Business Commons^™

Introduction To Electronic Distribution For Hotel Management, John Niser, Martha Coussement

John C. Niser

This book is intended for undergraduate students and professionals who seek to gain fundamental knowledge about electronic distribution as it relates to the lodging industry. The text covers a wide range of topics that are related to marketing, yield management, content distribution, payments, channel management, and networks in the context of a rapidly changing landscape.

The Impact Of Social Media On The Sales Cycle And Prospecting, Mike Serkedakis, Gary L. Selden, R. Keith Tudor

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Sharing information and networking with business contacts are the crux of social media in sales. The use of social media platforms (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter) for all phases of the sales cycle is a relatively new technique, about 20 years since the arrival of the internet and associated technologies. Research to measure the impact of social media on the sales cycle time is not adequately addressed in the current literature. Our research highlights the impacts of social media on this important business function and examines individual performance aspects associated with the use of social media.

Exploring Motivations And Usage Patterns Of Social Media Users, Anita Whiting

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Social media is an important aspect of marketing today. According to Hanna et al (2011), social media is not an optional part of marketing strategy but a mandatory component for most companies today. Social media usage is rapidly growing. Facebook, the largest global social network, has over 1.19 billion users with an annual growth rate of eighteen percent (Aichner & Jacob 2015).

A Systematic Review Of Anti-Brand Website Literature: What We Know And What We Need To Know, David L. Williams, Ellen Kolbas

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

The emergence of Web 1.0 began an evolution in electronic communication. This platform resulted in a unidirectional communication flow (e.g. firm to consumer) that featured firms generating messages for public consumption. Web 1.0 gave rise to Web 2.0 and 3.0 platforms that facilitate bi-directional communication between firms and the public. This new method has resulted in an increase in consumer empowerment to create and disseminate marketing messages of their own (Williams, Crittenden, Keo, & McCarty, 2012). Third party stakeholders are disseminating electronic word-of-mouth communications about companies through the use of video, reviews, forums, microblogs and multiple other channels (Gil-Or, 2010). …

An Application Of Social Media Marketing For Community Sustainable Development, Lei Huang, Amelia Clarke, Wen Tian, Natalie Heldsinger

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Though the social marketing approach has been developed from commercial marketing, it is a holistic approach from various social sciences disciplines like marketing, psychology, sociology, mass communication and economics. It is basically an art to explore new ways of analyzing problems and solving them effectively. For instance, social marketing influences sustainability through the use of marketing principles to increase awareness, understanding, change attitudes, and motivate the society to change, adopt, or sustain a particular behavior. This paper attempts to explore a framework of social media in light of disseminating the knowledge of a community-wide sustainability plan among various stakeholders. Policy …

Consumer Experiences Of Accommodation Deals Purchased Via Social Coupon Promotions: An Australian Perspective, Carmen Cox

Carmen Cox

The growing popularity of social coupons presents new marketing opportunities for the travel industry, with accommodation properties promoting deals to entice new visitors through the promise of a highly discounted stay. While their popularity has been well determined, little is known about the experience of guests who have purchased via these deals. This article explores guests’ evaluations of Australian accommodation properties by travelers who purchased their accommodation through daily deals, otherwise known as “social coupons.” A qualitative analysis of approximately 500 online reviews from travelers who had purchased an accommodation “daily deal” reveals 11 key themes in their poststay evaluations. …

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning: A Business Simulation Activity Using Social Media, Siyoung Chung, Hichang Cho

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Social media are dramatically changing the way welive and make social relationships with others. While students areso immersed in social media in their daily life, social mediaadoption in classroom has been slow. Educators who wish toexperiment with social media for CSCL struggle to find ways toincorporate the expected benefits and advantages of social mediato teaching lessons. This paper reports on the experiences ofusing social media for a business case simulation activity in ahigher learning context. Drawing on a qualitative feedback andsocial media log data of 27 teams of 135 undergraduate students,this paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of socialmedia as …

Confessions Of An Angry Employee: The Dark Side Of De-Identified “Confessions” On Facebook, Arunima Krishna, Soojin Kim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Employees’ communication behaviors are an important area of research for public rela-tions. In this study, employees’ communication behaviors in a de-identified context havebeen studied from the perspective of online flaming by analyzing “confessions” posted on aFacebook confessions page. The theoretical perspectives of the uses and gratification theoryand employee communication behavior in public relations literature were adopted in thisstudy. Positive and negative “confessions” were analyzed to identify employees’ motiva-tions in posting them. While negative posts expressing anger and frustration at policies,personnel, and the management in general dominated the page, positive posts indicatedexpressions of pride, nostalgia, and gratitude for social support from …

Impact Of Internet And Social Media On Organisational Change Of Otc Medicines Marketing Management, Vasja Roblek

Vasja Roblek

Pharmaceutical companies have been forced to change their approach to selling over-the-counter (OTC) medicines because of the increased pressure on sales margins. The development of Web 2.0, Web 3.0, and social media technologies allow low-cost online marketing, including e-commerce. An organisational adaptation has to cope with the changes in the OTC drug market is required because of the widespread use of the internet and social media. The increased importance of digital media for marketing has convinced the OTC medical industry to include the use of social media in its customer relationship management strategy. Qualitative research on the impact of the …

Rebranding Hillel At Syracuse University, Marisa Bunis

Honors Capstone Projects - All

My rebranding of Hillel at Syracuse University was a multi-step process. First, I had to understand what rebranding truly meant – what made a successful rebranding, what to avoid during a rebranding, etc. I gained this critical knowledge by reflecting on my education as an advertising major and consulting credible online sources on the topic. The next step was to gain a deeper understanding of my client, Hillel at Syracuse University. I again drew insights from my own experience as a student highly involved in the organization, and I also learned critical information from resources provided to me by Brian …

Social Media: How The Most Influential Marketing Tool In Today’S Society Can Benefit And Enhance Developing Companies, Morgan Ariel Rosh

Business/Business Administration

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of social media and the great impact it can have on small to medium sized companies. Social media has proven itself to be an strong channel for marketing due to its capabilities to see what consumers are talking about as well as allowing companies to directly communicate with said consumers in the blink of an eye. This study was conducted alongside Careers on the Move, a boutique job placement firm located in Midtown Manhattan. Over the span of seven months, I tested out a variety of different social media techniques …

China’S Digital Landscape: Breaking Barriers To Innovation, Srinivas K. Reddy, Zack Zheng Wang, Deckie He Dong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

When e-commerce giant Alibaba went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, its market capitalisation rocketed to roughly US$219 billion - a sum greater than any record previously set by its American contemporaries, Facebook, eBay and Amazon. It was a historic event that led many to believe that China’s digital economy was echoing the Middle Kingdom’s own meteoric rise onto the world-stage. China ranks high in digital connectivity. In 2015, almost half of the country’s population, or 649 million people, were online. It’s fast-growing Internet economy generates about US$100 billion annually and is predicted to reach US$277 …

An Analysis Of Empirical Research Of Social Media And User-Generated Content In The Hospitality Industry, Didi Fan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Hospitality remains highly competitive industry where establishments are always pushing new efforts to positively attract and retain consumers more so than the others. In recent years, the most significant trend in reaching to consumers is through social media. The research dives into great detail in the interactions and cause and effect between consumers and hospitality in social media such as the effect of user generated content. The research produces more details and ideas than simply engaging in social media helps hospitality establishments. The information was attained from a large content analysis of previous research, studies, surveys, experiments, statistical and quantitative …

The Effects Of The Internet On Marketing, Alexander M. Payne

Senior Honors Theses

With the use of the Internet, marketers are able to reach consumers where they work, play, shop, and live more efficiently than without it. Through e-commerce, social media, mobile phones, and much more, businesses are able to spread brand awareness, increase market share, and unveil new products. With this great opportunity comes an equally great responsibility, as businesses have now come under extreme scrutiny by their customers. In the Information Age, news travels faster and farther than ever before, with the news of ethical mishaps reaching even the smallest of shareholders. The most crucial element in e-commerce is trust and …

A Critical Analysis: Infusion Of Social Media And Traditional Media Strategies And Tactics In The Recipe For Success For Local, Main Street Usa Restaurants, Tori Partykevich

Senior Honors Projects

Restaurants can benefit greatly from carefully constructed public relations efforts. A strong plan and a dedicated use of both traditional and new media can help restaurants grow their business. It can be much more difficult for local, mom & pop restaurants to gain the attention that will boost their business than for large corporate chain companies who already have a well-known name. A positive public image of a restaurant is vital to its success and public relations strategies can help this to be achieved.

A solid social media presence, community involvement, local newspaper advertisements, special offers and public events can …

Pins, Smores And Doodles: 15 Creative Ways To Use 5 Social Sharing Tools, Lauren Puzier, Abby Stambach

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

This presentation demonstrates ways Pinterest (interest boards), Smore (flyer design), Doodle (online scheduling), Piktochart (infographics) and Bunkr (online presentations) can be utilized by librarians to take the lead on campus with the latest technology and connect the library with the campus community.

Web Based Marketing: A Best Practices Examination Of Rural Destinations In The American West, Elsie Cline

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

In recent years the United States has seen a growing trend in rural travel, which has increased the awareness of rural destinations. However, in order to compete with larger destinations, rural destinations must market themselves through various online outlets. The purpose of this study was to examine the web based marketing practices of five selected rural tourism destinations in the Western United States. The destinations studied were: Tonopah, Nevada; Ajo, Arizona; Creede, Colorado; Taos, New Mexico; and Marfa, Texas. These destinations were analyzed through an examination of destination websites and social media accounts. The results showed that in order to …

A Qualitative Assessment Of Yelp.Com Users’ Motivations To Submit And Read Restaurant Reviews, Anish Parikh, Carl Behnke, Doug Nelson, Mihaela Vorvoreanu, Barbara Almanza

Department of Hospitality and Tourism Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This article presents a thematic analysis of Yelp.com users’ motivations to read and articulate user-generated reviews. This study’s purpose was to identify factors of usage, trust, influence, and contribution of restaurant reviews on Yelp.com. This study found that information search reduction and community membership were the greatest factors encouraging Yelp.com use. Respondents reported trusting Yelp.com due to the community aspects of the website and felt they were able to sort out biased reviews easily. Lastly, the primary reasons for contributing reviews to Yelp.com were altruistic in nature, for example, helping other users make good purchase decisions and rewarding good businesses.

Parody Social Media Accounts: Influence And Impact On Organizations During Crisis, Sarah Wan, Regina Koh, Andrew Ong, Augustine Pang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

With the uptake of the use of social media, the communication field has seen a rise in a new phenomenon: parody social media accounts. Through study of five such accounts, this paper shows how parody social media accounts can arise from a crisis or paracrisis, which is “a publicly visible crisis threat” that is triggered online (Coombs & Holladay, 2012, p. 409). The study also examines the behavior of these accounts and how they enforce negative perceptions and impede an organization's efforts and initiatives. Using the social-mediated crisis communication model as its theoretical lens, this study seeks to examine parody …

Building Relationships Through Integrated Online Media Platforms: Analysis Of Top 100 Global Brands, Wonsun Shin, Augustine Pang, Hyo Jung Kim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Many studies have examined organizations’ use of specific types of online media, but few studies have examined how organizations generate dialogues and develop relationships by using multiple online communication platforms. This study takes an integrated approach by examining how top global organizations incorporate brand Web sites, Facebook, and Twitter to cultivate relationships with stakeholders. Its findings suggest that those particular online media are used similarly, that is, more for information dissemination than user engagement and more for one-way than two-way communication. The findings also suggest that the types of products promoted can affect the way that organizations use different online …

Finding The Time To Create A Social Media Strategy, Connie Hancock, Glenn Muske

Community Vitality Initiative Collections

No abstract provided.

Better Knowledge With Social Media? Exploring The Roles Of Social Capital And Organizational Knowledge Management, Pratyush Bharati, Wei Zhang, Abhijit Chaudhury

Management Science and Information Systems Faculty Publication Series

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore social media’s impact on organizational knowledge quality through the theoretical lens of social capital and resource exchange. Design/methodology/approach – Theory-confirming, quantitative study using panel data collected through web-based survey Findings – The results show that while social media affect structural capital and cognitive capital directly, it only affects relational capital indirectly through structural and cognitive capital. Moreover, overall social media and the enhanced social capital do help promote organizational efforts in knowledge management, which subsequently leads to higher level of organizational knowledge quality. Research limitations/implications – All survey respondents were …

Effects Of Investor Sentiment Using Social Media On Corporate Financial Distress, Tarek Hoteit

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The mainstream quantitative models in the finance literature have been ineffective in detecting possible bankruptcies during the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis. Coinciding with the same period, various researchers suggested that sentiments in social media can predict future events. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between investor sentiment within the social media and the financial distress of firms Grounded on the social amplification of risk framework that shows the media as an amplified channel for risk events, the central hypothesis of the study was that investor sentiments in the social media could predict t he level …

Managing Negative Comments Posted On Social Media, Darci Wagner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Consumers use social media to share their service experiences, positive and negative. Some organizations lack strategies to respond to the negative comments, which can inhibit service recovery and harm the success of the organization. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies used by social media managers to manage negative comments posted on social media sites. The study's conceptual framework was social exchange theory. Participants in Central Ohio were recruited through e-mail. Data were gathered by observing 2 social media marketers manage social media and by interviewing social media managers. Secondary data from the organization displayed the engagement …

Social Media Strategies Used In Marketing Custom Bicycle Framebuilding Companies, Angela Au

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social media is a cost-effective marketing tool, and in a 2014 survey, 75% of small business owners reported that they used social media to market. However, many of these businesses merely set up social media profiles and do not use social media to its full potential. Microenterprise owners face barriers such as lack of time, financial resources, and marketing knowledge, preventing them from adopting social media as a marketing tool. This multiple case study explored what strategies microenterprise owners in the artisan economy need to market using social media. Data were collected from 5 custom bicycle framebuilders in a Southwestern …

Performance Implications Of Fortune 500 Companies' Self-Interest In Corporate Social Responsibility Activities, Peter M. Neeves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Numerous prior studies examining the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance have produced mixed results. Consumers expect alignment between corporation's CSR and business activities, yet a paucity of research examines the nature of CSR activities as related to corporate financial performance. Corporate leaders lack direction as to what CSR activities are most impactful. CSR is grounded in stakeholder theory, ethical work climate, and servant leadership theories. The relationship between self-interest in CSR activities, an index of alignment between business activities and CSR activities, and financial performance as measured by return on assets (ROA), return on equity …

Small Business Use Of Internet Marketing: Findings From Case Studies, Maya Demishkevich

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Internet marketing is critical for meeting changing consumer needs and staying competitive in the business environment. Small business owners need strategies on how to use Internet marketing to promote their products or services. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore how 5 small business owners in Maryland developed and implemented an online marketing strategy. Participants were recruited for their roles as the chief decision maker of their business; additional prerequisites for their participation were that they used Internet marketing, represented different industries, and had fewer than 20 employees. Data came from semi-structured interviews with the small business …

The Role Of Social Media In U.S. County Governments: The Strategic Value Of Operational Aimlessness, Barry A. Cumbie, Bandana Kar

Faculty Publications

This study investigates the influence of citizens' socio-economic characteristics on the presence of social media in county-level government. E-government is ostensibly citizen-driven and therefore variation in an area's demographics would likely impact a government's utilization of emerging technology, such as social media. Despite its transformative potential and widespread adoption, e-government development beyond basic stages has been sluggish. Social media is transforming the nature of interaction among individuals and organizations and has the potential to overcome some of the restrictive challenges of e-government. Understanding if, how, and to what end governments are harnessing social media will help make e-government a citizen-driven, …

How The Internet Ate The World!, Diane Vitale Mba, Pauline Sutcliffe Msw, Ma

Faculty Works: Business (1973-2022)

We often think of branding in association with products, personalities and organizations. And of course the internet is one of the major tools used to achieve this. The internet and social media have opened up a whole universe of applications. And already the critics are lining up to remind us that there is sinister potential in the monolithic wealth it has created. So much so some believe that this phenomenon is going to devour the world! Our paper looks at this from a number of different perspectives and we believe there is some real potential here to go beyond the …

Better Knowledge With Social Media? Exploring The Roles Of Social Capital And Organizational Knowledge Management, Pratyush Bharati, Wei Zhang, Abhijit Chaudhury

Pratyush Bharati

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore social media’s impact on organizational knowledge quality through the theoretical lens of social capital and resource exchange. Design/methodology/approach – Theory-confirming, quantitative study using panel data collected through web-based survey Findings – The results show that while social media affect structural capital and cognitive capital directly, it only affects relational capital indirectly through structural and cognitive capital. Moreover, overall social media and the enhanced social capital do help promote organizational efforts in knowledge management, which subsequently leads to higher level of organizational knowledge quality. Research limitations/implications – All survey respondents were …