number of festivals like Chilled in a Field which is a family-
friendly festival in south of London. Under this, corporation offers free activities with great
dance music and live bands. The company is operating its business at large scale in UK, London
and also uses variety of social media tools in context of HR department. The main reason behind
using such kind of technique is to integrate workforce together who are working on the particular
project. Not only this, but management of Wonderland Events put efforts to attract more and
more competent workforce by using effective social media strategies. This proves to be effective
to reduce expenses which are incurred for placing advertisement through print media. It aids to
save time as well as cost and complete the HR related activities of recruitment and selection in
relatively less time.
The HR department of any organization is important because it retains or selects the most
competent workforce in the corporation. The major responsibilities of HR consist of employee
relation, recruitment and selection as well as training and development. Along with that,
compensation and benefits are also included which facilitates the workforce to motivate to
achieve objectives of corporation. Owing to this, use of social media is important in current era
through which HR department of event the management corporation can easily attract more
workforces. It will be effective for the company to create competitive edge by reducing cost of
production by effectively using HR strategies on social media. However, in current era
competition is increased to a great extent where customers are switching from one to another
brand very frequently. Furthermore, HR department faces issues in manual training and
development for simple aspect which can be resolved easily by using social media. Owing to
this, current study is being conducted to assess the impact of social media on effective
3

implementation of different HRM practices in the corporation. These aspects tend to ensure
effective communication in team and better coordination can be determined.
AIM OF RESEARCH
The aim and objectives of research are mentioned as follows which will be helpful for the
researcher to collect large amount of information and draw valid outcome for study effectively. It
proves to be effective for selecting the right kind of methodologies and other related aspect of
study for drawing valid outcome-
Aim- To analyze the impact of social media in the event management industry of UK- A case
study of Wonderland event, London
Objectives
The objectives of the current study are presented as follows-
 To assess the significance of social media in context of HR department of Wonderland
event
 To examine different tools of social media which promote effective implementation of
HRM practices in Wonderland event
 To provide different alternatives associated with social media for growth of Wonderland
event
INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTERS
There are number of chapters included in the study which consists of background,
literature review, methodology and data analysis. Along with that discussion and conclusion are
the end chapters. It assists researcher to present the outcome of study effectively in order to reach
at valid outcome. In the first chapter of background information related to use of social media in
event management sector and aim and objectives of study are stated. This proves to be effective
most important chapter under which reader come to know about the purpose of study.
Furthermore, second chapter is of literature review which provides overview related to social
media in HR context. At this juncture, different themes are prepared by researcher in accordance
with research aim and objectives. This facilitates in saving entire time and collecting large
amount of secondary information for reaching at aim of the study. In addition to this, research
methodology is the third chapter under which all related tools and procedures are explained in
4

the study in detail. However, selection of appropriate tools is given along with proper
justification. Moreover, data analysis chapter is also added under which entire collected primary
data are explained along with evidence. Accordingly, discussion chapter is completed and
recommendation are provided for selected organization.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review is the most important chapter of any study because it provide evidence
related to all collected information. Under this researcher uses number of sources for gathering
secondary information through which valid outcome can be extracted from the collected
information. Under the current study on impact of social media on event management sector,
literature review has been completed by making different themes. It has been done with the use
of number of secondary sources such as journals, books and online articles.
Theme 1: Social media and its impact on Human resource industry
With the advancement in technologies and social media, there has been negative and
positive impact on human resource department in the event management (Rapp and et.al, 2013).
Social media in today's world is not only assisting in formulating various job outlets for
recruitment process but it has it also helps in with various clients across the world, increasing the
brand image and reputation and monitoring the activities of the employees. According to Oh,
Agrawal and Rao, 2013 it has been stated that social media has made the recruitment process
easier because human resource manager can easily post different job with the help of several
social media sites. It is common to use different social networking sites such as Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. 88% of the total population of UK has access to internet which
helps in accessing various social networking sited easily.
When, company post various job openings on sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and
YouTube then many individuals can access those sites and post back on the same site (Bolton
and et.al, 2013). It makes it easier for the company to check the availability of job postings and
can help in determining which candidate fits in the particular job opening. It can be critically
evaluated that visitors or applicants can directly raise their query by posting on social media. It
proves to be effective for HR department of corporation to resolve the issues which are being
faced by applicants. Accordingly, recruitment process become quite simple and easier.
5

Furthermore, social media also facilitates to reduce cost of hr department because print media
will be less in use and in the same manner profitability can be enhanced. Hence, social media
plays an important role in recruiting different individuals for various job postings. Second
positive impact of social media on human resource department in event management is branding
of various products and items of the company.
Kavanaugh and et.al, 2012 has stated that when a company launches a new product in a
market it is necessary for the organization to do its branding in the market so that public becomes
aware about the new products. This can be successfully done with the help of social media. A
company can make accounts on different social networking sites which can help in advertising
new products which have been launched in the market. This will increase the branding and
publicity of the product and more and more people will become aware about the product in less
time (Leung and et.al, 2013). On other hand, social media can also be used in promoting or
enhancing the image of a product if it is not popular in the market or whose brand image has
been spoiled by different reasons.
Apart from this, social media is used by hr department for the promotion of company.
Here, human resources department of event management sector upload several kind of views and
pictures related to progress of the firm which in turn indirectly attract more applicants. Similarly,
event management sector relies upon skills and competency of workforce through which
company can deliver good quality of services to large number of buyers. Hence, this is one of the
most effective methods which can be employed to promote or increase the brand image of a
particular product in the market. In many cases, social media can also be used to monitor various
activities of the employees who are working in an organization. For example, in many companies
the use of personal social accounts is permitted so that they can enhance their business and
marketing activities (Salo, Lankinen and Mäntymäki, 2013). This also assists in being in touch
with the customers and clients of different organizations. But in many cases it has been noticed
that use of social media is restricted in the company. An employee is not permitted to use his/her
own social media accounts for the concerns of security and privacy.
One of the major reasons which do not allow the employees to use social media at work
is because different confidential information can be transferred to unauthorized source. This can
6

cause major issues for the company (Castillo, Mendoza and Poblete, 2013). But in many cases,
the use of own social media account is permitted because it helps in reviewing opinions and
ideas of all the public who are linked to social networking sites. This can produce both negative
and positive impacts on reputation of the organization. Another impact of social media on
human resource department in event management industries in UK is that it helps in building
effective communication with employees and management team of the company. Generally, it
has been noticed that there is a huge difference between communication which is done face to
face and communication which is done through the social media (Rogers, 2013). In many cases,
employees are not able to share their working experience or problems which are faced by them at
the workplace directly with the higher authorities. In such cases, it becomes the responsibility of
higher authorities to make the workers feel comfortable. This can be done by adopting various
effective methodologies of communications such as social media. Human resource managers use
method of Facebook and Twitter to interact with their employees.
This helps an employee to share all views and information freely. This in turn corporation
can ensure highly level of integration among workforce through which they share information
am,pong each other. It proves to be effective to deliver higher level of satisfaction among end
users. Similarly, HR department ensure internal coordination with the use of social media
through which workforce can be in touch whether they are organizing acuity at different place or
same. Apart from this, On other hand, Google hangouts and Yahoo can also be adopted to plan
events between different members across the world. Apart from positive impacts, there are many
negative impacts of social media on event management industries which can be noticed (Rapp
and et.al, 2013). Broadly addressing, the companies which rely on building relationships through
media have to devote time and commitment towards social media so that they can build up
effective relationships. Moreover, staff members are not able to cope up with the rapidly
changing demands of the media in the world. It has also been noticed that there is an issue of
accuracy faced because a person cannot rely on whether certain information which is available
through social media is true or not. On a larger perspective, the organizations cannot ignore the
risk associated with social media (Oh, Agrawal and Rao, 2013). There are major challenges that
can be faced by human resource department when accessing social media for the different
7

purpose. For example, they have to manage intellectual property, leakage and loss of confidential
data, criticism of management or certain behavior of employees that can damage the reputation
of the company. One of the major risks associated with social media is that there is lot of
information available on the network which can be used for social engineering attacks such as
hacking of various passwords. Monitoring the behavior of an employee outside the organization
also presents ethical considerations that can create dilemmas. Very often individuals may also
witness discrimination and violation during the recruitment process. Hence, it is necessary to
resolve all these issues because these problems associated with human resource department
cannot be overlooked (Bolton and et.al, 2013).
Theme 2: Different tools of social media for promoting event industry
Social media is one of the most common tools that can be used by all the web
applications so that different information can be shared to all the users (Kavanaugh and et.al,
2012). This also helps in developing better communication between different people so that ideas
can be shared on a broader perspective. Some common and most popular social media tools are
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Foursquare. The use of social media is not
just limited to event promotion or management but it can also be used to accomplish various
marketing activities. To manage an event through social media, it is important to integrate all the
social channels so that an upcoming event can be promoted properly. Creating a hashtag helps in
categorizing messages so that they can be reviewed on the priority basis. For promoting an event,
it is necessary to create a suitable and relevant hashtag that suits the event so that people become
interested in showing up for the event (Leung and et.al, 2013).
There are many factors which will influence the management of event. For example, if
the event planner is using a long hashtag then it will certainly create confusion in the mind of
public hence, it is advisable to create a short and unique hashtag so that it is unified (Salo,
Lankinen and Mäntymäki, 2013). Apart from using Twitter social media tool, the planner or
event manager can also make use of Facebook for promoting the event successfully. To promote
an event on Facebook, it is necessary to create a nonprofit Facebook page so that users can like
them to have necessary information about the events. One of the major advantages of social
media is that if a RSVP'S attends the event in which he/she is tagged then it will automatically
8

show in her profile and this will help in increasing the likelihood friends to follow it (Castillo,
Mendoza and Poblete, 2013). Similarly, it is easy to create a LinkedIn event page so that event
can be promoted. Prior to the event, it is essential to identify the pre-event activities because this
will help in managing the activities effectively. Developing a target audience assist in clearly
identifying what type of audience is needed so that event becomes more success. Before
planning or executing the program it is also necessary to communicate the entire activities of the
events so that people can become aware about the complete event which is to be organized.
Social media helps in organizing all these activities by promoting in a better way. Hence, this is
one of the most effective ways which can be employed to promote the events in UK (Rogers,
2013).
CHAPTER 3:RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is the most important part of study which consists of number of
tools and techniques for data collection and analysis. It is effective for researcher to access
appropriate source of information and draw valid outcome in the same direction. The current
report on “impact of social media in context of HR department in event management industry of
UK” consists of the following aspects- Research philosophy-The research philosophy is based on assumption, beliefs and views
of researcher through which strong basis can be developed for collecting large amount of
information. Generally, there are two kinds of research philosophy such as positivism and
interpretivism. Positivism philosophy is mostly used in quantitative type of investigation
where researcher presents the factual data. However, in interpretivism philosophy, a
single truth has multiple facets and scholar can accordingly provide his own views.
Owing to this, current study will be based up interpretivism philosophy in which the
researcher is free to provide his own views and assumption by referring sources of
information.
 Research design-Research design plays an important role in presenting outcome of the
study in the most effective manner. There are different types of research design used such
as descriptive, exploratory and explanatory which are applied by the researcher in
accordance with specific purpose. Here, exploratory kind of research is used in new
9

research where the problem is not defined yet. However, explanatory research is used in
which the scholar explores different approaches for gaining better understanding related
to topic under investigation. However, current study is based on in-depth analysis and
owing to this descriptive research design has been used (Franklin, 2012). It proves to be
effective to describe characteristics of people which are going to be taken in the study.
 Types of investigation-There are two types of research investigations such as qualitative
and quantitative and use of the same is based upon nature of the study. The quantitative
kind of study is used for assessing impact of one or more than variable on other. It
facilitates to collect data by using quantitative kind of techniques through which the valid
suggestions can be provided to the researchers (Howell, 2013). Furthermore, qualitative
type of investigation is used for in-depth analysis under which research applies
theoretical aspect. Therefore, qualitative kind of investigation has been applied for
assessing the impact of social media on event management industry of UK. Research approach- Research approach is the most important part of research
methodology under which the scholar follows the set pattern for collecting the
information. There are two types of research approaches used, such as deductive and
inductive. Here, deductive research approach proves to be effective in quantitative type of
investigation which aids to draw valid outcome for the study in an effectual manner
(Bhattacharyya, 2009). On the other hand, inductive approach is an effective method in
which top to bottom approach is followed. Here, the researcher at first collects general
information related to social media and its impact on corporations. Accordingly, specific
data are gathered in context of research under investigation (Howell, 2013). However,
under deductive approach, first of all specific information is referred and then in the same
manner valid outcome is drawn. Hence, current report applies inductive approach for
gathering valid information. For this study, inductive approach is perfect. Here, the
researcher gathers all detail information related to social media and accordingly its
importance in context of HR department of corporation has been assessed. Sampling-Sampling is the most important technique for completing the procedure of
primary data collection. It is because generally entire population cannot be referred for
10

collecting the information. Owing to this, representative part of the same is taken into
consideration for gathering data (Grafton, Lillis and Mahama, 2011). There are two
different types of research design such as probabilistic and non-probabilistic. In the
current report on impact of social media, non-probabilistic sampling has been used for
gaining appropriate information from the respondents (Mok, Sparks and Kadampully,
2013). It consists of different designs such as simple random, quota, judgment and
snowball. Along with that, purposive sampling is also included which is in the form of
non-probabilistic sampling. Owing to this, present report applies purposive sampling for
approaching HR managers of Wonderland events. The main reason behind selecting this
approach is to gather appropriate data from respective parties. However, sample size is
kept as 5 so that important information can becollected.
 Data collections methods-There are two types of data collection methods; primary and
secondary. Secondary data are those which are already collected whereas secondary data
are gathered at first hand for specific purpose (Ihantola and Kihn, 2011). There are
different methods available for collecting primary data such as observation, questionnaire
and interview. In the current research, for collecting primary information questionnaire
method has been used in which list of questions related to research issue are presented.
Furthermore, secondary sources such as journals, books and online articles are applied for
collection of data. It facilitates to develop in-depth knowledge of research for producing
valid outcome. The main reason behind collecting both primary and secondary
information is gathering detail to impact of social media on Wonderland Event. It will be
effective for the corporation to attract more competent workforce and retain them for
longer time span. This is because collection of primary information will be effective for
accessing internal information of Wonderland that how effectively social media is
contributing in the growth of firm.
CHAPTER 4:DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis is the most important chapter of report which consists of detail analysis of
collected primary and secondary information. It is effective for the readers to understand the
scenario effectively for the purpose of meeting objectives. The analysis of data can be refereed as
method of scrutinizing, transforming and modeling of data with the objective of finding the
11

needed and helpful information, suggesting recommendation and supporting decision making. It
can be also refereed as method of ascertaining and evaluating the data with the help of analytical
and logical reasoning to test each consistent of the provided information. In this respect, data can
be collected from different sources, reviewed and then analyzed to arrive at particular type of
conclusion. In the present section, thematic analysis has been done by considering different
research objectives and research questions. It is maximum used qualitative data analysis method.
It is way of ascertaining, analyzing and reporting patterns within data. It enable in developing of
themes which further showcase the main part of data with regards to the research question and
showcase some kind of patterned result or meaning with set of data.
Theme 1: Social media tools are used in Wonderland for HR department
1. What kind of social media
tools are used in Wonderland for
HR department?
Facebook 1
Twitter 2
Linkedin 2
All of the above 0
According to the collected information, it has been found that, 1 respondent stated that
Facebook is the effective social media used for Wonderland in HR department. However, 2
12
1
2
2 Facebook
Twitter
Linkedin
All of the above