Marketing
Assignment questions
Industry challenges
Some of the factors and trends disrupting the hoteling industry include; pure review websites, online travel agents, and active forums. Pure review websites enable users to share their hotel experiences. They can rate their stay in the hotel with a written review, on a point scale, or upload videos and photos. Online traveling agencies have dominated online bookings. They have dominated online booking because they provide an answer to individuals’ needs for instant gratification (Dubois, Chae, Niessing & Wee, 2016, p. 1). They also provide a smooth process for travel research, booking, and payment. Active forums allow users to set up a feature-rich discussion forum for a particular topic (Dubois, Chae, Niessing & Wee, 2016, p. 1). Travelers can use this topic to set up discussions about particular hotels and share their experiences while staying at the hotel.
Consumers’ travel planning and purchasing behavior are changing in that as technology evolves, customers expect hotels and other institutions in the hospitality sector to employ the use of technology to improve services provided by the hotels and better customers’ experiences. For example, many customers prefer using online travel agents instead of traditional travel agents because they offer a seamless process for travel research, booking, and payment. Digital disruptions play a significant role in influencing customers’ travel planning and purchasing behavior.
Consumer Journey
The Dreaming stage involves considering the purpose of the travel. In this case, I would be thinking about traveling around many continents to discuss the types of digital challenges experienced by different geographies and markets. The planning phase involves deciding where I will stay based upon locations, which will enable me to acquire detailed information about the digital disruptions experienced hotels in the location. The booking stage involves booking a hotel room to stay in. I would use online platforms such as Booking.com, which provides an easy booking and payment process. The experiencing stage involves traveling to the actual location. During my stay at the hotel I booked, I would hold discussions with the management to learn more about the digital disruptions experienced in this place. The finals stage, which is the remembering stage, involves thinking about my experience during the journey and writing some of the most important lessons I learned about the digital disruptions in different places I visited.
At the dreaming stage, the information I wanted to discover is the purpose of my travel. I used Google to determine the types of information I could gather during the journey. At the planning stage, the type of information I wanted to discover was the types of hotels where I could stay during the journey (Riivits-Arkonsuo, Kaljund & Leppiman, 2015, p. 5). I wanted to find out the best where I could stay to improve my experiences during the journey. I used Booking.com to collect this information. At the booking stage, the information I wanted to discover included the prices of the hotel rooms, the hotel’s cancellation policy, the hotel reviews, payment options, and the location. I discovered this information through Boking.com. At the experiencing stage, I wanted to discover information concerning the services provided by the hotel, and I could have an opportunity to speak to the organization’s executives to understand the disruptions they experience (Riivits-Arkonsuo, Kaljund & Leppiman, 2015, p. 5). I discovered this information using the hotel’s website and Booking.com. At the remembering stage, the information I wanted to discover are; determining whether I collected the information I needed and provided reviews for the hotel. I posted my review through Booking.com.
AccorHotel can collect information about what the customers are saying about AccorHotels through the following ways; Social media, booking sites, emails, and by talking to the customers directly. Many customers always turn to social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to talk about their experiences (Mourtzis, Vlachou, Zogopoulos, Gupta, Belkadi, Debbache & Bernard, 2018, p. 6). The organization needs to create an active online presence to ensure that it collects customers’ feedback. Booking sites also provide customers with an opportunity to talk about their experiences during their stay at the hotel. The hotel management should ensure that they collect information provided by customers on booking sites (Mourtzis, Vlachou, Zogopoulos, Gupta, Belkadi, Debbache & Bernard, 2018, p. 6). The organization should use the feedback provided by customers on the booking sites to improve their services. It is also essential to ask customers about their experiences directly. Asking the customers directly ensures that hotel management can collect information concerning the hotels’ services immediately. The organization can also use email to send review reminders to customers. Timing is key while using emails because they can be easily ignored. The organization should send the review reminder to the customer’s inbox a few days after they have checked out.
At the dreaming stage, the best way to reach customers is through blogs and social media. At the planning stage, the best way to reach customers is through photos on booking sites. At the booking stage, the best way to reach customers is through videos on the booking sites. During the experiencing stage, the best way to reach customers is through infographics on the hotel websites. At the remembering stage, the best way to reach customers through social media and booking sites, encouraging them to provide reviews.
Some of the factors that motivate customers to share their experiences include the presence of social media, the availability of friendly organizations and organizations reaching out to customers. Many organizations have integrated rating platforms onto their social media channels. This way, customers find it easy to share their experiences through their favorite social media platforms. Many organizations always focus on engaging their customers by asking them to provide feedback (Zhang, Kandampully & Bilgihan, 2015, p. 11). This way, many customers always feel that the business is friendly, caring, and it listens to its customers. Therefore, many customers are likely to share their experiences. Some organizations always reach out to customers through emails. These firms send review reminders to customer’s inboxes (Zhang, Kandampully & Bilgihan, 2015, p. 11). If the customers are free, they always take their time to provide their reviews on review/booking sites.
I would utilize social media by ensuring that I integrate rating platforms onto social media platforms because many customers always like sharing their experiences on their favorite social media platforms. I would also reach out to customers by sending them review reminders through their emails to increase ratings for the organization. If a customer posts a negative review, I would respond in the following ways; apologies to the customer, take responsibility, and offer the customer a gift. It is crucial to ask the customer the specific detail which did not make him/her happy. After listening to the customer’s explanation, I will apologize and be willing to make a full refund if there is a need. I would acknowledge the customer’s experience and assure them I will investigate and take appropriate actions (Brondstetter, Fiorito, Ullman & Osborn, 2015, p. 6). The appropriate actions may include improving the firm’s services or refunding the customer. I will ensure that the customer gives us a second chance to serve him/her by providing them with a gift and assuring that the mistake will be corrected. The gift can be in the form of a discount or free service.
AccorHotels can drive its consumers from Booking.com to the hotel’s website through the following ways engaging in influencer marketing, advertising on social media, and implementing Good Search Engine Optimization. Influencer marketing is an effective way of communicating with many potential customers (Adams, 2017, p. 1). Utilizing influencers on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter can help in increasing searches on different search engines. Advertising on social media platforms such as Instagram by placing ads enables the firm to reach its target audience. If the target audience is impressed with the ads, they are likely to search the organization on search engines such as Google. The organization should implement the right type of traffic delivery strategies (Adams, 2017, p. 1). By understanding SEO, the organization will find the best ways to deliver the best results from customers.
Reference List
Adams, R., 2017. 23 Proven Ways To Drive Traffic To Your Website. [online] Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertadams/2017/04/10/23-proven-ways-to-drive- traffic-to-your-website/#422b81192654> [Accessed 17 June 2020].
Brondstetter, D.A., Fiorito, T.T., Ullman, M.R. and Osborn, C.N., Surecritic Inc, 2015. Intelligent customer-centric feedback management. U.S. Patent Application 14/727,606.
Dubois, D., Chae, I., Niessing, J., and Wee, J., 2016. AccorHotels and digital transformation: Enriching experiences through content strategies along the customer journey. INSEAD Case, 8, pp.2016-6241.
Mourtzis, D., Vlachou, E., Zogopoulos, V., Gupta, R.K., Belkadi, F., Debbache, A., and Bernard, A., 2018. Customer feedback gathering and management tools for product-service system design. Procedia Cirp, 67, pp.577-582.
Riivits-Arkonsuo, I., Kaljund, K., and Leppiman, A., 2015. Consumer journey from the first experience to brand evangelism. Research in Economics and Business: Central and Eastern Europe, 6(1).
Zhang, T.C., Kandampully, J., and Bilgihan, A., 2015. Motivations for customer engagement in online co-innovation communities (OCCs). Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 6(3), p.311.