Whitbread PLC: Marketing & Communication Tools for Sustainability

This project aims to identify the communication and marketing tools used to promote sustainability within the hospitality industry, focusing on Whitbread PLC in Dunstable, United Kingdom. The research objectives include developing a basic understanding of sustainability in the hospitality sector, determining the specific communication and marketing tools employed by Whitbread PLC, examining the challenges faced by the company without sustainable practices, and recommending ways to overcome these challenges. The study uses a deductive approach and quantitative research methods, including surveys with 20 Whitbread PLC employees selected through probability sampling. Data analysis involves frequency distribution to assess the effectiveness of marketing and communication strategies in promoting sustainability, referencing key literature sources to support findings and recommendations related to environmental protection, resource conservation, and sustainable policy implementation.

First part (Proposal)
Student Name: ______________________ Student ID: ____________
Centre Name: _____________________
Tutor: ________________ Date: ___________________
Unit: ____________________
Proposed Title: The use of marketing and communication tools to promote sustainability
______________________________________________
Section One: Title, objective, responsibilities
Title or working title of the research project (in the form of a question, objective or
hypothesis)
Research aim: To identify the communication and marketing tools and their use in promoting of
sustainability within hospitality industry: A study on Whitbread PLC in Dunstable, United
Kingdom
Research Objectives:
 To develop basic understanding about the sustainability within hospitality industry.
 To determine the communication and marketing tools for promoting sustainability
Whitbread PLC within hospitality industry.
 To examine the challenges that would be faced by Whitbread PLC without having
sustainability within a hotel.
 To recommend different ways for overcoming challenges faced by Whitbread PLC
without having sustainability within a hotel.
Research questions
 What is the concept of sustainability in hospitality industry?
 What are the communication and marketing tools and their effectiveness in promoting of
sustainability in Whitbread PLC within hospitality industry?
 What are the major challenges that would be faced by Whitbread PLC without having
sustainability within a hotel?
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 What are the different ways for overcoming challenges faced by Whitbread PLC without
having sustainability within a hotel?
Section Two: Reasons for choosing this research project
Reasons for choosing the project (e.g links to other subjects you are studying, personal
interest, future plans, knowledge/skills you want to improve, why the topic is important):
Main rationale for choosing the project is to identify the effectiveness of communication and
marketing tools in promoting of sustainability within hospitality industry. My personal interest
regarding the choosing of this project is it will help me in increasing of my knowledge regarding
the sustainability and its significance within hospitality industry.
Section Three: Literature sources searched
Use of key literature sources to support your research question, objective or hypothesis:
What is the concept of sustainability in hospitality industry?
According to Han and et. Al, (2019), hospitality industry is the industry that is growing at a very
faster rate. It is an example of running business for long term because of its sustainability.
Sustainability is one of the issues that hotels have to consider because they have pressure of
being socially, environmentally and economically responsible. Hotels use sustainable practices to
protect the environment and attract customers. Different strategies and tools are implemented to
become environmentally responsible. These strategies are related to requirements of health and
safety, regulations of building and planning, utilization of water generation, management of
waste and emissions release. Hotels make employees aware about the protection of environment
so that they can do their activities without wasting any resources that is important to
environment.
What are the communication and marketing tools and their effectiveness in promoting of
sustainability in Whitbread PLC within hospitality industry?
According to Alameeri and (2018), there are various tools that are used for promoting
sustainability in Whitbread PLC within hospitality industry. The hotel uses its website about its
campaigns for promoting environment. In this channel hotel information about the steps and
strategies for promoting local community for getting supplies. Employees have given
information through emails about the sustainable practices and strategies so that they could their
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without wasting required resources.
What are the major challenges that would be faced by Whitbread PLC without having
sustainability within a hotel?
According to Rosa and Silva (2017), the major challenges that would be faced by Whitbread
PLC without having sustainability within a hotel are decrease in customer base because
nowadays people are more attracted to those hotels that are protecting environment and are more
closed to nature. The another challenge is wastage of resources without having sustainability
hotels have to face wastage of scarce resources that means limited resources would not be
conserved. The another challenge would be decreased revenue as customers do not prefer hotel
because it is not sustainable then this ultimately put negative impact on revenue and profitability
level of hotel because the ultimate source of earning for hotels are their customers and tourists.
What are the different ways for overcoming challenges faced by Whitbread PLC without having
sustainability within a hotel?
According to Khatter and et. al, (2019), there are various ways for overcoming challenges faced
by Whitbread PLC without having sustainability. The first one is forming policies and strategies
to protect environment and limited useful resources. These policies are related to environment,
social and economic. The second one is educating employees about the importance of
sustainability so they do their work without wasting resources like water. Time to time training
sessions is given to workers so that they can guide guests and tourists to turning off lights when
it is not being used by them. The another one is adopting method of recycling so that products
could be recycled again rather than doing investments on buying new products.
REFERNCES
Books and Journals
Han and et. Al, 2019. Impact of hotels’ sustainability practices on guest attitudinal loyalty:
Application of loyalty chain stages theory. Journal of Hospitality Marketing &
Management. 28(8). pp.905-925.
Alameeri and 2018. Sustainable management practices in UAE hotels. International Journal of
Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research.
Rosa, F.S.D. and Silva, L.C., 2017. Environmental sustainability in hotels, theoretical and
methodological contribution. Revista Brasileira de Pesquisa em Turismo. 11(1). pp.39-
60.
Khatter and et. al, 2019. Analysis of hotels’ environmentally sustainable policies and
practices. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Section Four: Activities and timescales
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Activities to be carried out during the research project (e.g research,
development and analysis of ideas, writing, data collection,
numerical analysis, tutor meetings, production of final outcome,
evaluation, writing the report):
Introduction
Aim and objectives
Literature review
Research Methodology
Data Collection
Data analysis
Conclusion and recommendations
Reflection
Submission of final report
How long this will
take:
1wk
1wk
4wks
2wks
5wk
3wks
2wks
1wk
1wk
Milestone one: ___Literature review ________
Target date (set by tutor): __20-03-2021__________________
Milestone two: ___Research methodology____________________
Target date (set by tutor): _____23-04-2021_________________
Gantt Chart: Gantt chart of the current study is mentioned as below:
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Section Five: Research approach and methodologies
What type of research approach and methodologies are you likely to use and why? What
your areas of research will cover:
Research methodology introduces to the systematic and effective process of gathering data
regarding any topic or subject. There are different types of methodologies that are valuable
within a current research. These are:
Research philosophy: This part of methodology has two philosophy i.e. positivism and
interpretivisim. In this research study, positivism philosophy is useful for researcher because it
provides data in form of quantitative (Avilov and Laktionov, 2020).
Research Approach: Inductive and deductive are two main approaches of data analysis but for
evaluating data about the use of marketing and communication tools to promote sustainability,
deductive approach is more valuable and useful for investigator. Main aim for the selection of
deductive approach as it helps in analysis of quantitative information within minimum time.
Research strategy: There are several number of research strategies such as survey, publication
research, case study etc. These are main but according to the present study, survey will be a
chosen research strategy as it provides valid as well as reliable information that output in
successfully achievement of each objective of the study (De Groot and Spiekerman, 2020).
Research choice: Qualitative and quantitative are two main choices of the research but in
accordance to the current study, quantitative choice of the research is more valuable because it
not consume maximum time and provides results in effective and numerical way.
Data collection: There are two methods of data collection that will be used within a study, these
are primary and secondary. For collecting primary data, questionnaire will be a selected research
instrument. For gathering secondary data, peer-reviewed articles, books, magazines etc. will be
used for literature review (Dion and et. al., 2020).
Sampling: There are two methods or techniques of sampling such as probability and non-
probability. In this research, researcher is going to using probability sampling because it helps in
gathering of quantitative data from larger sample. Therefore, 20 employees of Whitbread PLC
will be selected randomly (Nasution, 2020).
Data analysis: This is the process of analysing data from suitable research analytical technique.
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In this investigation, frequency destitution analysis is going to applying for analysing
quantitative information that will be gathered from questionnaire (Wawrzyniak and Karaszewski,
2020).
Comments and agreement from tutor
Comments (optional):
I confirm that the project is not work which has been or will be submitted for another
qualification and is appropriate.
Agreed: ________________ (name)_______________ Date ______________
Comments and agreement form project proposal checker( IV sampling)
Comments (Optional):
I confirm that the project is appropriate.
Agreed /Disagree: (Name of the IV) Date
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Research Ethics approval form
Section 1: Basic details:
Project title: To identify the communication and marketing tools and their use in promoting of
sustainability within hospitality industry: A study on Whitbread PLC in Dunstable, United
Kingdom
Student name:
Student ID number:
Programme:
College Name:
Intended research start date: 14-03-2021
Intended research end date: 29-07-2021
Section 2 Project summary
Please select all research methods that you plan to use as a part of your project:
 Interviews Yes No
 Questionnaires Yes No
 Observations Yes No
 Use of personal records Yes No
 Data Analysis Yes No
 Action Research Yes No
 Focus Groups Yes No
 Others (Please specify) : Secondary research
Section 3: Participants
Please answer the following questions, giving full details where necessary.
Will your research involve human participants? Yes
Who are the participants? Tick all that apply:
Ages 12-16: Young people aged: 17-18 Adults:
How will participants be recruited (identified an approached)?
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There are two techniques of recruitment i.e. probability and non-probability. According to
the current research, 20 employees of Whitbread PLC will be selected randomly under
probability sampling.
Describe the processes you will use to inform participants about what you are doing:
With the intention of informing participants about the research, oral and written
presentation will be selected as a process.
How will you obtain consent from participants? Will this be written? How will it be made clear
to participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at any time?
With the purpose of obtaining consent from chosen participants, entire information about
the study will be given successfully that in form of written. Herein, investigator can
effectively withdraw consent to participate at any time.
Studies involving questionnaires: will participants be given the option of omitting questions that
do not wish to answer?
Yes No
If no, please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues arising from this
Studies involving observation: Confirm whether participants will be asked for their informed
consent to be observed.
Yes No
Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation (i.e give them a brief explanation of
the study)?
Yes No
Will participants be given information about the findings of your study? (This could be a brief
summary of your findings in general)
Yes No
Section 4: Data Storage and Security
Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in compliance with the Data
Protection Act (1998)
Yes No
Who will have access to the data and personal information?
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During the research: Researcher
Where will the data be stored? In computer system
Will mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops be used
Yes No
If Yes, please provide further details:
After the research: Researcher
Where will the data be stored? In computer system
How long will the data and records be kept for and in what format? May be 6 months
Will data be kept for use by other researchers? Yes No
Section 5 : Ethical Issues
Are there any particular features of your proposed work, which may raise ethical concerns? If so,
please outline how you will deal with these:
It is important that you demonstrate your awareness of potential risks that may arise because of
your research. Please consider/address all issues that may apply. Ethical concerns may include,
but are not limited to the following:
 Informed consent.
 Potentially vulnerable participants.
 Sensitive topics
 Risk to participants and /or researchers
 Confidentiality/anonymity
 Disclosures/ limits to confidentiality
 Data storage and security, both during and after the research (including transfer, sharing,
encryption, protection).
 Reporting
 Dissemination and use of your findings.
Section 6: Declaration
I have read, understood and will abide by the institution’s Research and Ethics Policy:
Yes No
I have discussed the ethical issues relating to my research with my Unit Tutor:
Yes No
I confirm that to the best of my knowledge:
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The above information is correct, and this is a full description of the ethical issues that may
arise in the course of my research
Name: Date:
Please submit your completed form to your supervisor and also attach to the Research
Proposal when submitting to Turnitin.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Avilov, A. V. and Laktionov, E. V., 2020. Research Methodology of Amplitude-Frequency
Characteristics of Dental (Endodontic) Files. In IOP Conference Series: Materials
Science and Engineering (Vol. 731, No. 1, p. 012026). IOP Publishing.
De Groot, A. D. and Spiekerman, J. A., 2020. Methodology: Foundations of inference and
research in the behavioral sciences (Vol. 6). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
Dion, M. L. and et. al., 2020. Research Methodology and Community Participation: A Decade of
Indigenous Social Science Research in Canada. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue
canadienne de sociologie. 57(1). pp.122-146.
Nasution, M. K., 2020, June. Methodology. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1566,
No. 1, p. 012031). IOP Publishing.
Wawrzyniak, P. and Karaszewski, W., 2020. Blowing Kinetics, Pressure Resistance, Thermal
Stability, and Relaxation of the Amorphous Phase of the PET Container in the SBM
Process with Hot and Cold Mold. Part I: Research Methodology and
Results. Polymers. 12(8). p.1749.
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