BM6000-40 Research Proposal: Social Media Impact on UK Hospitality

This research proposal investigates the role of social media networks in attracting customers and fostering the development of the UK hospitality industry, focusing on Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow. It includes a preliminary literature review covering the conceptual framework of social media in hospitality, how social media attracts customers, the benefits of a larger customer base, and the challenges faced when using social media. The proposal outlines the research's rationale, tentative aims, objectives, and research questions. It also discusses the potential theoretical perspective, methodology, and methods, including a quantitative research approach and data collection tools. Ethical considerations, limitations, and potential contributions are addressed, concluding with a summary of the proposed research and a list of references.

Assessment 1 Research proposal
(Social media network contribution to the
development of hospitality industry of UK)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................3
RATIONALE FOR RESEARCH ...................................................................................................6
TENTATIVE AIM, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS .........................................6
POTENTIAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ..........................................................................7
POTENTIAL METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ....................................................................7
CONSIDERED ETHICS, LIMITATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS .........................................8
Ethics: Appendix 2......................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................10
APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................................11
Ethical approval: Part 1.............................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Social media is defined as the tool which is used in order to execute interactions with
people for the purpose of sharing ideas in appropriate manner. In the current digital time this is
analysed that social media is regarded as one of the significant aspect which is used by people
and businesses as well. As this is one of the major mode in which information can be shared in a
very fast manner and would be advantageous in accumulating multi-dimensional approach. In
the context of hospitality industry social media is regarded as one of the significant aspect which
is used by such businesses for the major purpose of communicating to their customers in
effective manner. Hospitality industry is related with customer and they are directly giving their
services to customers without any mediator (Hassan and et. al., 2021). This is the reason that
social media is considered as one of the effective tool for the organisation in context of acquiring
benefits in communicating with audience and informing them regarding business offerings in
appropriate manner. The current research proposal is related with identifying importance of
social media networking site for hospitality industry in terms of gaining higher customer base.
The organisation taken is Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow which is one of the prominent
hotel situated near by Heathrow airport London. The hotel is undertaking various social media
networking sites in order to develop their business and to inform their customers regarding their
business offerings so that customers can be attracted and at the same time business benefits can
be attained by the organisation. The research project is going to discuss regarding various
importances and benefits which can be attained by the organisation by using social media
networking sites. On the other hand, the report also includes the challenges which are related
with the business when they use different social media networking sites along with their
mitigation so that to attain business objectives in approoriate manner.
PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW
What is the conceptual framework of social media networking in context with hospitality
industry?
According to Karetsos and Ntaliani, (2021), social media is one of the trending concept
which helps people to connect with other without facing any delays and issues. Creating new
social media platform would lead the organisation to develop social marketing and promote their
business over online platform. On social media within every second 5 social media accounts are

made which means that future guests for the industry are increasing and this is helping the
industry to grow and sustain for longer period of time. Social media is related with increasing
key visibility to the customers in which they can acquire information related with their product
and services in such a manner that this would align with marketing strategy of the organisation.
Social media is one of the marketing strategy which is helping the business to acquire customers
in such a way that all the market segments can be covered. Interaction is easy on social media
platform which means that needs and demands of customers can be understood in appropriate
manner. In the current time social media is having high degree of importance in which social
conversations can be rendered by the organisation which helps them to associate people with
their business.
How social media networking sites helps Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow in attracting larger
number of customers?
According to Morrone and et. al., (2021), social media is one of the important tool which
is used by hospitality industry in order to render appropriate information to their customers and
to understand their needs and demands. Social media helps the business to spread information
regarding their hotel to the public so that larger customers can be connected to the business and
at the same time prominent brand identity can be created into the market. Social media helps the
business to increasing social visibility so that direct bookings can be enhanced and at the same
time brand awareness can also be increased. When social media is used by the organisation this
is related with providing inspiration to the customers to make purchase decisions as this is
regarded as integral part of marketing strategy of the organisation.
In the context of Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow this is analysed that the organisation is
using social media in order to attract larger number of customers and to meet business objectives
as well. Social media helps the organisation to advertise their business and showcase their
business offerings in such a way that higher purchase can be developed. On the other hand social
media will lead the organisation to display their business story so that social media strategy can
easily be undertaken. In the current time hiring of social media influencer is one of the prominent
trend which is used within the business. These are the people those help the business to reach out
to their target customers by becoming their voice and reaching to customers.
What are the benefits of attracting larger number of customers for development of hospitality
industry of UK?

According to Nilashi and et. al., (2021), social media is having various benefits in terms
of attracting larger number of customers and in the same manner hospitality business can be
enhanced and reach out to ultimate business objectives. In this manner it can be said that there
are various reasons which helps the business to grow and the prominent in this is marketing.
When larger customers are attracted towards the business then this will lead the business to take
out feedback out of their customers so that customer loyalty can be made and at the same time
areas of improvement can also be analysed. In this manner it can be said that when higher
customers are attracted towards the organisation them this will lead into developing market
image and this results the organisation to gain sustainability. On the other hand, market reach can
also be increased when an organisation is having higher customer base. This is the reason for
which an organisation is required to invest ample amount in their advertising and marketing
campaign. Increase in revenue is the another benefit which is gained by the hospitality
organisation when they have high customer base. This is related with developing brand image of
the organisation so that the company may deal with their competitors in easy manner as they
have significant market edge and would be helpful in gaining long edged success.
What are the biggest challenges that would be faced by Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow while
using different types of social media networking sites?
According to the viewpoint of Pop and et. al., (2021), there are various challenges which
are faced by Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow at the time of using various social media
networking sites in order to developing their marketing strategy some of them are:
Aligning social media with business objectives: This is regarded as one of the prominent
challenge which is faced by Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow during developing their social media
networking sites. This is seen that when social media networking sites are used the major
reminding factor is to align the same with organisational objectives so that objectives of the
organisation can be attained and at the same time long term survival can be given to the business.
Appropriate targetting: Social media is about positing the content related with business over
social media so that larger customers can be attracted and at the same time right market can be
accessed. While using social media networking sites this is required to be analysed that the what
type of customers are required to be focused so that effectiveness can also be increased. This is
also regarded as one of the major issue which is seen within developing existence within social
media networks.

RATIONALE FOR RESEARCH
The major rationale of this research is to understand importance of social networks in
terms of attracting larger base of visitors so that to improve the hospitality industry. Social media
is playing vital role in managing the hospitality industry as with the help of social media message
would be communicated to customers in easy manner. Under the research dual perspectives such
as professional and personal (Siti-Nabiha, Nordin and Poh, 2021). In terms of personal
perspective the research would develop various skills such as research skills, analytical skills and
many others. These are the skills which can be used by researcher in their future researches in
order to attain overall research objectives. Besides this in terms of professional perspective the
research exerted information related with social media and their role in developing hospitality
industry. So that the same information can be used by research in their future jobs in order to
develop appropriateness and attainability.
TENTATIVE AIM, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Research aim
“To identify the importance of social media network in attracting larger base of visitors
along with improving development of hospitality industry of UK”: A study on Hotel Sofitel
London Heathrow
Research Objectives
 To develop basic understanding about the social media along with social media
networking sites used within hospitality industry
 To determine the significance of social media networking sites in attracting larger number
of customers towards Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow
 To examine the benefits of attracting larger number of customers for development of
hospitality industry of UK
 To identify the challenges that would be faced by Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow while
using different types of social media networking sites.
Research questions
 What is the conceptual framework of social media networking in context with hospitality
industry?
 How social media networking sites helps Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow in attracting
larger number of customers?

 What are the benefits of attracting larger number of customers for development of
hospitality industry of UK?
 What are the biggest challenges that would be faced by Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow
while using different types of social media networking sites?
POTENTIAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
There are two paradigm within research which are related with assumptions and beliefs
those are undertaken within the research and would be helpful in acquiring appropriate research
results so that to execute research in appropriate manner. There are two types of research
paradigm such as ontology and epistemology (Tajvidi and Karami, 2021). Ontology research
paradigm is considered as the nature of reality in which impact on society can be examined. This
is the research paradigm which is related with examining reality of the nature. Besides this
epistemology is related with scientific reason which are related with the research. This paradigm
helps in collecting information in specific manner. Under the research epistemology research
paradigm is used so that to develop the research. These are the research paradigm which are
related with developing the edge in which specific information can be collected.
POTENTIAL METHODOLOGY AND METHODS
Research methodology is defined as such processes and techniques that are used by
researcher for the major objective of collecting information and executing research. These are the
methods which are used within research so that to align information in such a manner that
appropriate execution can be given (Yost, Zhang and Qi, 2021). The current research is related
with examining the importance of social media networks on hospitality industry so there are
various research methodologies which are used within the research and the same are elaborated
as under:
The research will be undertaken in quantitative research choice as this will enable the
researcher to gather numeric data which is accurate in nature and would be helpful in gaining
statistical manner. On the other hand there are various data collection tools which are used within
research such as primary and secondary. Under the current research both of these methods of
data collection will be used. Under this research in terms of primary method questionnaire will
be taken and in terms of secondary methods information would be gathered using books, journals
and other publication. Sampling is the process in which particular sample is taken out of whole

population so that to undertake the research. There are two types of sampling such as probability
and non-probability sampling. Under the current research probability sampling will be used as
this provides equal opportunities to each person for being selected which leads the research to be
executed in transparent manner.
CONSIDERED ETHICS, LIMITATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS
Ethics: Appendix 2
Limitations
There are various limitations within the current research proposal and these would be
related with developing issues within the research and delays in attaining overall objectives.
Some of the limitations are elaborated as under:
Timescales: Time is the limitation within research which means that research has faced issues in
developing the research within time and attainability of the research objectives within that time
only. As there are various activities which are required to be executed within the research and
this was the limitation within research (Huo, Liu, Liu and He, 2022).
Travel cost: The current research is based on quantitative methods so this will be problematic
for researcher to collect information from various respondents. This is a time taking process and
involves higher travelling cost. So this is the limitation which is seen by the researcher during the
research.
Access to relevant sources: In order to conduct a research appropriate resources are required
which helps the researcher to reach out to their goals and objectives in easy and appropriate
manner. This is analysed that these are the tools which are helping the researcher to examine the
whole information can be collected (Wang and et. al., 2021). In this manner researcher may not
have access to all the resources which is the limitation within research.
CONCLUSION
From the above information this can be concluded that social media networking
platforms are one of the major trend which is followed by most of the businesses of current time.
This is analysed that with the help of social media organisation may communicate with their
audience and acquire benefits in terms of developing their business objectives in appropriate
manner. Social media is beneficial as it enable the business to communicate with their customers
and receive feedbacks from them so that areas of improvement can be analysed. On the other

hand this is one of the significant measure which helps the business to target their audience so
that they can developing marketing strategy and acquire benefits in terms of business
management. On the other hand, there are various challenges which are faced by the businesses
at the time of using social media networking sites and one of the prominent in this is issues
related with targetting of customers. In order to mitigate these issues strategies are required to be
implemented and this would be helpful for the businesses to develop their marketing strategies in
significant manner.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Hassan and et. al., 2021. How the Royal Commission Health Services Program in Jubail, Saudi
Arabia, is using social media?. Informatics in Medicine Unlocked, p.100638.
Huo, Y., Liu, K., Liu, J. and He, H., 2022. Effects of SO2 on standard and fast SCR over
CeWOx: A quantitative study of the reaction pathway and active sites. Applied
Catalysis B: Environmental, 301, p.120784.
Karetsos, S. and Ntaliani, M., 2021. Web and Social Media Presence in the Hospitality Industry:
A Greek Island Case. International Journal of Computer and Information Technology
(2279-0764), 10(3).
Morrone and et. al., 2021. Digitalisation in the hospitality industry: Motivations, effects and role
of Covid-19. International Journal of Digital Culture and Electronic Tourism, 3(3-4),
pp.257-270.
Nilashi and et. al, 2021. Recommendation agents and information sharing through social media
for coronavirus outbreak. Telematics and Informatics, 61, p.101597.
Pop and et. al., 2021. The impact of social media influencers on travel decisions: The role of
trust in consumer decision journey. Current Issues in Tourism, pp.1-21.
Siti-Nabiha, A.K., Nordin, N. and Poh, B.K., 2021. Social media usage in business decision-
making: the case of Malaysian small hospitality organisations. Asia-Pacific Journal of
Business Administration.
Tajvidi, R. and Karami, A., 2021. The effect of social media on firm performance. Computers in
Human Behavior, 115, p.105174.
Wang, L., Liang, J., Li, H., Cheng, L. and Cui, Z., 2021. Quantitative study of the corrosion
evolution and stress corrosion cracking of high strength aluminum alloys in solution
and thin electrolyte layer containing Cl. Corrosion Science, 178, p.109076.
Yost, E., Zhang, T. and Qi, R., 2021. The power of engagement: Understanding active social
media engagement and the impact on sales in the hospitality industry. Journal of
Hospitality and Tourism Management, 46, pp.83-95.

APPENDIX
Ethical approval: Part 1
Student name:
Student no:
Supervising Tutor:
Thesis title: (Social media network contribution to the
development of hospitality industry of UK)
1. Brief overview OF THE STUDY: Describe the aims and purposes of the research
proposed. Outline the research questions and methods to be used and list the main types of
research participants you intend to collect data from.
“To identify the importance of social media network in attracting larger base of visitors
along with improving development of hospitality industry of UK”: A study on Hotel Sofitel
London Heathrow
Answer each question below by ticking the appropriate box:
Yes No
1. Will the research involve gathering personal information on identifiable
living individuals?
No
2. Will the research involve gathering confidential information of any kind
(i.e. information not currently in the public domain)?
No
3. Will the research involve participants who are particularly vulnerable or
unable to give informed consent (e.g. children, adults with learning
difficulties)?
No
4. Will the research require the cooperation of a “gatekeeper,” e.g. an
authority figure who has the power to grant access to groups and
individuals possibly without their informed consent?
No
5. Will participants be remunerated in some form for the information they
are asked to provide (e.g. being paid for interviews)?
No
6. Could the research cause harm to subjects or have negative consequences
for them that exceed those experienced in everyday life?
No
7. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, will the research raise any
issues which should be the subject of ethical consideration and/or
review?
No
8. Does the research entail potential security or health and safety risks to
the researcher that exceed those experienced in everyday life?
No

9. It is suggested that research reports are made available publicly upon
completion to participants. Do you or your supervisor feel that, for any
reasons whatsoever, access to your final report may need to be
restricted?
No