Relevance of Social Media Management in Online Reputation Building in Tourism and Hospitality: Case of Finland

Abstract

There is no doubt that social media have had a powerful impact on the way people experience the world around them. People love sharing new experiences and telling social networks about upcoming travel plans and reminiscing about them after they have returned. People prefer to buy products and services from brands they trust. Social media allow people to share written testaments to the brand's most amazing qualities, and share pictures and videos of their experiences. Social media make it easy to approach the enterprises and interact with them.

Connecting reputation management and social media is the process of monitoring and handling user-generated social media content such as reviews to impact the way a company is recognized. Tangible aspects of services and products are evaluated by customers of tourism and hospitality enterprises in an individual manner, and relevant opinions are shared on various social media platforms. The cost of a negative experience is rather high – the “eWOM” (electronic word-of-mouth) through social media essentially could destroy a business. For many businesses, a bad review or comment on one social networking site could spread to other social media tools.

The pattern of use of social media by customers of tourism and hospitality organizations can be divided into three stages: pretrip, during the trip, and posttrip use of social media. Customer experiences during each of these stages can be reflected on different social media networks. The manner of the use of social media by customers at all three stages could influence on performances of tourism and hospitality organizations as advantages and challenges. In this article authors are discussing both positive and negative impacts depending on consumer experiences and a range of other factors. Social media implementing blogs, social networking sites, photo and video stories, chats, forums, and other forms of communication need to be used by management of tourism and hospitality enterprises in an integrated manner. Great opportunities offered by viral marketing are fully appreciated and acted upon by managers of hospitality organizations.

It is important for the enterprise to develop an engaged audience by creating and sharing relevant content on social platforms. In addition to relevant content it is important to pay attention to interacting with the audience. Focus must be on products and services, but without interacting and engaging with the audience the enterprise might lose them. Social media are an option for tourism and hospitality to get the opportunity to control and present their contents including their products and services, and using it positively, solve their core values and draw and retain back their customers. Using social media channels can help enterprises to generate more profit. Setting special procedures or documents on how to respond to negative and positive comments guarantees correct and consistent execution. In this chapter the reader could find some real examples from tourism and hospitality enterprises.

Citation

Kushcheva, N. and Eilola, T.-M. (2023), "Relevance of Social Media Management in Online Reputation Building in Tourism and Hospitality: Case of Finland", Rialti, R., Kvítková, Z. and Makovník, T. (Ed.) Online Reputation Management in Destination and Hospitality, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 163-174. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-375-120231009