Impacts of WeChat on Millennials’ Perceptions and Consumption Behaviors in the Hotel Industry

Social media, known as interactive Web 2.0 Internet-based applications, has deeply changed and reformed interpersonal communication and business operation with the wide spread of Internet and the development of technology. In the past few years, since mobile apps are becoming more and more popular, the access of social media is not limited to tablet computers only, but is also available for almost all kinds of smart phone devices, such as iPhone, Android, Symbian and so on. The function of social media is not confined to real- time message transmission or information sharing any more. It has expanded to a widely range of features, such as online purchase and payment, e-commerce business, and service for different types of social events. Social media plays an increasingly important role in daily personal life as well as in business activities. People are not merely considered as social media users, but also the component of social media itself. As a result, it is very crucial for people to realize the importance and impacts of social media, especially for those business operators. WeChat (Weixin in Chinses, literally “micro message”) is a cross-platform instant text and voice messaging communication service for multiple mobile devices, developed by Tecent in China, first released in the January of 2011. It is claimed to provide “the new way to connect” and create “a way of life”. It is free to download, install and register, and support all kinds of smart phone platforms with multiple language versions, such as Chinese, English, Japanese, French, and Spanish. WeChat provides its users different ways to communicate and interact with friends innovatively through instant text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, group messaging, lively video sharing, location sharing, money transferring, and contact information sharing. Among all the WeChat users, Millennials is the majority. With the growing-up of Millennials, they are becoming more and more powerful and important to the society and will be the next target segmentation for most of the industries in the very near future. Especially for the hotel industry, the industry that urges to attract Millennials patrons for further substantial development, how to attract Millennials is becoming a critical issue for those hotel operators

Predicting uptake of online customer service through mobile instant messaging applications : the effects of social presence on behaviour intention

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Statistics and Information Management, specialization in Marketing Research e CRMOnline shopping is rapidly increasing, creating new opportunities and challenges in the highly-competitive services market. In this context, companies are trying to come with new ways of connecting, as consumers seek easier and faster ways of interacting. This study employs the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) as the theoretical paradigm and extends it, to explore the key factors influencing the uptake of mobile instant messaging applications in online customer service, by introducing social presence as a crucial construct. The data was collected from an online questionnaire conducted to 222 Portuguese mobile instant messenger’s users. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to verify and validate the research model. The results showed that performance expectancy represents the greatest influence on users’ intention to engage in online customer service through mobile instant messaging. In addition, social presence was found to directly impact behavioural intention and indirectly, through the mediation of performance expectancy and habit. This study fills the gap in the literature, where little attention has been devoted to examining the use of mobile instant messaging applications by organizations for online customer service. The findings will help practitioners make appropriate strategies for this new channel

Analysis of EWOM (Electronic Word of Mouth) in Social Media KASKUS on Purchasing Intention Premium Player Items. (study on the game Line Lets Get rich)

The development of information technology is going rapidly these days. So does the development of internet technology that let people with high mobility to communicate easily anywhere and anytime. Instant messaging is one of the alternative media that is used by most people to communicate with others that are using internet technology. In the marketing dynamics, consumers are always looking for more reference and trust the opinions of the community about a product. This phenomenon in terms of marketing is often referred to as word-of-mouth (WOM). Despite the rapid growth of internet users during the recent years in Indonesia, Electronic Word of Mouth (EWOM) still not yet popular among gamers. With the advantages given by EWOM, there are still few customers who do not wanted to use this facility with some consideration. The factors which influence purchase intention may vary among any researches. Therefore, this research is intended to analyze the dimensions of EWOM in social media kaskus on purchasing intention, in this case Let\u27s Get Rich in Bandung in 2015. The purpose of this research is to determine the dimension of EWOM and Purchase Intention applied by Let\u27s Get Rich user, and dimensions of EWOM influence Purchase Intention in Bandung. There are three dimensions being used in this research. The dimensions are Intensity, Valence of Opinion, and Content. The data were collected using Criterion Sampling by choosing the individuals which met the certain characteristics, in this case let\u27s get rich who ever tried to buy premium items in Bandung. There were 400 respondents were taken in this research, and this research using 28 quetionaire items. The analysis method is by means of descriptive-quantitative analysis and multiple regressions using the program of SPSS ver. 17. Based on the result, all of the three dimensions of EWOM (Intensity, Valence of Opinion, and Content) are affect Purchase Intention as much as 80.3%, the Valence of Opinion dimension has the greatest positive result. Line Messenger should focus and make an improvement on this dimension especially the “Speak favorably” item because the players feels that Let\u27s Get Rich is not as good as the players thought. Keywords: EWOM, Social Media Kaskus, Purchase Intentio

How live chat assistants drive travel consumers' attitudes, trust and purchase intentions : the role of human touch

Purpose: By adopting a social presence theory perspective, this study aims investigate the influence of perceived usefulness of live chat services and of their unique human attributes on customer attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in the context of online travel shopping. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a cross-sectional survey research involving 8 travel provider websites and 631 travel consumers, this work applies structural equation modelling to analyse the data. Findings: The results illustrate that the perceived usefulness from the communication with a human live chat assistant positively influences customer attitudes and trust towards the website as well as increasing purchase intention. The findings further illustrate the role of the human social cues conveyed by live chat facilities, namely, human warmth, human assurance, human attentiveness and human customised content in positively moderating this effect. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited to specific human attributes. Future research could investigate the role of other human characteristics as well as assess the ability of artificial intelligent powered chatbots in replicating the human elements outlined in this research. Originality/value: The study provides a unique contribution to the travel literature by offering empirical insights and conceptual clarity into the usefulness of human operated live chat communication on travellers’ attitudes, trust towards the website and purchase intentions

Factors Affecting UAE Consumers’ Attitudes Towards Using Social Networking Sites in Hotel Selection

This study focuses on the influence of social networking sites on travelers' attitudes towards hotel selection in the UAE. A social networking site (SNS) is a form of social media that provides a platform for people to connect with each other. It is very important to examine how individual travelers are utilizing SNS when they select a hotel. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate if Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), Perceived Usefulness (PU), and Perceived Risk (PR) have any influence on attitude toward using social media (ATUSM). The study will use an exploratory research design which employs quantitative data. Convenience sampling technique was used to distribute the self-administered survey questionnaires on different hotels in the UAE. As hypothesized, the results show the positive effect of Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), Perceived Usefulness (PU), and Perceived Risk (PR) on consumers' attitude toward using social media (ATUSM) in hotel selection. Keywords: social networking sites, attitude, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived risk, hotel selection DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/66-03 Publication date:March 31st 202

Impact of Instagrammers on consumers travel behaviour in the hospitality sector

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo refletir como é que as inovações na tecnologia têm sido um forte fator que contribuíram para a transformação das categorias tradicionais de informação e, consequentemente, transformaram a perceção e experiência prática do turismo. As plataformas de redes sociais são um dos maiores fenómenos derivados dos avanços tecnológicos e têm tido uma adesão mundial extraordinária. Compreender como o novo turista viaja e como é que estes pesquisam por informação é crucial para todas as marcas e marketeers. Desde modo, a análise de novas tendências no turismo resultantes do uso de redes sociais, em particular da plataforma Instagram e do uso de Influencers em estratégias de marketing, é o ponto fulcral deste projeto dado que estas novas tendências não podem ser ignoradas se um negócio/destino quer manter a sua vantagem competitiva. As razões pelas quais a plataforma Instagram foi a escolhida para ser estudada, serão explicadas adiante, bem como detalhado o funcionamento da plataforma. Os influenciadores relacionados com o turismo, os Travel Instagrammers - também denominados influenciadores digitais - são um dos tipos de Instagrammers que existem e que estão agora a ser usados por hotéis e destinos. Perspetiva-se que terão um poder influenciador maior sobre os consumidores do que estratégias tradicionais de marketing e mesmo mais do que celebridades tradicionais. Deste modo, através deste projeto, será possível melhor compreender quem são estes indivíduos que são chamados de influenciadores digitais, a diferença entre eles, o porquê de serem tao influenciadores e, por fim, quais os benefícios para as marcas em trabalharem com eles. De acordo com os resultados do estudo de caso desta dissertação, influenciadores de viagem aparentam ter um impacto positive em duas dimensões do comportamento do consumidor, nomeadamente no Brand Awareness e Brand Loyalty. É, no entanto, importante mencionar que esse impacto é sentido em maior escala no conceito de Brand Awareness que na lealdade do consumidor. No entanto, relativamente à intenção de compra, os resultados obtidos não permitem dizer que os Instagrammers têm impactos positivos no comportamento do consumidor. As conclusões que podemos tirar relativamente à intenção de compra do consumidor é que os resultados são apenas parcialmente validados. De modo geral, os Instagrammers são considerados úteis para estratégias de marketing de hotéis que tenham por objetivo criar uma comunidade online bem como fomentar o reconhecimento da sua marca e alimentar boas relações com os seus clientes.This dissertation aims to reflect how innovation in technology has been a major force that has contributed to the transformation of traditional sources of information, thereby redefining the perception and practical experience of tourism. Social media platforms are one of the biggest highlights of the advances in technology and have been increasing in terms of worldwide usage, now more than ever. Understanding how the new tourist travels and how they search for information is a fundamental step for all businesses and marketeers. As a result, the analysis of new trends in tourism due to the use of social media, specifically Instagram and the use of digital influencers in marketing strategies, is the prevalent theme of this chapter since these new advances cannot be ignored if a hotel aims to keep their competitive advantage. The reasons why Instagram was the chosen platform to be analysed will herewith be justified along with a detailed explanation on how the platform works. Travel Instagrammers, one type of Instagrammers, also known as digital influencers, are now being endorsed by hotels and destinations and are believed to have a bigger influential power over consumers than traditional marketing strategies or even traditional celebrities. Therefore, this paper strives to give a better understand of who these digital influencers are, the different types of digital influencers that exist, why they are so influential and in what ways they can benefit brands by working with them. According to the findings of the survey made for this paper, Travel Instagrammers are seen to have a positive impact for two of the three constructs of consumer behaviour. These two constructs are respectively, Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty. Nevertheless, this impact is higher for the concept of Brand Awareness than for the loyalty of the consumers. However, when it comes to purchase intention the findings were just partly validated and it cannot be affirmed that Instagrammers have a positive impact on the purchase intention of consumers. Overall, Instagrammers were found to be a useful marketing strategy for hotels who aim to build a digital community, create awareness of their brand and build a strong relationship with their followers

Perceived value of advanced mobile messaging services: A cross-cultural comparison of Greek and Spanish users

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of perceived value on post-acceptance behaviour for users of advanced mobile messaging services (AMMS). The paper also compares differences in the influence of perceived value on satisfaction and of satisfaction on loyalty to AMMS in Spain and Greece, to test the moderating effect of culture. Design/methodology/approach Partial least squares path modelling is used to test the model. Perceived value is modelled as a multidimensional reflective construct with four dimensions. Culture is studied at a national level. Differences between countries are tested using the multigroup analysis approach proposed by Henseler et al. (2009). Findings Perceived value contributes significantly to satisfaction. Satisfaction also has a significant effect on loyalty. Regarding the moderating effect of culture, the influence of perceived value on satisfaction is higher in Greece than in Spain. The authors report similar findings for the effect of satisfaction on loyalty, demonstrating the relevant moderating role of cultures with different degrees of masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and collectivism. Practical implications This cross-cultural comparison enables mobile phone companies to understand how to provide the greatest value with AMMS in each country in order to increase user satisfaction and loyalty to the service. Originality/value This is one of the first studies that develops cross-cultural research to analyse the post-acceptance of mobile services. It analyses the effect of perceived value and satisfaction, making an original comparison of two countries generally considered too similar to be compared

Determinants of continuance intention and word of mouth for hotel branded mobile app users.

This study examined the cognitive and affective factors that influence users\u27 post-adoption behavioral intention. Specifically, based on the Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM) (Bhattacherjee, 2001b) the impact of cognitive factors (i.e., perceived usefulness, confirmation of expectations, mobility, personalization and responsiveness) and affective factors (i.e., satisfaction, perceived enjoyment) on hotel branded mobile applications (apps) users\u27 continuance intention and WOM were examined. Hospitality firms invest considerable resources on technology solutions that are aimed at improving the consumer experience. However, for investments to be profitable firms must ensure that technology solutions are continuously used and ensure post-adoptive behaviors such as continuance intention and WOM. Data for the study were collected from 550 hotel branded mobile app users. After data were collected and cleaned, Partial Least-Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results of the structural model indicated that continuance intention and WOM were directly influenced by satisfaction and perceived enjoyment; with satisfaction exerting the most influence on continuance intention. Conversely, perceived enjoyment was most influential to WOM. All cognitive factors were found to influence satisfaction and enjoyment, except for responsiveness and perceived usefulness. The results show that contextual factors have a more significant impact than previously established constructs. The results of the study allow hoteliers and hospitality technology consultants to identify the influential factors impacting post-adoptive behaviors. The study extends the literature on post-adoptive behavior and the ECM by including context specific factors (i.e. perceived mobility, personalization and responsiveness). This study contributes to the scare literature in the lodging industry literature examining users\u27 evaluations of mobile apps and post-adoptive behaviors in the hospitality industry. The study adds to the post-adoptive behavior literature by adding WOM as a second outcome to continuance intention. The treatment of contextual factors in this study, allowed to show the impact technology characteristics have on technology post-adoption

Consumer Purchasing decision: Choosing the Marketing Strategy to influence consumer decision making

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role that marketing strategy plays as a determining element in the decision-making process of consumers. The current study made use of the quantitative research approach by customizing a questionnaire based on information gleaned from academic sources. This particular study had a sample size of 162 participants, all of whom were selected at random throughout the selection process. According to the findings, penetration pricing exerts a substantial and beneficial impact on the decision-making process of consumers at the 5% level. According to the findings, price skimming has a substantial and favorable effect on the decision-making process of consumers at the 5% level. According to the findings, marketing sharing websites have a considerable beneficial impact on the decision-making process of consumers at the 5% level. The findings indicate that blogs have a considerable and beneficial effect on the decision-making process of consumers at the 5% level. According to the findings, competitive pricing has a substantial and favorable impact on the choice-making process of consumers at the 5% level. Furthermore, every beta value exceeds the.001 threshold. All of the models have extremely high adjusted R2, which indicates that the models are very capable of explaining the variance in consumer decision-making that is caused by the variation in the independent variables. The F-value demonstrates that the explanatory variables are jointly statistically significant in the model, and the Durbin-Watson (DW) statistics demonstrate that there is autocorrelation in the models. Both of these findings are supported by the model\u27s positive autocorrelation

Assessing the Influence of Self-Efficacy on the Acceptance of Mobile Phone Technology within the SMEs

Mobile phone technologies have proved to provide a significant transformation in performing various activities within companies, especially in least developed regions. Mobile phones provide opportunities for employees of organisations to work any time and anywhere. SMEs comprise of employees who perform multitasking job roles due to their small in size and low financial capabilities and most cases, some of them work remotely from their main offices. Self-Efficacy is a belief that the user has enough skills to use technology to perform a task at hand. This is one of the factors influencing of acceptance of technologies at the workplaces such as SMEs. However, while the majority of studies have explored the influence of self-efficacy in desktop-based computing, it is unclear on the context of mobile phone usage, especially when individuals perfoms their work obligations within SMEs. This study involves a survey of 459 people who works with their small businesses in Tanzania. Among others, the Mobile Phone Self-Efficacy was found to be among the factors which directly influence the Perceived Ease of Use of mobile phone technology as they perform their duties